Dillon Baxter may have left the building, but Mission Bay High School’s football team is working hard to show it can repeat last year’s title success without the reigning National Player of the Year and rising USC star. The Bucs’ banner 2009 season — which included an undefeated CIF championship run — leaves the team with only its own cleats to fill. The first regular-season test comes at home on Friday, Sept. 3 against Valhalla. “The vibe has been very good,” said coach Willie Matson. “The kids are very positive. They are excited. They enjoyed last year, but they are excited to prove themselves this year.” With summer’s two-a-days to judge from, including Saturday practices, Matson likes his team’s odds. “As good as our defense was last year — we led the county in takeaways — we think our defense is going to be improved this year,” Matson said. “Some of our best players are only juniors, so it promises to be a really, really good year with those guys.” On offense, Matson said he appreciates the continuity of his big guys up front. “We’ve got four of our five starting offensive lineman back,” Matson said. “We are real excited about those kids. Meekhiel Williams, Jaret Bowden and Michael Chance, they are three of the lineman.” Williams, Bowden, Chance and company will be protecting either incumbent quarterback Ryan Daniels or newcomer Nate Long when the season starts. “We are really excited about a transfer quarterback we got in,” Matson said. “[Long] transferred in from Rancho Bernardo, but he basically grew up in Texas. “There’s a competition [between] him and Ryan Daniels, who’s been with us a couple years. It’s a good, healthy competition. They are both looking pretty good at this point. Nate’s quite an athlete.” Daniels or Long will be looking for several highlighted players down the stretch or in the backfield. “We’ve got some good receivers in Jesse Klein and Marcus Jasper,” Matson said of the seniors. “We also have a really good all-around athlete who is going to play running back and receiver, Chris Byrd. He’s going to be a really good player.” MBHS’s boys of fall will need productivity from all their weapons on both sides of the ball. “It’s going to be a very competitive league,” Matson said. “We always have great games against Point Loma, Serra and La Jolla. And Madison is coming into our league. They have a good team this year also. It’s going to be a competitive league.” Matson promises a show. “You are going to see a group of guys that work extremely hard, have great attitudes and are going to play with a lot of grit,” he said. “It’s a good bunch. It’s a really good bunch.”