Alvarado leads Mission Veterans Memorial to Super Bowl win

EDCOUCH - The Patriots are Super Bowl Champions.

Mission Veterans Memorial quarterback Rick Alvarado tossed five touchdown passes and the Patriots defense came up with three interceptions as they cruised to a 33-6 win over Rio Hondo in the championship game of the inaugural Rio Grande Valley 7-on-7 Super Bowl at Yellowjacket Stadium.

Mission Veterans beat heavy favorite and host Edcouch-Elsa 47-42 in the championship semifinals as Alvarado threw the winning touchdown pass with seconds left in the contest.

"We knew coming into this tournament that we had a lot of potential and believed that we could do well," said Alvarado, who was selected to the all-tournament team. "We took every game one at a time and took care of business. Hopefully this is a stepping stone of what is to come for our upcoming season.

"Also, beating Edcouch-Elsa on their home turf was big. We have developed a little bit of a rivalry here and last year they beat us at our house in the last 30 seconds of the game. So, we got a little bit of redemption."

Mission Veterans coach Carlos Longoria said he was proud of the way his team played.

"They had fun out there and played very well," Longoria said. "I thought Rick (Alvarado) did a nice job of controlling the offense and our defense stepped it up, even though new were without three linebackers. I am very proud of the kids and now we have to get ready for the upcoming season."

McAllen Rowe won the consolation bracket as it defeated Edcouch-Elsa gold 35-21.

Edcouch-Elsa coach and tournament coordinator Joe Solis said he was pleased with the way things turned out, even though a few teams backed out at the last minute.

"Even though we had about five teams not show up, it was a good tournament," he said. "We had to shuffle a few things around and a few teams ended up getting byes. But it went smooth and everyone seemed happy.

"There was some great competition here and, most importantly, there were no injuries."

The all-tournament team selections were Alvarado, Jonathan Gilpin, Josh Gonzalez, and Joe Tovar of Mission Veterans. Also selected were Ruben Cortez, Dillon Eizember, and Joseph Vela of Rio Hondo.

Rounding out the all-tourney team were Alex Cisneros of Edcouch-Elsa, Nelson Iglesias of Edinburg Economedes, Jesus Quiroz of Brownsville Porter, Roger Garcia of Lyford, and Xavier Perez of Edcouch-Elsa gold.