Mission Veterans finished with a 1-3 record in district last fall, that was just good enough to claim the fourth and final playoff spot in district. A lot of young players got playing time on last year's squad, including quarterback Roman Reyna.

He saw action as a freshman during the back half of the year and showed flashes as a young player. Now, he's ready to fully take on the leadership role at the position this fall as still one of the younger players on varsity.

"He's a young sophomore... But the kid can sling it," Patriots head coach David Gilpin said of his young QB. "He's an outstanding quarterback for the next three years and his brother was a three-year starter for us. He's in the long line of great quarterbacks that we've had."

"Games from last season, they really helped me out," Reyna said. "Knowing what to expect looking into this next season... I feel like I should be ready for it."

On the defensive side, the Patriots feel that could be the biggest strength.

A few key holes were filled this offseason and Coach Gilpin feels confident in the players chosen for the job.

"Defensively we're going to be strong again," Coach Gilpin said. "Our linebackers, our safeties. We have found in the offseason some corners that we're really excited about."

"We always have the bulldog mentality," Mission Veterans senior outside linebacker Chauhtemoc Labastida said. "We always work hard in the weight room, it's always energy in there, everybody's always putting in efforts, we all want to win. Even after last season we got a good defense, but we just need to dominate even more this year."

Mission Veterans starts the season with the rivalry matchup against Mission High. They begin district play against Sharyland in Week 7.