WESLACO — Mission High will roll out its third different starting quarterback in three years once the high school football season arrives in August.
It’s safe to say the Eagles and their new signal caller, sophomore Diego Salinas, are off to a good start.
Mission High punched its ticket to the 2022 State 7-on-7 Tournament by winning its bracket at the Weslaco Mid Valley Classic 7-on-7 State Qualifying Tournament on Saturday at Weslaco East High School. PSJA North claimed the other state qualifying spot by winning its bracket at La Feria High School.
“All it is is working together. We got each other, that’s it,” Mission High senior receiver Josiah Guzman said. “Our defense came through when we needed them, our offense did the same thing. I’m just proud of all my boys.”
Mission High and PSJA North join McAllen Rowe, San Benito, Santa Rosa and Sharyland High as Rio Grande Valley teams qualified for the 2022 State 7-on-7 Tournament on June 23-25 at Veterans Park and Athletic Complex in College Station.
The Eagles finished 3-0 in pool play Saturday with wins over Laredo Alexander (14-12), PSJA High (28-13) and Harlingen High (26-14) to earn a spot in the state qualifying game against Mercedes.
Mission High then took care of business against Mercedes with a convincing 33-20 win. The Eagles’ defense forced the Tigers into three turnovers on downs and the offense scored each time it touched the ball. The sophomore quarterback Salinas connected with his senior receiver Guzman for three touchdowns to help lead the Eagles past the Tigers. Salinas finished with five touchdown throws against Mercedes.
“They’re making it easy for me because they’re always open,” Salinas said of the Eagles’ skill-position players.
“(Salinas is) a young leader. He’s an incoming sophomore, a real young leader, but he can lead this team. I believe in him,” Guzman said.
PSJA North will be making its first trip to the state 7-on-7 tourney in program history after defeating Mission Veterans 19-13 in the state qualifying game at La Feria. The Raiders won their pool with victories against Edcouch-Elsa (33-0), Edinburg North (25-6) and PSJA Memorial (32-0) to set up a state qualifying game against Mission Veterans, which qualified for the previous two state tournaments in 2019 and 2021.