Mission High, Mission Veterans set for Friday turf war

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MISSION, Oct 09, 2009 (The Monitor - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- SOUV | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Mission Veterans Memorial is 3-2. The problem with that is that the Patriots have beaten three teams they were expected to (McAllen Rowe, Harlingen South, Valley View), but lost to two teams they weren't supposed to top (Alice, Mission Veterans).

Friday night, when they face sister-school Mission High, coach David Gilpin and the Patriots can get what he called a "statement" win, one against a team considered better than Mission Veterans.

"We haven't made that statement yet," Gilpin said. "We're looking for a signature win to turn this program around."

For 24 minutes, the Patriots had a chance to make that statement against Mercedes. They went into the half tied at 14 but ended up getting routed 45-21, only scoring in the second half on a Raul Becerril kickoff return.

They'll get another chance against Mission, which routed La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 37-7 last Thursday. Perhaps most importantly for the Eagles, and dangerously for the Patriots, quarterback Gilbert Gonzalez continued to recover from a slow start to the season.

One week after throwing two TD passes in a win against Mercedes, Gonzalez went for four scores and over 400 yards against Juarez-Lincoln. He has also cut down on his turnovers, though he still has thrown 11 interceptions so far.

Mission coach Mario Pena didn't deny the value of Gonzalez's improvement to the Eagles.

"It's very, very important for us to hopefully be peaking at the right time, getting better every week," Pena said. "I think that is critical if you have any intentions of going after that district title.

"He had a slow start, but definitely the last two weeks he has picked it up a notch or two."

Gonzalez's improvement would make beating the Eagles even more important for the Patriots. Any time a team wins a rivalry game, it's big. But beating Mission the way Gonzalez and the Eagles have been the last two weeks would make it even more significant for Gilpin.

"We felt great beating Harlingen South, (McAllen) Rowe and Valley View, those are big wins for us," Gilpin said. "But we're looking for one where every one of these sportscasters and media guys pick everybody against us where can say, 'Nobody expects us to win this football game except for this team and this coaching staff,' and then we go out and do it."

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

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