NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — Three years ago, Koy Detmer landed back in Mission to coach his alma mater and revitalize the program.
A season ago, the foundation was laid. The Eagles showed some improvement by scoring 50 more points and bumping their record a game from the previous campaign.
Now, the structure is almost complete, as Mission High is 3-0 thanks in large part to a select group of players who see action on both offense and defense.
“Those guys, of course, we see them as really good athletes, and we knew we had some versatile type of players,” Detmer said. “We made the decision a little bit out of seeing they have special abilities, a little bit out of necessity to make sure that we had depth. Another part is they enjoy playing football. (We’re) finding a way to get them on the field, as many snaps as we can, with the ability to impact the game.”
Steve Villarreal, Andrew Maldonado, Horacio Moronta, Al Tijerina, Sebastian Gonzalez and Aleksander Gomez are all players who are regularly used both ways.
The willingness to put in the extra work is part of the reason they relish the role.
“All it takes is discipline, hard work, conditioning,” Villarreal said. “You have to stay focused in practice. The challenges are, you can take the pain of going both ways, or you only go one.”
The receiver and defensive back, who also shines on the baseball diamond, already has three interceptions, including one that went back for six points against Donna North.
Villarreal uses his speed in both positions. The trait was one he had to use when he lived in Odessa for two years before moving back to Mission in time for his sophomore season. He played both ways in West Texas on his middle school and subvarsity squads.
“Up there, everybody’s quick,” Villarreal said. “The game up there is just fast. It’s a quick game.”
On defense, several of the top tacklers come from that group. Gomez has nine tackles. Gonzalez and Maldonado have five apiece.
Maybe the Eagles are channeling their former all-state linebacker/running back Steven De Leon, who frequently led the team in tackles, then turned around to lead the team in rushing and pound his way to three-touchdown nights.
What looks different compared to the teams that De Leon was a part of is the depth the Eagles enjoy these days.
“This year, I’ll tell you we’ve had as good of a team attitude and mindset as I’ve seen,” Detmer said. “The whole group, whether they’re going both ways or not. It’s been really neat to see, and it’s a big reason we’re having the success we’re having.”
Tijerina plays safety and wide receiver. He uses the knowledge from each to feed the other.
“When I’m on receiver, I kind of know what the safety is going to do,” Tijerina said. “I’m on slot, so the safety is always on me. When I’m on safety, I know what the slot receiver is going to do. I enjoy playing it, because it’s fun. Not a lot of people get to be on the field.”
Linebacker play has been another key to Mission’s 3-0 non-district record. Alongside Gomez, the top two rushers Moronta (343 yards) and Maldonado (97 yards) both line up as LBs.
Maldonado, who has some of the same powerful attributes De Leon utilized, is only a sophomore, but he’s already improving from his eyebrow-raising freshman season.
“I’ve been playing since middle school both ways to learn how to play running back, reading the blocks,” Maldonado said. “It was a faster game play from middle school to playing varsity. It’s gotten better this year, figuring our coverages and everything.”
The two-way athletes spend a day practicing one side of the ball, then practice with the other group the next. Splitting time and rotating every drive, or even every play, has also become commonplace on the field.
“We trust each other to go out there and play, because we’re all out here in practice going hard,” Maldonado said. “It’s next man up, and we trust that that dude is going to do what he needs to do.”