Los Fresnos, TX (KRGV) — A Navy sailor from Los Fresnos surprised his little brother at Friday’s football game after returning home from an 11-month deployment.

Eduardo Salazar came from San Diego for the surprise after he was deployed to Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury. His brother, Santiago, thought he would be home a couple of days later.

“I'm ecstatic,” Eduardo Salazar said before the reunion. “I would pray every night just to come see my little brother again, see my family. He was probably my biggest inspiration I had to finish it out.”

The surprise caught his brother off guard. Santiago Salazar was looking for his mom after the game when he saw Eduardo Salazar on the videoboard and rushed out to hug him in tears.

“It feels great; I just couldn’t believe it," Santiago Salazar said. “I haven't seen him in forever, so it just feels like a missing piece put back in a puzzle.”

The Los Fresnos Falcons beat the Brownsville Veterans Chargers 43-0 during the game. But for Santiago Salazar, the reunion was the more important victory.

“I don't even know what to say right now except I'm just grateful, and I'm just so happy right now that he's back home,” Santiago Salazar said.

For Eduardo Salazar, the emotional embrace marked the end of a long, challenging journey away from home.

“I'm glad and relieved that they miss me as much as I miss them, and it's just the best feeling I could possibly ask for at a time like this,” Eduardo Salazar said.