Mission Bay fell behind 14-0 in the second quarter against Serra High, putting a cloud over the Bucs’ half-time homecoming game celebrations.
But before it was over, the Buccaneers would rally to tie the score at 28 and win the contest with a field goal in the overtime tie-breaker.
“In the second half the offense was great ” we took it to ’em,” said Mission Bay head coach Willie Matson.
“In the first half we tried to be clever and they met us at every step. So we decided to send our best against their best. Evan (Taylor) and Dillon (Baxter) and the whole offense put it together in the second half ” and we played our best defense. It was an exciting comeback for a big homecoming crowd.”
After 20 minutes of play, Serra scored first on a 42-yard break-away run up the right side. With just 13 seconds left in the half, the Conquistadors scored again on an 8-yard pass.
The Bucs came out throwing in the second half ” Taylor to Baxter for 12 yards, followed by a burst of Baxter speed for another five.
The Bucs marched the length of the field twice. Both times capped by a 1-yard and 6-yard run for the scores by quarterback Taylor.
But the tying extra point kick was blocked, leaving the Bucs down 14-13.
At 1:38 in the third quarter another breakaway run of 73 yards put Serra a touchdown ahead again.
On the first play of the fourth quarter Taylor connected with Kevin Nash over the middle for a 29-yard scoring pass play.
The crucial extra point was run in as a quarterback-keeper when Taylor hit the pile and spunoff to lunge the ball over the goal line.
The two-point conversion tied the game at 21.
Then with five minutes left, the Conquistadors mounted a solid running drive and scored on a 3-yard pass.
Mission Bay mixed up their attack when they got the ball back. Taylor connected with Gabe Martinez for a 40-yard completion, followed by a 22-yard catch by Victor Johnson.
In a strange twist, Taylor drove the ball to the 1-foot-line where he was folded in half under the pile.
The referee saw Taylor had the wind knocked out of him. So as an “injured” player, Taylor had to come out for at least one play.
The game was literally on the line, and the team leader has to come out.
Fortunately the Bucs’ back-up quarterback Qualin Simmons has taken some snaps. On the next play, Simmons bounced off one tackler on the keeper play when Johnson joined the surge of Buccaneers that toppled into the end zone.
Time ran out on the Conquistadors’ last minute attempts, concluding regulation play at a 28-28 score.
But since the match was a league game, there needed to be a winner.
The tie-breaker format in high school is, each team gets the ball on the 25 and a chance to score. The Bucs went first and drove down to the 11 where they reached fourth down.
Buccaneer place kicker Carlos Sanchez delivered the 21-yard field goal right down the middle.
When Serra made their attempt to score they also were stalled. But as they attempted to make a field goal, their holder bobbled a low snap and then was buried by the Bucs defensive rush, and it was game over.
“They about broke my heart a couple times in the first half,” Matson said. “But that was a tremendous team effort to finish and get the win.”
Taylor completed the game with 304 passing yards. Just 25 were in the first half.
The “You-Rock” player-of-the-game award went to Martinez for his efforts on both offense and defense.
“Gabe is one of the hardest-playing guys out there, week in and week out,” Matson said. “He made some big plays on offense ” he is a key blocker and he made a score-saving pass block in the last minute. It is that kind of effort that wins games.”
The Bucs take on La Jolla next at the Vikings’ stadium at 7 p.m., Friday, Oct 19.
“They have a feeling for the rivalry ” the history between the Bucs and Vikings,” Matson added. “This game is huge ” it should be a good one.”