Eagles vs. Patriots in the Battle of Conway
Celtics and Lakers, Longhorns and Sooners, Red Sox and Yankees, Blue Devils and Tar Heels, regular season Cowboys and playoff Cowboys, these are some of the greatest sports rivalries of all time.
These rivalries don’t just happen naturally. It takes time for a rivalry to really become a rivalry. It takes the heart, body, and mind to come together; a combination of love, strength, and power. It takes a group of individuals that work together to accomplish their goals. A group of individuals that practice what they preach and play their tails off to be the best. But that doesn’t make the rivalry. It takes one more thing. The secret ingredient: Someone that wants to prove them wrong.
Tonight, Tom Landry Stadium will host the Battle of Conway; an annual football matchup between two teams from one city…the Mission Eagles and the Mission Veterans Patriots.
This will be the 23rd iteration of the rivalry. In the 22 games played, the Eagles have won 13 of those matchups while the Patriots have won nine. The Eagles had their way with the Patriots in the mid 2000’s to early 2010’s, but slowly the Patriots started bringing home wins in the mid 2010’s and early 2020’s.
Last year, the Patriots took a 42-30 win over the Eagles. This was not only the 9th win of this rivalry, but also Patriots’ head coach David Gilpin’s 100th career win. The Eagles got off to a hot start in that game, but the Patriots contained themselves and lapped the Eagles for the win.
This year could be very different. For starters, the Eagles have the luxury of returning a majority of their key players while the Patriots will be trotting out a lot of new, but familiar faces.
The Eagles have a high powered offense led by the superstar duo of quarterback Diego Salinas and running back Thomas Aparicio. Salinas accumulated over 2,800 yards passing and rushing with 24 touchdowns while Aparicio surpassed 1,300 yards and 17 touchdowns last year. Whether it be in the passing game or the running game, this offense is going to keep the Patriots defense on their toes all game.
The Patriots graduated their quarterback Braden Luedeker last season, so there will be a new signal caller under center. The new face will be junior Cameron Sarinana, a talented and hard-working quarterback that is sure to make his name known starting tonight. Sarinana will be accompanied by a young group of offensive weapons, but together they make for an impressive unit with a ton of potential. If the Eagles aren’t diligent enough, they could fall victim to this aspiring offense.
When it comes to the defense of both of these teams, they’re hard-nosed and second to none. Both of these will have a lot to deal with against their opposing offenses, but both groups are filled with playmakers in the pass and rush game.
Both the Eagles and Patriots dealt with their number of changes, whether that be mindset or personnel, but one thing remains the same: they want to win this game; not only for themselves, but for their school, their administrators, their coaches, their classmates, their families, and most importantly for their city.
Progress Times got the chance to speak to Eagles head coach Danny Longoria about this massive game, “I don’t care who the more talented team is or who has the most wins in the past, that goes out the window come game time. It’s blue and white vs. maroon and white.”
Longoria continued on about keeping up this tradition, “It’s a massive tradition. You know it, we know it, everyone knows it. You see the blue streamers on the East side of Conway and the maroon streamers on the West side of Conway. You know it’s coming. The kids embrace it on both sides and we both thrive in this competition. All I want to see is great Mission kids getting after each other and playing great football. This is what we’re all looking forward to.”
Longoria spoke about Patriots’ head coach David Gilpin and what he’s told him about the game, “David told me this and I will repeat it over: This is Mission. Mission gets to see a show between the Patriots and Eagles in the Battle of Conway. Nobody else gets this. That has stuck with me.”
Progress Times got to speak to Gilpin about the importance of this game, “For every goal that we have right now, everything is on hold until that game is over. Our one goal is to win the Battle of Conway.” Gilpin went on to say, “There’s only two high schools in this city and only one team can win that game. That team is going to have bragging rights. That team, that school, those supporters will have that. We want our administration to be proud, we want our band to be proud, we want our cheerleaders to be proud, we want our student body to be proud. Whether they go to that game or not, they will know who won that game. They may not know who won the next game, but everyone on our campus will know whether we won or lost that game. It doesn’t matter if they were at it or they were not, it’s the nature of the beast.”
Gilpin continued, “Losses in the Battle of Conway are tough and wins are really, really fun. That one evening, everyone has it circled on their calendar; our kids, their kids, our coaches, their coaches, our fans, their fans. It is what it is. It is a very big game in the City of Mission.”
Anyone from the City of Mission knows exactly what this is. It’s one of the most important games of the year and one of the biggest events in the city. This game showcases some of Mission’s finest athletes on the field of one of the most beautiful stadiums in the country. For one night only, you get to witness the glory that is Mission in its entirety.
If you’re wondering why the City of Mission isn’t buzzing tonight from 7pm to 10pm, it’s going to be because we’ll all be at Tom Landry Stadium cheering loudly for our favorites and for our city. If you’re ready and willing to have a great time, come on down to the stadium and watch what these two teams have been working towards since the end of last year. All of the hard work, dedication, emotions, blood, sweat, and tears will be put on display as these two teams go at it against each other. This rivalry is real, but without it, we’d be remiss of the opportunity to see what greatness really is.
Progress Times wishes the best of luck two these two teams as they kick off the season with a bang. The 23rd edition of the Battle of Conway kicks off tonight at Tom Landry Stadium at 7pm. See you there.