SAN ANTONIO – The Smithson Valley Rangers will face the Reagan Rattlers in the first game of the first-ever KSAT Pigskin Classic when the triple-header kicks off on Saturday, August 27, in the Alamodome.
The KSAT Pigskin Classic is the first of its kind in the Alamo City to kick off the 2022 high school football season and will be broadcast live on KSAT 12, beginning with the pregame show at 11 a.m.
Find general admission tickets here or check out the VIP Experience in the press box.
Rangers vs. Rattlers
This showdown with the Rangers and the Rattlers is a revival of the Town and Country Bowl, with Smithson Valley representing the country and Reagan representing the town.
But don’t bring up rivalry when it comes to the Rangers’ Larry Hill, who is about to celebrate his 30th season as head football coach at Smithson Valley.
“We don’t embrace rivalries,” Hill said. “That’s one of our mantras. We have no rival. The rival is the standard of excellence that we are trying to compete against every day and every game, and the winning and losing will take care of itself.”
Reagan head football coach Lyndon Hamilton admits there had to be some changes made in the original schedule to make this showdown be both teams’ first game of the season.
“Initially, we had another really good team, just like Smithson Valley’s really good program,” Hamilton said. “We were supposed to match up against Brennan, and things kind of twisted and tweaked a little bit, and Coach Hill and I agreed to it. And here we are, first round out of the box, bringing the old Town and Country Bowl back to life.”
Smithson Valley usually competes in the same district as Steele and Judson. This year, the University Interscholastic League decided to move the Rangers to Class 5A due to a drop in enrollment.
“Kids and coaches don’t really control enrollment decline, so we’re going to play where they put us,” Hill said. “Obviously, we have less enrollment, so that’s fewer people to choose from. How that will impact us -- that’s difficult to say. But I don’t think Reagan is going to have any sympathy on us.”
Whether or not the Smithson Valley Rangers are in Class 6A or Class 5A means nothing to the Rattlers’ Hamilton.
“They’re always going to be a quality opponent, so for us, it’s a great match-up in week 1 and see where we are at,” Hamilton said.
The first of three games in the Pigskin Classic will kick off at 11:30 a.m. All the games will be broadcast on KSAT 12, on the KSAT Plus app, the Big Game Coverage app and on KSAT.com.
About the KSAT Pigskin Classic
The first-ever KSAT Pigskin Classic will showcase six local high school football teams over three games in one day at the Alamodome.
The August 27 event will feature Smithson Valley vs. Reagan; Judson vs. Johnson; Steele vs. Brennan. Find tickets and other information at ksat.com/pigskin.
Download the Big Game Coverage mobile app or visit the Big Game Coverage section for high school sports coverage, including game livestreams, from KSAT 12.