Eagles beat Wildcats to win share of 32-4A title

MISSION — Joaquin Rios just couldn’t stop smiling after Mission High’s 42-35 win over Weslaco East. When he was doing interviews, he was smiling. Taking photos with classmates, smiling. Jogging over to the stands to accept congratulations from fans … yep, still smiling.

“It’s wild,” Rios said of the Eagles’ celebrations. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”

Rios’ 6-yard touchdown run with 53 seconds left gave Mission High a 42-35 lead and was set up by a crucial error from the Weslaco East special teams. Tied at 35 with 1:22 left, the Wildcats attempted to punt from their own 42. But the snap went over punter Catarino Salazar’s head, with him eventually recovering and getting tackled at his own 4, leading to Rios’ score and eventually the Eagles’ final stop and locking up a share of the 32-4A title.

If and when the Eagles do clinch it outright, they will be reaching another of the goals they set this preseason. Usually, a team that won four games the previous year and hadn’t won a district title since 1993 doesn’t openly speak of going undefeated in district play and being one of the best teams in the area.

These Eagles did that, boldly predicting they’d be the ones to dethrone Edcouch-Elsa and restore their program to where it has been in the past while anything less would be a disappointment. They took another step toward reaching their goals Friday, and can complete their regular season task in one week.

“We can enjoy it tonight. It’s a great victory,” said Eagles coach Mario Pena, who like Rios, was having a hard time getting rid of his grin. “Tomorrow, we start getting ready for Valley View.”

For much of the night, it was far from certain that the Eagles would be able to celebrate the way they did.

Thanks to two long fourth-quarter touchdown runs by Addison Einhorn, Weslaco East took a 35-28 lead with 6:56 left. But less than two minutes later, Mission quarterback Gilbert Gonzalez hit Mike Reynoso in stride for a 62-yard TD pass to tie the game with 5:04 left, leading up to the bad snap and another difficult finish for East.

Just eight days ago, the Wildcats were 7-0 and looked like the co-favorite (with Mission) to win the district title. But last week they allowed Mercedes to rally from a 17-7 halftime deficit to lose their undefeated season. Against the Eagles, they lost any chance at a district title.

“We’re going to keep on doing what we’ve been doing,” Weslaco East coach Armando Cuellar said. “We never quit. I could not ask more of our kids.”

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, that won’t be enough to get them what Mission earned on Friday.

Just last season, the Eagles were 4-7 and looked like anything but the latest team from one of the Valley’s most historic programs. When he was hired, Pena talked about bringing his alma mater back to prominence and continuing the lineage of success started by Tom Landry and continued by people like Nati Valdez and Koy Detmer.

“It’s unbelievable. I can’t see this team with those greats,” said Rios, who had three rushing scores. “I guess we’re up there now.”

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