By Ramiro Paez

956sports.com

MISSION – Mission Veterans Memorial coach David Gilpin breeds the reputation of an intense coach.

And truthfully, that’s the only manner Gilpin knows how to conduct himself in.

The way Gilpin sees it, if a player or coach cannot amp themselves up on a football Friday and run on pure adrenaline and excitement, then the gridiron is no place for them.

“My day starts off at 6 o’clock on a Friday and it just builds for me,” Gilpin said. “Friday nights we’re going to play with a passion and we’re going to play with a fire under our bellies. That’s who I am and what I am. There’s nothing much more that I need than to wake up on a Friday and it’s game day.”

Well, Gilpin won’t have to wait much longer.

The Patriots kick off the season on Aug. 30 against Brownsville Rivera at Tom Landry Landry Stadium. Although it isn’t a Friday, their season opener lands on the first day of high school football in Texas, which sounds even better to Gilpin.

“I cannot wait,” he said. “Right now, the only thing I can tell you is that I cannot wait to get this season started. I’m excited about what we have. I’m excited about what we have lined up for the next three, four years. We’re locked and loaded for the next three, four years. I think Mission Veterans is fixing to put ourselves on the map as we talked about a couple of years back.”

And that’s what this season is all about for the Patriots, who enter their fourth year under the command of Gilpin. Mission Veterans hopes to leave last year’s injury-ravaged, 2-8 season in the rear-view mirror and get back to the tradition the Patriots were working hard at building.

The 2010 team laid a huge foundation of that when it claimed a co-district championship, recorded a school-record 10 victories and advanced to the area-round of the postseason, where it gave a talented Victoria East team all it could handle.

Gilpin says it is nice to remind his team of the kind of things that can be accomplished, but says establishing their own identity should take precedent.

“I talk a lot about doing and creating things first,” Gilpin said. “That team two years ago was the first team to do many different things at our school. But for this team to be the first to do something, they’ve got to win an outright district championship, or they got to have an undefeated season or they got to win at least two playoff games. So the bar is a little higher now.”

Sophomore quarterback Santos Villarreal says his team welcomes those expectations.

“We also want to make a name for ourselves,” Villarreal said. “We could possibly do better than them if we work hard enough. What they had was special, but it could happen with us too. It’s just the hard work you put in.”

And that’s exactly what he’s putting in.

Villarreal is looking to keep developing as a quarterback after he was unexpectedly called on as a freshman last season to take over the offense when Adrian Morales went down three plays into the second game of the season. Although he showed flashes of potential, even leading Mission Veterans to a victory against Hidalgo, Villarreal also showed his inexperience and never made it through the season healthy.

That’s prompted him to make sure he avoids another similar fate.

“I’ve been working every single day,” Villarreal said. “Last year, that was horrible. I don’t want it to happen again.”

It’ll mean a step backwards in Gilpin’s plan, which he won’t have any of.

As Gilpin says, they’ll be “no excuses” this season, even with only seven starters returning. In spite of whatever transpires, the Patriots will be expected to produce with their main focus on claiming an up-for-grabs District 32-4A title and winning in the postseason.

“No matter what happens, we’re going to deal with it and win in spite of whatever happens,” Gilpin said.

Returning Offensive Starters: 3

Returning Defensive Starters: 4

Returning Lettermen: 22

Offensive Players to Watch: Armando Alvarado, senior, OL; Isaac Guerrero, senior, WR; Santos Villarreal, sophomore, QB

Defensive Players to Watch: Matt Rodriguez, senior, nose tackle; Hector Garza, senior, ILB; Andrew Ochoa, junior, OLB; Julian Meza, junior, saftey

Last Year’s Record: 2-8

Last Time Made Playoffs: 2010 (area, Victoria East)