Mission Bay looks to continue its impressive start to the 2022 regular season as it takes on San Diego High School at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3 at home.

The Bucs are coming off back-to-back victories after beating El Cajon Valley 27-13 in the season opener followed by a 52-6 blowout of Mar Vista High School on Aug. 27.

“We still have some small things to take care of like jumping offside, and I feel we left some points on the board this past weekend, but I love the effort that we play with,” said head coach Greg Tate. “The defense is also coming along.”

As for the upcoming opponent, San Diego High enters the game with a 1-1 record under new head coach Syd Reed after losing a heartbreaker at Calexico to Vincent Memorial High in week one 29-28. The Cavers followed that with an impressive bounce-back performance defeating Westview High School 35-21 in week two.

“They have switched up their offense a little bit from what they normally had and look to be more in the spread,” Tate added. “They have some pretty good athletes with a lot of skill on the field. I’m pretty impressed with their running back who also plays free safety and had a pretty good season last year. Hopefully, we can match up with these guys so they can’t run away from us.”

The running back that Tate is referring to is senior Damien Whitfield who had several key runs for the Cavers against Westview, especially in the second half to help put the game away late. This will be the first time the two schools have faced each other since the 2019 season when San Diego High handed the Bucs an 18-0 road loss.

Mission Bay had a 10-3 record last season, which included going 4-0 in league games, helping the team make it to the San Diego Section Division V final where they would fall to the Palo Verde Valley Yellow Jackets 41-9.

The Bucs will have eight remaining games after facing the Cavers with five games on the road and three at home. The next home game for Mission Bay is against Holtville on Sept. 23.

Photo by Dale Edwards