MISSION – There was no need for Monday motivation. The Mission Eagles had plenty of it Friday night.

With a district win at stake, Mission rallied for a 16-14 win over Juarez-Lincoln.

Senior quarterback Damian Gomez left the game with an injury in the 2nd quarter, so in came freshman quarterback Jeremy Duran. While the offense had some struggles, when it counted, the Eagles made plays.

Down 14-13, Duran helped to engineer his first game-winning drive at the high school level.

“Doing it on a Friday night at the varsity level as a freshman, it’s a big deal,” said head coach Koy Detmer. “I was very impressed with him.”

“We just called pass plays on like three or four plays,” said Duran. “They gave us the same look so we called the same pass play and we got 30 or 40 yards on one play. It just helped us get good field goal position.”

With just 14 seconds left, junior kicker Rene Rodriguez lined up for a 28-yard field goal that would lift Mission to victory.

“I knew I was going to make it going in there,” said Rodriguez. “But there’s always that one downside that if I don’t make it, what’s going to happen? Obviously, my team trusted me. I trust myself to make that.”

With the win, Mission is now one of four teams that’s 2-1 in 30-6A.

“Not every game is going to go in perfect rhythm,” said Detmer. “You’ve got to find a way to win those kind of games. I was really proud of our team to step up and find a way to get it done.”

The Eagles return to action this week against PSJA North.