Mission High overcomes sloppy play to win

HIDALGO — Turnovers. Penalties. Major injuries. Touchdowns called back. And that was for a Mission High team that won.

After nearly three quarters of bad football, the Eagles caught fire and burned Valley View 51-19 to claim the 32-4A District crown Friday night at Tiger Stadium and set their eyes on the playoffs. It wasn’t pretty and coach Mario Peña, who still believes in his very talented club, said he was dissatisfied with his team’s performance to end the season.

“I know we’re a better team than we played here tonight,” Peña said. “I give Valley View credit. They came out and played hard especially since they had not won a district game. We’re a little banged up, but we’re going to take this next week, get well and be ready for Alice. The records go out the window when you are in the playoffs.”

Friday night, for almost three quarters, it looked as if the teams had identical records and not the complete opposite.

Valley View (1-9, 0-7) drew first blood with Miguel Mata’s 57-yard burst up the middle to take a 6-0 lead, and it wasn’t until the end of the second quarter that Mission (9-1, 7-0) put up two quick scores before halftime to go up 23-6. But in the third, the Tigers scored again to make it 23-12 Mission, and it looked as if the Tigers had momentum on their side.

At the end of the third, however, Mission’s talent took over and Gilbert Gonzalez, who finished with 174 yards passing on an array of long bombs and short strikes, connected with Mike Reynoso on a 37-yard pass play to put the Eagles up 30-12. Gonzalez ran for another score a few minutes later after Valley View’s defense was slow coming out of a time out and made the score 37-12. That score sealed the deal.

For Valley View, the loss made for another long year. But a silver lining in the Tigers’ season was the performance of senior running back Miguel Mata. He torched Mission and Valley View’s blue turf for 197 yards on 18 carries. Mata’s unofficial 1,038 yards on the season makes him the first running back from Valley View to gain over 1,000-yards rushing, according to coaches. Mata said although the season has been very disappointing, he set a goal for 1,000 yards rushing before the season.

“Tonight I was trusting my team,” he said. “This isn’t about me. It’s about us as a team.”

The other team, however, will be the one moving on in the playoffs, and it will do so without key defensive back Justin Garcia who, according to Peña, broke his leg on a special teams play in the first half. He was carted off the field on a stretcher and put in an ambulance.