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With 1:46 left in Saturday's game, Hebron's offense took the field with no timeouts and needing at least a field goal to keep its season alive. Quarterback Justin Iwuji said coach Brian Brazil told him to just "take it one play at a time."

But the coach's other directions were even more simple.

"I told him, 'Go win it for us, Justin,' " Brazil said.

That's what the senior did. After Hebron had struggled most of the game against an inspired L.D. Bell defense, the Hawks drove 68 yards for a touchdown and a 21-17 win in a Class 5A Division II bi-district game at Texas Stadium.

Of course, it wasn't just Iwuji driving for the winning score. Darius Staten ran 18 yards, Erin McCarver caught a pass for seven yards and Phillip Mitchell caught one for 14 on the final drive. Alex Norman also made an amazing 25-yard catch on third-and-14 with 29 seconds left and then caught the 15-yard touchdown pass with 17 seconds remaining.

"Alex made two great catches for me," Iwuji said. "I just throw the ball up, and he makes the plays."

Iwuji makes a lot of plays, too, but he also makes mistakes. With less than a minute to play, he took a sack instead of throwing the ball away and killing the clock. But Iwuji didn't look rattled as he lined up for the next play, which turned into the 25-yard pass to Norman.

"It's his first year as quarterback, all eyes are on him and he delivers," Norman said. "He just did what we needed. He stayed cool under pressure."

This is Iwuji's first year as a starter, but by this late in the season, inexperience isn't an issue. And confidence never has been one for the 5-10, 193-pound senior, who has rushed for 1,183 yards and 17 touchdowns. He's passed for 1,856 yards and 11 touchdowns.

It's no wonder he's one of the most popular guys on campus.

"He's Mr. Most Likely to Succeed, he's the homecoming king, everybody knows him," Brazil said. "He's Mr. Hebron."

JOHN F. RHODES / DMN

Hebron's Justin Iwuji has 17 rushing touchdowns and 11 passing touchdowns this season.

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He's also on the radar of Wylie (9-2), which plays Hebron at 2 p.m. Saturday in an area-round game at Texas Stadium. Hebron (8-3) lost to Wylie, 21-14, in the first week of the season, but both teams are much improved since then.

So is Iwuji, who benefits from running behind one of the best offensive lines in the area. Staten has also rushed for more than 1,000 yards, and Norman leads a talented group of receivers.

But Iwuji makes it all work.

"Everybody knows you've got to stop Justin to beat us," Brazil said. "He's just a competitor. He's got all the confidence in the world, and it feels good to have a guy like that out there."

HEB–Alex Norman 22 pass from Justin Iwugi (Blake Denton kick)

HEB–Iwuji 1 run (Denton kick)

WYL–Jerod Monk 6 run (Zac Ohannessian kick)

WYL–Colby Harper 23 pass from Monk (Ohannessian kick)

WYL–Monk 1 run (Ohannessian kick)