BIG SPRING — Gunning for their first district championship since 1990, the Big Spring Steers had the ball in senior quarterback Gabriel Baeza’s hands with 1:44 to play and 99 yards to cover for the game-winning touchdown Friday against Fort Stockton.

Baeza, who started the night with a school-record 18 consecutive completions, did everything in his power to will his team to victory. He started the drive with 34 yards rushing and 21 yards passing to put the Steers in position for a potential game-winning Hail Mary.

With eight seconds to go and facing fourth down at the Fort Stockton 49, Baeza rolled left and avoided two sacks while waiting on a receiver to get open. He then uncorked a deep bomb off his back foot for Sa’quan Fizer, who had gotten behind the Panthers secondary.

The ball glanced off Fizer’s fingertips and fell to the turf as time expired, allowing Fort Stockton to escape with a 29-28 win at Memorial Stadium in a key District 2-4A Division I matchup.