Mission Bay opened its new stadium in style with a 36-13 rout of West Hills on a warm evening in late August. And then over the next seven games the big plays, tough defense and wins kept up for the Buccaneers in a magical season. But two late season stumbles at home against league rivals Point Loma and Madison stopped Mission Bay’s momentum and no one was quite sure what to expect in the CIF Div. III playoffs. The No. 2-seeded Bucs responded by thrashing the Warriors of Fallbrook, 54-28, in the quarterfinals and then coming back to nip the Jaguars of Valley Center, 31-28, in the semifinals. Those strong wins sent Mission Bay into the Div. III championship match against the No.1-seeded Bonita Vista Barons on Dec. 5 at Southwestern College in Chula Vista. Unfortunately for the Buccaneers, that’s where the wheels, er, sails came off and they lost, 52-14, to the Barons. Mission Bay’s title hopes were buried in a disastrous third quarter in which Bonita Vista scored 27 unanswered points and put the game out of reach. The game started out strong for Mission Bay as the Bucs used an onside kick on the opening kickoff that was recovered by lineman Gilberto Cisneros at the Barons’ 47-yard line. After gaining a first down, the Bucs went for the big play and connected with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Jaiden Correa to Jhavari Ransom to go up 7-0. Bonita Vista responded with a 55-yard TD run, and then a long drive that culminated in a one-yard TD run to take the lead, 12-7. In the second quarter, Mission Bay used running back Derrick Clark as a battering ram to march down the field to the Barons’ two-yard line. On first-and-goal, Clark smashed through the middle of the line to finish off the 55-yard drive and give Mission Bay a 14-12 lead. The game then turned late in the second quarter. With three minutes left, Bonita Vista, starting at its own 11, used a 61-yard run and 20-yard pass to eventually score the go ahead TD with 31 seconds left in the first half. On the subsequent kickoff, Bonita Vista attempted a squib kick, but the ball hit a Bucs player flush and bounced back into the arms of a Baron at midfield. The flukey play gave the Barons another possession and they quickly took advantage with a 50-yard TD pass to finish off the half with a 25-14 lead. Mission Bay received the second half kickoff but could not move the ball and punted, which Bonita Vista returned 70 yards to set up another short TD run. On the Bucs next possession, Correa threw an interception that led to another Barons TD, a 38-14 lead, and the beginning of a long day, and offseason, for Mission Bay.