COLLEGE STATION — The final day of the state 7-on-7 tournament Saturday at Veterans Park and Athletic Complex concluded with four of five Rio Grande Valley teams in action securing victories.
Mission Veterans, the lone RGV team to advance to the championship bracket by winning its pool Friday, won its fourth consecutive game in College Station with a 33-27 victory over Midland Christian on Saturday morning.
Quarterback Ricky Reyna and the Patriots receivers came up big all weekend with multiple touchdowns on deep balls. It was their “Blue Dawg Defense,” however, who forced a Midland Christian turnover on downs to emerge victorious.
Mission Veterans went on to lose to Cy Woods 28-19 in Round 2 of the championship bracket.
It was an all-around valiant effort from the Patriots, who finished 4-1 overall at the state tournament, the top mark of RGV teams this year. Mission Veterans had added motivation stemming from a disappointing 2020 regular season.
“We’re coming off a losing season, the first time we haven’t made the playoffs in 10 years. For us to get right back on that horse and understand what this program is all about, our kids found out today — we will be in the fight next year for the district championship and looking for a playoff run. That’s the bottom line,” Mission Veterans football head coach David Gilpin said. “This program was not happy with the way things went last year. … This ain’t real football and we understand that. There’s no offensive line, there’s no defensive line, there’s no helmets or pads, but every one of our skill kids is out here playing right now, and if they’re not playing this, then we’re getting no competition, so it’s been a great two days for our program.”
Mercedes had an opportunity to advance to Saturday’s championship bracket but lost a play-in game Friday, sending it into the consolation bracket. That’s where the Tigers responded with two wins to start the day — 27-21 over El Paso Eastlake and 34-18 over Midlothian. Mercedes went on to lose in the consolation bracket quarterfinals 21-12 against Cy Fair, ending its state tournament appearance with a 3-3 record overall.
Meanwhile, Harlingen South delivered a thriller in its consolation bracket opener as it took five overtimes for the Hawks to pull out a 46-40 victory over El Paso Coronado. Then in Round 2, the Hawks lost 26-13 to Denton Guyer, which advanced to the consolation bracket final.
After suffering three losses during pool play Friday, Harlingen High responded with a convincing 19-7 win over Corpus Christi Carroll. In Round 2, however, the Cardinals were handed a crushing 33-32 loss against Trophy Club Nelson.
Edinburg North faced a tough test in its consolation bracket opener, as the Cougars fell 34-20 against Cy Falls. The Cougars, who were making just their second appearance at the state 7-on-7 tourney, said there were tough lessons learned.
In total, six Rio Grande Valley football teams competed at this year’s state 7-on-7 tournament, including La Feria, which played in the Division II bracket Thursday and Friday.
“The Rio Grande Valley plays great football, point blank. You give me a Harlingen coached team by Manny Gomez and let them on the field with anybody in the state, they’re going to play, and that goes for coaches across the Rio Grande Valley and it goes for our kids,” Gilpin said. “We just played teams from all across the state of Texas and went 4-1. That can be done by Rio Grande Valley kids year in and year out. Our kids are great football players and our coaches are great coaches.”