BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — At long last, Mission Veterans wide receiver A.J. Gonzaque will be unleashed on the Valley. No more summertime 7-on-7 and no more scrimmages with their encouraging albeit meaningless results. Beginning Friday night, everyone will be keeping score.
Gonzaque would have made his varsity debut as a freshman in the Patriots’ 2017 season opener against Harlingen High. He tore an ACL in spring 2017, keeping him off the field for the entirety of the Patriots’ 10-2 season.
“I’m so blessed to be in a situation where I can play again,” Gonzaque said. “After this injury, a lot of people thought it might hold me back. Thanks to my trainers and coach (David) Gilpin being by my side through rehab, I feel like I’m 100 percent again and do whatever I used to do before I was injured. I want to make my brothers and coach Gilpin proud to see me do what they expect me to do.”
Gonzaque is quite familiar with having a spotlight fixed on him. Three years ago, he appeared on the season three of the reality cable series Friday Night Tykes. One of the youth football teams the show focused on was Gonzaque’s Mission Mustangs, who were then quarterbacked by former teammate and current Mission High Eagle Jeremy Duran.
“I feel the show was an eye-opener to what could happen with more exposure,” Gonzaque said. “It let me see down a path that I liked, but I know there is certain control that you have to have. I had to be more mature and a better role model to people, because I don’t want that rep of being a bad influence. I want people to see me as a good person, and not just as an athlete, but as a person. The exposure was great for me, but I know I need to handle it better and handle it well.”
Gonzaque’s on-field connection with his fellow wideouts as well as senior quarterback Landry Gilpin is growing by the day. Gilpin threw four touchdowns to Gonzaque during their scrimmage against Sharyland Pioneer on Friday night.
“I knew I was coming into Veterans with outstanding athletes already in place,” Gonzaque said. “Landry’s an all-state quarterback, Mikey’s an all-state receiver, Leo (Cantu) has great knowledge on the field and John (Aguilar)’s been really helpful and encouraging from the start.”
“He’s a special player,” Mission Veterans coach David Gilpin said of the sophomore Gonzaque. “He can catch the ball in traffic. He’s big, strong and confident in himself. What’s more important than me believing in him is Landry believing in him. When the quarterback believes in you, the ball is going to be coming to you.”
CAN-TU ATTITUDE
Quarterback Landry Gilpin ran for 1,718 yards and 23 touchdowns last year, which can cause one to assume that he was a one-man running attack for the Patriots. If that is the assumption, junior running back Danny Cantu would like a word.
Cantu was the starting back alongside Gilpin, The Monitor’s 2017 All-Area Player of the Year, but he finished the year as the Patriots’ second-leading rusher with 592 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns.
“When the defense picks him (Landry) up, they leave me open,” Cantu said. “I have my opportunities here and there. Nothing fancy. My job is to run in between the tackles and make it hard for the defense to bring me down.”
Cantu put on 10 pounds of muscle during the offseason.
Gilpin kept Cantu out of Friday’s scrimmage against Sharyland Pioneer as a precaution due to a groin injury, but he expects him to be ready for the Patriots’ opener against the Eagles.
“Those first four days of practice before he got injured, were, just wow,” Gilpin said of Cantu. “Everybody’s eyes were opened. He can catch the ball, too. He can play some receiver for us. He’s got those kinds of hands. We’re working hard as a staff to get him the ball in the passing game, because he doesn’t just have to run between the tackles. He’s already capable of that. He’s another year stronger, another year more confident and another year more knowledgeable than before.”
LOSE SOME, GAIN SOME
The Patriots lost two instrumental pieces to last year’s secondary to graduation: cornerback Aaron Fernandez and safety Giovanni Grimaldo.
In addition to safety Elias Delgado returning, Mission Veterans seniors cornerback Artie Flores and safety Gus Garza will get more playing time. Behind the linebacker position, the Patriots’ secondary is the second strongest part of their defense.
“Guys like Aaron and Gio taught me how to be a better teammate and to be a better man,” Garza said. “I followed their lead.”
Garza did a little bit of everything in 2017, with 76 tackles (22 solo), nine passes defended, three interceptions and three fumble recoveries. Flores had 48 tackles, five tackles for a loss and a caused fumble.
Flores was a part of the Patriots’ 7-on-7 team that qualified for the state tournament earlier this summer.
“That has been a key part of my development of skills,” Flores said. “We’ve spent a lot of that time bonding as teammates. As long as we’re doing well as a team, it doesn’t really matter what I do as an individual.”
“So many kids these days will find any excuse to get out of something: a hard practice or conditioning. Artie doesn’t want to miss anything,” Gilpin said. “The guy has just been a blessing to this program. It hasn’t been a ‘This is my senior year, I have to get right’ thing. He’s been like this since he’s came in to the program.”
MISSION VETERANS’ KEYS TO THE SEASON
Health will be the most important factor in Mission Veterans’ season. The Patriots have the tools at multiple positions to be one of the greatest offenses in recent memory and bring back several defensive starters who were a part of their turnaround from a subpar 2016 defense. Gilpin has his team working toward his goal of a four-round playoff run.
2017 record: 10-2
Returning starters (O/D): 6/5
COACH’S TENURE
Coach: David Gilpin
Year at school: 10th
Record: 65-39