The Dallas Cowboys’ season may be over, but one of the Rio Grande Valley’s brightest high school football stars will take the field Sunday at AT&T Stadium, the home of the Cowboys, to play against some of the top competition in the nation.
Mission Veterans all-state senior wide receiver AJ Gonzaque is among 50 of the nation’s top 2021 football prospects selected to play in the Pylon 7on7 All-American Game this weekend, which is scheduled to be played from 1-3 p.m. Sunday at AT&T Stadium in Dallas.
“Since 2006, Pylon has delivered an electrifying twist on the traditional ‘11 on 11’ game. Pylon 7 on 7 Football is to be a vessel for high school and youth athletes to be seen by college programs, compete at a high level and further develop their football specific skill set,” the Pylon 7on7 website reads. “The Pylon 7on7 Football National Championship Series has seen over 3,200 Division I athletes and 300+ NFL players pass through on their road to stardom.”
Mission Veterans senior receiver @AJ_Gonzaque is in Dallas this weekend preparing to play in the @Pylon7on7 All-American Game at AT&T Stadium on Sunday against 49 other top 2021 prospects. here’s a couple clips of him at practice today.
🎥: Reel Grande #RGVFootball #txhsfb pic.twitter.com/iDDgnCdic4— bryan (@bybryanramos) January 10, 2021
Gonzaque is on Team Stripes where he’ll be on the receiving end of passes from quarterbacks Luke McAllister (Colorado State), JJ McCarthy (Michigan) and Brayden Schager (Hawaii). Team Stripes and Gonzaque will be playing against Team Stars, which features defensive backs headed to Southern California, UCLA and BYU.
The Mission Veterans senior Gonzaque currently holds scholarship offers from Division I universities Mercer and Morgan State.
| Mission Veteran’s AJ Gonzaque (1) makes a one-handed catch for a touchdown as Mission defender Jose Tovar (19) defends on the play during the first half of a high school football game at Tom Landry Hall of Fame Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 14,2020. Photo by Delcia Lopez/The Monitor | [email protected] Delcia Lopez |
In six games as a senior this season, Gonzaque recorded 45 catches for 758 yards and 10 touchdowns, despite being double-teamed on the majority of plays.
Gonzaque wrapped up his high school football career as the RGV’s No. 3 all-time leader at the UIL level with 34 touchdown catches, according to TexasHighSchoolFootballHistory.com, and ranks No. 4 all-time in the RGV in receiving yards with 2,731 in 31 career games. He also rushed for 538 yards and seven touchdowns, and added 1,288 passing yards and 20 passing touchdowns as a fill-in at quarterback due to injury for Mission Veterans during the 2019-20 season.
The Pylon 7on7 All-American Game will be played from 1-3 p.m. Visit @Pylon7on7 on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.