NATHANIEL MATA | THE MONITOR
MISSION —The La Joya Juarez-Lincoln Huskies put up a season-high in points on Thursday in a 45-28 win over the Mission High Eagles at Richard Thompson Stadium.
The Huskies’ (5-2, 2-1) offense was clicking like it hadn’t before, but big defensive plays broke the Eagles’ momentum numerous times.
Defensive back Manuel Briseno recovered a fumble that one of his defensive linemen knocked loose and ran about 10 yards to put his team up 21-0 early in the second quarter.
“I really do think it was a factor, but our offense did an amazing job. It’s just a team effort,” Briseno said. “It was all our defense. We all helped out. We’re going to work hard improving, because we gave up a lot of yards.”
The yardage allowed let Mission (3-4, 1-2) make a competitive game out of the contest, but Juarez-Lincoln recovered two fourth-quarter fumbles to seal the win.
Juarez-Lincoln coach Tommy Garcia stressed winning the possession battle after a rough time with turnovers last week. The Huskies won the turnover margin 3-0 on Thursday.
He said he could have been upset about the yardage allowed, but he was happy with the result.
“We’ve been waiting for this to happen, when our offense plays turnover free,” Garcia said. “We didn’t play a good game defensively. We didn’t play the best game defensively, but overall, it’s a team game, and we’re happy to be 5-2.”
Efren Martinez threw two touchdown passes for the Huskies, both to big target Luis Rodriguez. Martinez also ran for a 1-yard score.
Martinez said the connection was long overdue. They linked up for 21- and 39-yard passing scores.
“We were all focused the whole game. We didn’t take a play off,” Martinez said. “It was time. I needed to get him going. He hasn’t had a lot of touches, but we had a good passing game.”
Martinez’s passing was an added bonus to the strong rushing game his brother Albert Martinez has provided on a weekly basis.
Albert ran wild for more than 200 yards on the ground, breaking big runs consistently.
“We try to get that kid in open space as much as we can,” Garcia said of Albert. “He’s a playmaker. We understand what we got. We need to make sure that we’re smart about it and take care of him.”
The junior is an athlete of few words, but he praised his O-line.
“It all starts with the line. They gave me pretty good openings so I can get the yards,” Albert Martinez said.
Albert laughed when asked how he feels about his brother cashing in with quarterback sneaks after he sets up the short-yardage situations.
Albert scored a 15-yard rushing TD of his own but still put the team before his stats.
“It feels good, as long as I help the team out,” Albert said.
Mission was without the services of Steven De Leon, who was out of action due to a death in the family. His tackling was missed on defense, as Juarez-Lincoln exploited holes in the middle all night.
Damian Gomez had a strong performance in the loss. The sophomore quarterback threw for 226 yards and two TDs. His long balls, including a 63-yard home-run pass to Sebastian Gonzalez, breathed life into the Eagles.
He played an interception-free game but was part of a botched snap that ended up in Huskies possession.
The future looks bright under center for the Eagles, but this season gets tougher with a 1-2 district record. Mission still has to play McAllen Rowe and McAllen High — two teams that they’ll likely need to leap over to advance to the postseason.
Juarez-Lincoln will host McAllen High in its next district outing.
“We have the momentum going right now,” Efren said. “We have to let the other district schools know we’re coming.”