Mission Bay rallied to defeat a fast-moving Islander football squad 20-14 at Coronado High Friday, Sept. 21.
The Islanders scored twice in the first half while the Buccaneers scored one touchdown and missed the extra point. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Mission Bay took the lead and held on for their third victory of the season.
“Coronado is a good ball club with a good coach. They are picked to win their league,” said head coach Willie Matson. “I’m really pleased (we) stepped it up on both sides of the ball and got the win.”
Coronado got on the board first seven minutes into the game. Their combined run/pass offense was able to get in to the end zone on a 12-yard pass.
The Bucs answered early in the second quarter with a six yard scoring run by Victor Johnson. The big play that got Mission Bay within striking distance was a third down Evan Taylor to Kevin Nash pass completion.
But the point-after kick was missed to leave the Bucs down by a point, 7-6.
With three minutes left in the half, the Islanders managed to connect on a broken play when their scrambling quarterback connected for a 20-yard TD pass.
The Bucs took possession three minutes into the second half when Taylor connected with Dillon Baxter for a short screen, which the gifted sophomore turned into an 81-yard scoring dash.
The two-point conversion attempt was stopped, however, leaving the Bucs still trailing 14-12.
At the turn of the clock into the fourth quarter the Bucs defense came up with a big interception. Just up from the JV squad, Dorian Howard intercepted an Islander pass at midfield to give the Bucs fresh momentum.
The offense then broke the standoff with a huge Taylor throw to the two-yard line where Baxter out-jumped the defender to put Mission Bay at the Islanders’ doorstep.
On a quarterback-keeper, Taylor took the ball in the final two yards for what became the deciding touchdown of the game. Taylor repeated the effort to make the 2-point conversion and give the Bucs a 6-point lead.
The Buccaneer defense stepped up and finished the job. Coronado was forced to turn over the ball on downs with 6:15 left in the game.
With 4:16 on the clock, the Bucs were stalled when Baxter converted a punting situation into a 30-yard gain.
Battling until the end, Coronado was 4th and one at the 35-yard line with 27 seconds when the Bucs pass defense held the Islanders attack.
The Buccaneer player of the game “You Rock” award went to big 310-pound lineman Isaiah Forney.
“Isaiah got into the backfield and broke up plays again and again,” Matson said. “He helped lead a great defensive effort ” they stepped it up and earned the win. To not give up and battle back, this was a real building-block win for the games we have ahead.”
The Bucs offense produced 183 yards rushing and 177 yards passing for a 360 yard total. The Islanders had just 24 yards in the first half, finishing with 49 yards rushing and 161 passing.
“Other than three big plays, we held them pretty well,” Matson added.
League play starts at Point Loma High Friday, Sept. 28, at 3 p.m. On Oct. 5 the Bucs travel to the new facilities at Lincoln High for a 7 p.m. game.