Mission Bay didn’t score until the last 14 seconds of the third quarter, but the Bucs were able to put up 17 un-answered points in 5 minutes of play and held on to defeat the rival Vikings 17-12 Friday, Oct 31. “It took a great team effort on both sides of the ball to win this one,” said head coach Willie Matson. “These are last-second guys — they found a way to win, even though the defense was a little leaky, they did it again.” Last week the Bucs defeated Hoover High with a last minute field goal. The Halloween-day game struggle between the Western League rivals was taken over by La Jolla with a 39-yard field goal at the end of the first quarter by Lee Abelkop. Six minutes later a 42-yard attempt bounced off the upright with a little help from the wind. Then a 58-yard run by Viking Victor Rangel set up a 36-yard field goal midway through the third quarter. The Bucs answered with a drive to the 2-yard line, but a holding call pushed them back. A Mission Bay field goal attempt met with a roughing call that gave the offense a 1st-and-goal at the 10. The opportunity was taken by quarterback Dillon Baxter when he delivered a 10-yard pass to Ray Herring. Manuel Bohena put up the extra point. On La Jolla’s next possession they were backed up around their own 20-yard line. A crushing rush pushed into the La Jolla backfield where linebacker Nick Quintero had the Viking quarterback Henry Nawahine in his grasp. Nawahine flipped a short pass attempt, which 305-pound Isaiah Forney caught and rumbled 16 yards in with the interception. On the following kick off, Mission Bay collected a fumble on the return at the Viking’s 25-yard line. Two minutes later Bohena put up a 33-yard field goal to complete the Bucs scoring. Eight minutes later Nawahine threw a 10-yard touchdown strike to Joshua Rothmen with 3 minutes remaining. A 2-point conversion pass attempt was tipped away with 3:12 left on the clock. La Jolla turned the ball over on downs with more than a minute on the clock, inside their own 10-yard line. But the Bucs rode out the clock for the 17-12 win. “The rivalry between Mission Bay and La Jolla is a great tradition,” Matson said. “But honestly, I really respect all those La Jolla coaches, which makes it very special to beat them.” Mission Bay is 4-3-1 while the Viking record is now 3-5-0. The Bucs have defeated La Jolla in their last 10 meetings. Quintero was presented the “You Rock” award for his effort that produced the Bucs second touchdown. “Nick made two big plays. He bounced back from a tough game at Hoover and made some plays today that made the difference,” Matson added. Mission Bay next travels to Serra High Friday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m. On Nov. 14 the Bucs will host University City in the last regular season game at 2:30 p.m. Mission Bay football information is available at the school website www.missionbayhigh.com or from coach Willie Matson at 858 273-1313 ext. 137.