For the second time in three years, Mission Bay will play for a CIF football championship. The Buccaneers, who lost to St. Augustine in 2013, will take on Bonita Vista (10-2) at noon Saturday, Dec. 5 at Southwestern College in the Div. III title game. “These 28 kids played hard all year,” said Mission Bay coach Willie Matson. “They’ve done it all year, and here we are in the CIF final.”
On Nov. 27, Mission Bay (10-2) beat Valley Center, 31-28, in a thrilling semifinal game. The Bucs trailed the Jaguars, 21-6, late in the first half, but came back to tie the score twice in the fourth quarter and then took their first lead of the night on a 32-yard field goal from Efrain Senties with two minutes left in the game. Defensive back Myles Dumas sealed the win when he intercepted a Jaguars pass with under a minute to play, and the Mission Bay offense ran out the clock. “These guys are really resilient,” Matson said. “This is what happens when you keep playing hard; good things happen.”
The comeback started with Jhavari Ransom late in the second quarter. The senior wide receiver returned Valley Center’s kickoff – after the Jags’ third touchdown – 40 yards to about midfield. On next play, running back Derrick Clark took the handoff from QB Jaiden Correa, darted right and then threw a spiral 30 yards downfield to a wide open Ransom, who took it the rest of the way. That score closed the deficit to 21-13 and got Mission Bay back in the game. Late in the third quarter, with the Jags deep in Bucs territory, Mission Bay defenders Isaiah Mitchell and Jack Lashchuck recorded consecutive sacks, which turned the ball over on downs. The Bucs moved the ball 15 yards to their 47, and then Correa hit Ransom on a slant pass that turned into a 53-yard sprint to the end zone. The Bucs converted the two-point attempt to tie the score at 21. After the teams traded INTs, Valley Center came back with two long pass plays and went up 28-21 with six minutes remaining. Mission Bay started its next possession at its 37-yard line but used two big plays – a 20-yard pass to Ransom and a 34-yard run from Clark – to move to the Valley Center 9-yard line. Clark finished the three-play drive with a 9-yard burst up the middle to tie the game at 28. “In the second half they started overplaying our pass, and once they did that, it opened up the run,” Matson said. “We’re a team of big plays. We have been all year.”
On Valley Center’s subsequent possession, the Mission Bay defense made its biggest play. Facing 4th-and-1 on their own 39 with four minutes left, the Jaguars went for it. The middle of the Bucs defensive line stuffed the run and Mission Bay took over on downs at the Jags 37. Three plays later the Bucs were inside the 10, but two consecutive penalties drove Mission Bay back to the 15. After Clark failed to gain any ground on third down, Senties made the field goal and sent the Bucs into the championship game. “It’s a great feeling. I never get tired of this feeling,” Matson said. “I feel 20 years younger.”