HIDALGO — The last game of Mission High defensive back Luis Briseño’s 2020 season ended on the turf of Tom Landry Stadium after suffering a devastating leg injury.
Briseño’s first game back on the field, Thursday night against crosstown rival Mission Veterans at Hidalgo’s Bill Pate Stadium, was a highlight reel performance as the senior safety came through with three interceptions to help Mission High earn a 13-12 win in their season opener.
“It’s an amazing feeling coming back and having a good game like this and beating our rival team. It’s definitely something I’ll never forget,” he said. “I was just trying to bait him (the quarterback), trying to get him to throw the ball to where I could get to and try to make a play.”
The game was an offensive struggle throughout as both defensive units took turns making plays, but the Eagles’ defense made more, winning the turnover battle 6-2. The Mission High victory was the first for first-year head coach Danny Longoria, and the fourth in a row for the Eagles over the rival Patriots.
“It’s exactly what I expected. It was a showdown,” he said. “I expected a battle, but at the end of the day, I think our boys believe in each other and that came through tonight. It didn’t matter what happened during the middle of the game, at the end of the game, we held onto each other and pulled a W through for each other.”
Mission High quarterback Kevin Guerra accounted for both Eagles’ touchdowns as threw his first score to Josiah Guzman during the first half and punched in his second on the ground from two yards out for the go-ahead score during the third quarter. Fellow defenders Luis Balderas, Sebastian Balderas and Joel Pedraza also came up with key interceptions.
Longoria credited his senior group for pulling through in their season opener. He chose his senior defensive back Briseño to lead the Eagles break after the win.
“He is a young man that showed the resiliency the team showed today, he showed it the moment he got that injury and in coming back. That’s the type of senior leadership we have right now,” Longoria said. “We got the front line that rushed the heck out of the quarterback and gave him the opportunity. The boys did a great job overall as a team, coaching staff did a good job, and yeah we have stuff to clean up, but at the end of the day, we’re going to have a good season because we have good kids.”
Mission Veterans’ quarterback Ricky Reyna tossed two touchdowns on the night, one to Vincent Abrego and another to Marckopolo Cavazos during the fourth quarter. Special teams hurt the Patriots, however, as their first extra point attempt fell short and the second was a low snap which resulted in a blown up attempt, keeping the score 13-12.
“Credit to Mission, they won the game. It was a physical ball game on both sides,” said Mission Veterans head coach David Gilpin. “We got some lessons to learn and a huge film session tomorrow.”
