Patriots power through Bears to stay unbeaten
PHARR — Mission Veterans’ 2-9 finish to the 2024 campaign was an anomaly for a tradition-rich program that left Patriots with a bad taste in their mouth entering the offseason.
Through spring ball and summer workouts, the Patriots used last season’s disappointment as motivation.
Now, three weeks into the 2025 Texas high school football regular season, Mission Veterans has completely flipped the script from last year’s 0-3 start with an impressive 3-0 record, and the Patriots don’t look like they’re slowing down after securing a dominant 37-14 win over PSJA High on Thursday in non-district action at PSJA Stadium.
The Patriots are now 3-0 for the first time since the 2017 season.
“Hey, 2-9, ain’t too many people coming to your games anymore. ‘Hey media, we’re over here!’,” Mission Veterans head coach David Gilpin joked after the win. “It’s good to see the media back out, covering what we feel is a top five program, and the championship trophies show it. For the last 17 years, we’re in the top five in championship trophies — district and playoff wins — for the Valley.”
The Patriots “Blue Dawg Defense” has been playing lights out football since Week 1 and brought the intensity into its non-district road matchup against the Bears.
The Patriots pass rush was disruptive all night and kept PSJA’s spread offense off track for three and a half quarters before the Patriots pulled their starters in the fourth with a 37-0 lead.
Outside linebacker Ryan Guerra forced a first-quarter safety with a tackle for loss on a swing pass and inside linebacker Cuauhtemoc Labastida was everywhere with solo stops, sacks, and also chipped in with kicking duties on special teams.
It was another complete performance from the Patriots defense, who already have one shutout under their belt this season after a 28-0 victory over crosstown rival Mission High in Week 1.
“Comparing it to last year, this is the best feeling we’ve had in a while,” Labastida said. “We never left, but we feel amazing right now. I’ve never seen a team like this since my freshman year — it’s a new level of fun.”
The Patriots were just as impressive offensively as sophomore quarterback Roman Reyna had Mission Veterans operating like a machine. He threw three touchdowns to three different receivers and punched in a pair of rushing touchdowns by powering through PSJA High’s front line.
His touchdown throws came on a 79-yard bomb to Quinten Valverde after he beat double coverage, a 23-yard dime to Edgar Hernandez down the left sideline, and a 21-yard layup over the middle of the Bears defense to a wide-open Freddy Villarreal, which pushed the Patriots’ lead to 37-0 with 31 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
“I feel like we deserve it. We’ve been working for this through spring ball, summer, we deserve it,” Valverde said. “The biggest change to me is our heart and how much we want it. After last season, we want it all.”
PSJA quarterback Gael Zambrano scored a 6-yard and 7-yard rushing touchdown late in the fourth quarter with reserves in the game for both teams to make the 37-14 final.
PSJA HIgh (0-3) will look to get in the win column for the first time this season in Week 4 as the Bears travel to take on Los Fresnos (3-0) at 7 p.m. Friday at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium in Mission.
Mission Veterans (3-0) now shifts its focus to a non-district matchup against Laredo LBJ (2-0). Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Tom Landry Stadium in Mission.
“We gotta be hungry. We gotta keep acting like we haven’t won yet,” Labastida said. “We gotta go out there and play like we need to win every game.
