San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Rattlers’ chances at undefeated season end in area round defeat
SAN MARCOS — Reagan junior wideout Caleb Cappuccio shed tears as he hung on Jeter Battles’ shoulder — not just because of Rattlers’ 45-28 defeat at the hands of Austin Westlake, but also for the end of his playing days alongside his fellow wide receiver.
Reagan was off to its first 11-0 start since 2013 before the team’s chances at an undefeated season were halted by Westlake. The Chaparrals beat the Rattlers by 17 points in the area round of the 6A playoffs at Matador Stadium on Friday night.
“The feeling is like (heartbreak),” said Battles, who is a senior. “I’m speechless. I regret a bunch of things going into the game. But I think the thing I’m feeling most is thankful for everybody on this team. I just want to thank them from the bottom of my heart.”
The Chaparrals have dominated San Antonio teams, going 18-0, since being realigned to Region IV in 2016. Westlake (12-0) running back Jackson Kayser had a big day, rushing for 168 yards on 34 carries with two scores.
The Rattlers (11-1) punted on their first four drives of the game, while Westlake scored points on all four of its first-half possessions.
But the Rattlers fought back to score 21 points in the second half.
“We definitely finished stronger than we started,” Reagan coach Lyndon Hamilton said. “We dug ourselves in a hole a little bit and let them play with short fields in the first half. When you play good teams, you have to have all three phases of the game, and we got in our own way early.”
Reagan senior quarterback Brad Jackson, a Texas State commit, said the team had an emotional meeting at halftime after being down 31-7.
“That’s just the kind of leadership we have on this team,” Jackson said. “We’re able to put
things together. It’s not necessarily the coaches, the coaches have a big part in telling us to get it going. But at the end of the day, it’s the players that are playing, and we have great senior leadership on this team, and we were able to get some plays tonight, but unfortunately, this wasn’t enough.”
Jackson, who is in his lone year at Reagan after moving from the Houston area, said playing his senior season at Reagan meant a lot to him.
“From when I moved in here, June 1, they welcomed me here with open arms, and I couldn’t be tighter with a group of guys,” Jackson said. “These guys took me in from day one as their leader and as their quarterback, and I just couldn’t ask for anything different. We weren’t able to get it done tonight. But these guys are so special to me, and one of the best teams I’ve ever been on by far.”
Jackson completed 23 of 35 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 57 yards with one score.
“It’s difficult because I wanted to do this for our seniors and the guys on our team,” Jackson said. “So not getting it done tonight
hurts, but I think we can look ourselves in the mirror and say we’ve given everything we got.”
Cappuccio had nine catches for 97 yards and one touchdown.
Running back Cole Pryor rushed for 77 yards on 20 carries for the Rattlers.
Entering the game with 1,447 rushing yards and 23 total touchdowns, Pryor made runs of 15, 12, and 18 yards that aided Reagan in converting crucial third downs.
“He’s a fireball,” Hamilton said. “He had a really good day. He had great ball security today. He had a tremendous year and just didn’t finish the way that we wanted to as a team.”
Battles said even though the season ended in the second round of the playoffs, he feels like the Rattlers finished above expectations.
“We went 11-0, and we proved everybody wrong,” Battles said. “We didn’t shock anyone. We just proved it week after week, and we stuck to us, and we really built a family over here.”