GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — Once Mission Veterans quarterback Santos Villarreal started to heat up and Mission quarterback Jesus Cuellar went out due to injury, it was only a matter of time before the Patriots put the Eagles away.
Villarreal was slowed early by Mission’s aggressive defense before finishing 24-of-39 passing for 295 yards with a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown as Mission Veterans beat Mission 14-7 on Friday at Tom Landry Stadium.
“It was just mental stuff,” Villarreal said. “We went to halftime, went over some reads. Coach corrected me on some errors and we got the job done.”
Mission Veterans offense struggled to generate anything in the early going, as Villarreal started 4 of 11 for 35 yards.
But he connected on his final seven attempts to close out the first half, racking up 87 yards.
After Vets went three-and-out on two of its first four possessions, Villarreal led a three-play, 55-yard drive that ended with a 10-yard touchdown pass to John Garcia in the left flat. Veterans’ point-after attempt was blocked, allowing Mission to maintain a 7-6 lead heading into halftime.
“Mission got Santos off to a slow start,” coach David Gilpin said. “I didn’t feel like their pressure was getting to us, I felt like we were just off. … There were a lot of things that Mission did to counter Santos, but we just kept banging.”
Mission Vets finally took the lead early in the fourth quarter when Villarreal scored on a sneak to give the Patriots the 14-7 lead that would become final.
Mission Veterans’ defense struggled to contain quarterback Jesus Cuellar and Mission’s spread offense in the early going. Cuellar connected on his first eight passes, amassing 113 yards. He hit six different receivers, as Mission spread the field with four or five wideouts on nearly every snap.
Mission scored on its opening possession, as Cuellar found David Flores on a screen pass. Flores broke one tackle and then streaked into the open field, scampering 38 yards for the score.
Mission moved the ball well on its next two possessions but couldn’t produce points, losing possession on a fumble in Vets territory and having a 30-yard field goal blocked.
But then Cuellar suffered a strained ACL in his left knee on a run late in the first half, and Mission’s offense began to stall.
Backup Williams Arias entered and struggled mightily. Mission failed to gain a first down in the second half, amassing just 9 total yards. Arias threw an interception to safety Kevin Liebano on the Mission’s final offensive play.
“When (Cuellar) went down, we lost our offense, actually,” Mission coach Mario Pena said. “We played on our half of the field the whole second half.”
INJURIES
Liebano left the game limping early in the fourth quarter and was replaced by Villarreal, one of the few times the quarterback entered the game defensively on Friday. Liebano returned to the field after a few plays.
THE STREAK ENDS
Mission entered Friday’s matchup having dominated the series the past three seasons, winning the three meetings by a combined 106-16.
Mission had won five of the past six games between the two.
“We needed to get the Mission monkey off of our back, and we did that tonight,” Gilpin said.
UP NEXT
Mission Veterans travels to Odessa next Saturday to take on Permian at 2 p.m. The Patriots will be the second Valley team to face the six-time state champion and home of Friday Night Lights, as the Panthers open their season against McAllen High at 1 p.m. today in Converse.
Mission will play host to Brownsville Hanna on Friday at 7:30 p.m.