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MISSION — A year ago Mission High didn’t play any games at the newly renovated Tom Landry Hall of Fame Stadium. This year, on their home turf, Mission celebrated their first playoff appearance since the 2012 season with a 21-14 win over La Joya High on Friday.
The Eagles (8-2, 5-2) were able to hang onto a narrow lead all evening to keep the Coyotes out of postseason play.
Impactful defense and the combination of junior Tito Moronata and freshman quarterback Jeremy Duran on offense was enough to hold off La Joya (6-4, 3-4).
Even though the Eagles were led by a freshman under center, Detmer gave a shout out to his senior group that gets a taste of the postseason in their final run.
“It’s really special,” Detmer said. “That group has been through a tough stretch. They hadn’t had a winning season let alone seeing a playoff season. Every year that they’ve experienced has been losing more games than you win. So to see those guys and all the hard work that they put, they were freshman when (the coaching staff) first got here in the spring, to see them finally get over the hump and put together a good season, it’s a big deal.”
Moronta scored a rushing touchdown to give Mission a 6-0 heading into halftime. Fellow running back, who doubles as a linebacker, Andrew Maldonado had an interception in the red zone with time running out in the second quarter to preserve the lead.
“The defense was awesome all night and they’ve been great all year. Particularly the last three weeks they’ve been outstanding. La Joya is a really good offensive team. They’re tough to stop, big offensive line, big (running) back and they run the ball well on everybody. For our defense to go out there and have the night they did was really special.”
Duran found Moronta in the air for a passing score and hit his big tight end Rey Garcia for his second passing touchdown.
Mission High will play Laredo United on the road next Friday in the Class 6A Div. 1 playoffs.
DISTRICT 31-6A
WESLACO HIGH 57, EDINBURG NORTH 6: At Weslaco, junior receiver Jaden Cavazos returned the game’s opening kickoff for a touchdown and the Panthers (9-1, 5-1) never looked back.
The Panthers clinched the first seed in Division I and will face Harlingen High in the opening round. The game is set for 7:30 Friday night at Bobby Lackey Stadium in Weslaco.
DISTRICT 16-5A DI
PSJA MEMORIAL 17, DONNA HIGH 14: At Donna, PSJA Memorial (4-6, 4-5) ended the year with its fourth district win in five games, led by its senior tailback.
Senior running back Joaquin Sanchez ran for both of the Wolverines’ touchdowns to help PSJA Memorial to a 17-0 lead.
Donna High (6-4, 5-4) needed to win to make the postseason, but they end the year on the outside looking in.
PSJA SOUTHWEST 46, BROWNSVILLE PORTER 7: At Pharr, the Javelinas (4-6, 4-5) ended the season with their fourth district win over the Cowboys.
Brownsville Porter finished 1-9 overall and an 0-9 district record.
DISTRICT 16-5A DII
VALLEY VIEW 35, LAREDO CIGARROA 0: At Laredo, Valley View exorcised several demons in Week 11. The Tigers made up for losing to the Toros in the 1-9 campaign last season, Valley View won its program-best seventh game of this season and clinched its first-ever playoff spot all in one night.
“When our seniors started playing varsity ball, the previous team was 0-10,” Valley View coach Elifonso Esquivel said. “We started three years ago together and we improved every year. These boys took our program from 0-10 to 7-3 and a spot in the state playoffs. We’re still fired up. We had a great turnout of Valley View fans here in Laredo.”
One of Esquivel’s seniors, wide receiver/safety Javier Lopez, caught his fourth touchdown pass of the season.
“Javier played on an all-district level all season,” Esquivel said. “He’s the No. 1 receiver in yards and (quarterback) Simon Fernandez will end the regular season as the No. 1 passer.”
Valley View, the No. 4 seed in District 16-5A DII, will play in its first playoff game at Corpus Christi Calallen next Friday at 7:30 p.m.
MERCEDES 28, ROMA 18: At Roma, the Tigers overcame a halftime deficit to clinch a playoff spot in Roma.
Mercedes (5-5, 4-2) jumped out to a 14-0 lead before the Gladiators (3-7, 2-4) roared back to take a 18-14 lead into the locker room.
“I reminded my players about Mercedes making the playoffs 12 seasons in a row,” Mercedes coach Roger Adame Jr. said. “They worked really hard to get to this point. A lot of people didn’t give you a chance to be at this point. We knew they had this in them.”
The Tigers got a second-half touchdown from sophomore Josiah Cantu to retake the lead. Sonny Vela’s second touchdown of the game vaulted Mercedes to a double-digit lead and the No. 3 seed in District 16-5A DII.
Mercedes will take another long bus ride north to face San Antonio Southside next Friday at 7:30 p.m.
DISTRICT 16-4A DI
ZAPATA 28, GRULLA 13: At Zapata, the Gators (3-7, 1-3) will face La Vernia in the bi-district round, with the site and time still to be determined.
KINGSVILLE KING 48, HIDALGO 0: At Kingsville, the Pirates (2-8, 0-4) are officially eliminated from the playoffs.
DISTRICT 16-2A DII
LA VILLA 35, PREMONT 6: At La Villa, the Cardinals (6-4, 3-1) got rolling early and were able to put the ballgame away quickly.
“It is a great feeling,” La Villa coach Daniel Perez said. “This is my second year, and both years we have gotten second. The kids are excited and the whole community is excited.
The Cardinals will face Runge (3-7, 2-3) in a bi-district matchup with a neutral site and the day and time still to be determined.
“We have been working on the same thing all year, and they came out and executed the way we wanted to,” Perez said. “We are not going to change anything now, we like what we have and we like how we are playing, heading into the playoffs.”