Mission Veterans falls short in upset bid of Flour Bluff

KINGSVILLE — The dried blood was still on the right cheek of Mission Veterans Memorial coach David Gilpin’s face. A few yards away, Patriots quarterback Eddie Mendiola limped off the field with what he said was a torn right hamstring.

Despite their 55-35 Class 4A, Division I bi-district loss to heavily-favored Flour Bluff, neither seemed to regret anything. And both personified what the Patriots did both Thursday night and this season, regardless of the loss.

“I’m a first-year head coach. I look these guys in the eyes and they’re dependent on me to be strong. And right now I don’t feel strong,” Gilpin said. “Right now, I want to give them a hug and hug my wife and tell her I love her, and everything we’ve been through.”

Gilpin, who finished his first season 6-5, said he didn’t know how he started bleeding. When somebody on the Patriots sideline asked if he wanted a napkin to wipe the blood, Gilpin quickly responded no. Mendiola, who missed last week’s game against Weslaco East, only missed the last series of the game, when the Hornets led by 20.

Mendiola, in his final game, threw for 349 yards and five touchdowns and at times could barely run.

“I went through a lot of pain. I take it, not just me but the whole team. If I get hurt, everybody gets hurt. If someone else gets hurt, we all go down and we all go down hard,” Mendiola said. “We all go up together.”

The Patriots took a 14-0 lead with 4:38 left in the first quarter on Mendiola touchdown passes to Kent Warren for 16 yards and Joe Tovar for 91. Mendiola would find both Tovar and Warren again with 3:29 left in the third to tie the game at 35. Tovar’s 24-yard reception pulled the Patriots to within two, and Warren’s catch in the corner of the end zone tied the game.

Tovar ended the night with six catches for 165 yards and three scores.

His third TD marked the end of Mission Veterans’ scoring, however. With 1:37 left in the third, Flour Bluff QB Jackson Bonnette’s 49-yard TD run put the Hornets back on top for good.

On the night, Bonnette rushed for 229 yards on 14 carries with four scores, including two to help repel the Patriots.

“We knew it was going to be a dog fight,” Flour Bluff coach Darrell Andrus said. “They sure as hell proved that.”

Through Gilpin’s first season coaching the Patriots, he continually spoke of how important this year was for the program. He saw how Mission Veterans had a habit of fading into mediocrity and obscurity and that a foundation needed to be built.

Though the Patriots lost, maybe they took another step toward that goal Thursday.

“The kids came together as a family tonight,” Gilpin said.

Brian Sandalow covers District 32-4A for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436 or via e-mail at bsandalow@themonitor.com.