The 1990 Mission High Eagles
100 Greatest - No. 6 Team: 1990 Mission High EaglesAugust 4, 2008 - 10:36PM
Jason McDaniel / The MonitorIf not for the No. 1 team in the country at the time, Mission High's 1990 squad might have checked in at No. 1 on the list of the Rio Grande Valley's all-time greatest football teams.
Instead, the 1990 Eagles settle for No. 6 after compiling almost 5,000 passing yards - a number unheard of at the time - and advancing to the state semifinals, where they played in front of the largest crowd to witness a high school game inside Houston's Astrodome.
"I think we would have won state had we not had to play (Houston) Aldine (in the Class 5A Division II state semifinals)," said Sonny Detmer, Mission's coach from 1989 to 1997.
The well-rounded squad widely is regarded as one of the Valley's best to date.
But at the time expectations were low going into the 1990 season, said then-quarterback Koy Detmer, Sonny's son who played college and professional football.
"The year before we had missed the playoffs, we didn't go, so we were just at that point where we wanted to make the playoffs and just take advantage, as much as we could, of each and every game," Koy said.
The Eagles also didn't know how much Koy would play. The year before, Koy endured a back injury he first felt while opening a refrigerator door at his house. He ended up missing "four or five" games, into which Willie Rodriguez stepped in and played well.
When Koy returned healthy in 1990, Rodriguez didn't immediately relinquish the job, resulting in a QB rotation for half the year. Koy finished with 3,685 passing yards and 43 passing touchdowns, Rodriguez passed for close to 1,000 yards and third-string QB Jeremy Brann had about 300, Sonny said.
"I played both of them because both were good and we were winning by 50 points, and they were both going to play anyway, so I rotated starting them because I've always tried to play my No. 2 quarterback if it was possible, if I had a real good guy at No. 2," Sonny said.
In fact, Koy barely played in one of the team's toughest regular-season games, a 20-17 win over PSJA High that helped Mission clinch its second district title since 1969. Rodriguez played most of the way, but Koy entered with the Eagles trailing and less than two minutes remaining. He promptly led them downfield to score the game-winning TD on a pass to tight end Ben Gonzalez.
The Eagles avenged their only regular-season loss in the area playoffs, 24-14 over Alice. The Coyotes earlier beat Mission 50-49 after surviving a furious comeback attempt in which the Eagles went for two and the win but came up short.
Mission manhandled San Antonio Madison 59-17 in the state quarterfinals after an unlikely tackle by hard-hitting safety Robert Perez, who despite his diminutive stature upended a huge fullback intent on crushing him. Sparked by the play, the Eagles scored five TDs in the next eight minutes, burying the Mavericks.
The led to Mission's historic trip to Houston, where it became the first Valley team to play in the Astrodome. One local report indicated about 15,000 fans made the trip from South Texas and roughly 42,000 people filled the stands, making Mission's game against Aldine one of the highest attended in state history.
Though Mission lost 54-21 to finish 12-2, Koy set a state record that still stands with 73 passes attempted against Aldine. That number was second in the nation in 1990 and still ranks fourth. He completed 41 passes for 378 yards and three TDs.
"We flew up there, so that was crazy in itself that we got to fly up there," Koy said. "We went the night before, so it was like we were a college team, and that was awesome."
Jason McDaniel covered high school football for The Monitor. You can reach the sports department at (956) 683-4402. For more local stories, visit
www.rgvsports.com.
WHY THEY VOTED
Here's a summary of Mission High's 1990 season, which played a major part in their ranking at No. 6: The Eagles advanced to the Class 5A Division II state semifinals, the furthest playoff trip to date for the school.
The Eagles averaged 449.5 yards per game during the regular season, boasted the RGV's top two scorers in Angel Alvarez (108 points) and Rudy Pinon (102), and totaled close to 5,000 passing yards, 3,685 coming from QB Koy Detmer.
Mission's trip to Houston's Astrodome to face Aldine was the first by a Valley team and resulted in a state-record 73 pass attempts by Detmer.
THE SERIES
With the 100th season of high school football in the Rio Grande Valley upon us, The Monitor will take a look at the top 25 coaches, top 25 teams and top 50 players of all time.
THE TEAMS
1: TBA
AUGUST 10
2: TBA
AUGUST 9
3: TBA
AUGUST 8
4: TBA
AUGUST 7
5: TBA
AUGUST 6
6: MISSION HIGH
1990
7: Weslaco High
1955
8: San Benito
1961
9: Edcouch-Elsa
1997
10: Donna
1935
11: Mercedes
1957
12: Port Isabel
1994
13: McAllen High
1952
14: Edinburg High
1999
15: Mission High
1987
16: Edinburg High
1953
17: Harlingen High
1989
18: Harlingen High
1994
19: Los Fresnos
2006
20: Edcouch-Elsa
2005
21: Port Isabel
1990
22: Port Isabel
2003
23: McAllen High
1975
24: Sharyland
1961
25: San Benito
2004
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