Lobos win district opener 35-21 over Mission

Palmview coach Margarito Requenez used last week’s bye well. His team was fresh and ready when they visited the Mission Eagles. From the start, the Lobos’ big and strong offensive line opened up huge holes for junior running back Joel Pina.

“He’s our whole offense,” Requenez said. “We knew he was something special last year. We made sure he was going to be ready for this season.”

On their first play from scrimmage, the Lobos ran to the 2-yard line, and scored on the next play, only two minutes into the game. Though Mission answered soon after, the Lobos and Eagles traded fumbles with Palmview tallying the next touchdown. Pina ended the first half scoring with a three yard scamper.

Pina broke free for another long run midway through the third quarter. A horse collar penalty on Mission brought the ball half the distance to the goal line, and Pina made a 2-yard run for the score. The Lobos never looked back after that, though they did allow Mission a second half touchdown with the game put away in the fourth quarter.

Robert Martinez was the workhorse for Mission, picking up hard-earned running yardage all night, and scoring two of the Eagles’ three touchdowns. Neither team had much of a passing attack, with Lobo quarterback Andrew Puente content to hand off to Pina or Misal Guerra. Mission senior William Arias played most of the game at quarterback, though head coach Mario Pena brought in Rudy Trevino late in the game to try some catch-up passing.

The win gave the Lobos a 1-0 record in District 30-6A and dropped the Mission Eagles to 0-2.