Sharyland stuns red-hot Mission Veterans, shakes up District race

MISSION — Mission Veterans entered Friday night as one of the stronger teams in the Rio Grande Valley, riding a four-game winning streak and unbeaten in district play.

Sharyland ended both.

Sophomore quarterback William Taylor accounted for five touchdowns, the Rattlers created key turnovers and converted two fake punts in a 37-29 victory over the Patriots at Tom Landry Stadium.

The win moved Sharyland to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in District 16-5A Division II, one week after the Rattlers defeated Roma. Mission Veterans fell to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in district.

“I think this is huge,” Sharyland head coach Craig Krell said. “Patriots, I said it earlier in the day, I think Patriots probably have the toughest non-district schedule out of anybody in the Valley. And for them to come away with only one loss, it showed how good of a team they are.”

Mission Veterans had recovered from a 56-14 loss to PSJA North by winning four straight, including games against Weslaco and Los Fresnos, and entered Friday in position to contend for a second straight district championship.

Sharyland had been trending upward as well, but closing games had been an issue.

The Rattlers built a 35-7 halftime lead against La Joya before escaping with a 42-41 overtime win. Against Roma, Sharyland again allowed a second-half comeback after building an early advantage.

Krell had repeatedly emphasized the need to play four quarters.

“We talked about, if we wanted to have a chance at the gold ball, it went through this field right here tonight,” Krell said. “The kids responded. We talked about playing four quarters. We played four quarters in all phases, and it was a great win for our program.”

Sharyland took the lead early after recovering a muffed Mission Veterans punt. The Rattlers settled for a 23-yard field goal to go ahead 3-0.

Senior linebacker Leonardo Trujillo then intercepted Mission Veterans quarterback Roman Reyna, giving Sharyland possession near the Patriots’ goal line.

Taylor scored on a designed quarterback run to make it 9-0 after a failed conversion.

“We started the game and we knew we had to set the tone,” Trujillo said. “During halftime, we’ve had very bad second halves, and this time we were like, man, we got to play all quarters if we want to win this game, and we did. We showed up.”

Mission Veterans responded in the second quarter when Reyna scored on a quarterback keeper, cutting the deficit to 9-7.

Taylor answered with his second rushing touchdown to put Sharyland ahead 16-7.

“Just being able to put the team in front, put my body on the line for the team and go score those touchdowns,” Taylor said.

Mission Veterans cut the deficit again when junior running back Joseph Vazquez broke loose for a long touchdown run, making it 16-14.

Sharyland converted a fake punt late in the half and drove to the Mission Veterans 4-yard line, but the Patriots stopped the Rattlers on an untimed down to keep the score 16-14 at halftime.

Sharyland extended the lead on its opening possession of the third quarter when Taylor connected with junior receiver Asdrubal Flores for a touchdown, making it 23-14.

Mission Veterans responded late in the quarter.

Reyna found senior receiver Fabian Ruiz for a touchdown and connected with Ruiz again for the two-point conversion, pulling the Patriots within 23-22.

It was a familiar situation for Sharyland after watching second-half leads shrink in previous weeks.

This time, the Rattlers answered.

Francisco Gomez helped move Sharyland into scoring position early in the fourth quarter before Taylor took advantage of an offsides free play and connected with sophomore Austelio Mendoza for a touchdown.

The extra point made it 30-22.

Taylor finished the night with two rushing touchdowns and three passing touchdowns.

Even after the win, the sophomore focused on his mistakes.

“Maybe not throw a pick,” Taylor said. “I’m very hard on myself, but that’s the expectations I have for myself and I need to do better.”

Sharyland’s defense forced Mission Veterans to punt with less than six minutes remaining.

Facing fourth down on the ensuing possession, the Rattlers went to another fake punt and converted for the second time in the game.

“We play play by play,” Trujillo said. “Every six seconds, we come out here and play. Whatever happened in the past, we let it go and just keep playing the next play.”

With 2:18 remaining, Taylor hit Gomez on a screen, and the senior receiver broke free for a touchdown to extend Sharyland’s lead to 37-22.

Mission Veterans continued fighting until the final snap.

Reyna drove the Patriots down the field and scored on a quarterback run into the corner of the end zone as time expired. Mission Veterans kicked the extra point after time had expired to make the final 37-29.

Unlike its games against La Joya and Roma, Sharyland never surrendered its second-half lead.

Krell said improved communication was part of the difference.

“Early, we’ve blown coverages, we’ve blown stuff like that just because of poor communication,” Krell said. “We stress that. I think we did a lot better job tonight. I don’t think it was perfect, but I think we did a lot better job in terms of our communication and making sure that everybody was on the same page, whether it’s offense or defense.”

The result leaves Sharyland unbeaten in district play after consecutive wins over Roma and Mission Veterans.

It also adds another result to what has been an unpredictable season across the RGV, where several teams have shown they are capable of beating one another on any given week.

Sharyland hosts Juarez-Lincoln at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16. Mission Veterans travels to face Roma at 7 p.m. the same night.

“The biggest thing you got to be able to control as a coach after a big win like this is to come back and keep these kids humble and keep these kids working hard to make sure that there’s no hiccups,” Krell said.