Lampasas finally got challenged.

After rolling over their first two opponents by a combined score of 85-15, the Badgers' junior varsity team found itself in a fight against San Marcos before pulling out a 20-19 victory at Badger Stadium Thursday evening.

For a while, it appeared the Badgers would cruise to victory, but the Rattlers refused to die in the second half.

Lampasas running back Julian DelaCruz capped off the Badgers' first series of the game with a nineyard touchdown run, and quarterback Brandon Scott added a second score in the second quarter to give the JV a 14-point cushion heading into the second half.

Then the Rattlers awoke.

San Marcos marched 64 yards down the field for its first score of the game and trimmed the lead to seven points with 3:42 left in the third quarter.

Lampasas began a drive that extended into the fourth quarter, but it was interrupted when JoJo Pena intercepted Scott's pass attempt and took it all the way into the end zone. The Rattlers tried to tack on a two-point conversion but were unsuccessful, leaving the Badgers with a one-point advantage at 14-13.

Approximately three minutes later, Lampasas turned the ball over on downs, and San Marcos began its go-ahead drive that ended with a Daniel Nieto touchdown from one yard out. That gave the Rattlers a 19-14 lead after another two-point conversion was botched.

With just over three minutes left in the game, the Badgers started engineering a six-play drive that covered 73 yards. Secody Howard broke free on a first-down carry and ran the ball 38 yards for a touchdown to reclaim the lead for Lampasas with just 58 seconds remaining.

The Rattlers had one last chance to pull out the victory, but Scott intercepted a pass, and the Badgers (3-0) were able to run out the clock.

"The fact that they were able to recover and come back and overcome a little bit of adversity means a lot," JV head coach Keith Virdell said. "That's something we haven't necessarily seen around here a lot. We're trying to change the way we do things in the program, and what we saw on the field tonight was kind of a testament to that."

The Badgers' freshman team was not as fortunate.

Lampasas (0-3) traveled to San Marcos and was shut out by the Rattlers by a score of 8-0.

Both subvarsity squads face Gatesville on the road this week. The freshmen will play at 5:30 p.m. with the JV following at 7 p.m.