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Mission Bay running back Anthony Magee finds a hole against the La Jolla defense
PACIFIC BEACH – Though the section playoffs don’t start for two more weeks, Mission Bay is already in the playoff mindset. The Buccaneers delivered their most complete performance of the season on Friday afternoon, beating La Jolla 37-12 to keep their postseason hopes alive.
“It was a playoff game for us,” said Mission Bay quarterback Nate Long.
Long rushed for four touchdowns and threw for another to guide Mission Bay to a decisive victory. Three of those scores came in the fourth quarter, breaking open a 10-point game.
“I give credit to everybody on the field because they did their job,” Long said. “We did everything we were supposed to do, we actually did it and we scored.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Mission Bay (2-7, 2-2 Western) broke through early in the second with a 66-yard scoring drive capped by a 24-yard Long scoring run. La Jolla answered responded with a 74-yard scoring strike from quarterback Bobby Schuman to wide open receiver Bobby Hill to make it a 7-6 game.
“They’re a team that if you make mistakes they are going to beat you, especially with the way they run their offense,” said Mission Bay head coach Willie Matson.
With La Jolla (2-7, 2-2) driving to take the lead before the half, Mission Bay defensive back Isaac Griffin intercepted a Vikings pass in the endzone. The difference at halftime was La Jolla’s missed extra point.
Mission Bay took the opening drive of the second half for a touchdown, a 19-yard pass from Long to receiver Jaquan Madyun. After a La Jolla fumble, the Buccaneers extended their lead to 16-6 with a 31-yard Jorge Duarte field goal.
“If the defense does well, that means the offense has to pick it up and that’s exactly what we did these past two weeks,” Long said.
Long found the endzone twice in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. Mission Bay has now won two straight after losing their first seven games of the season.
“We want to go to the playoffs,” Long said.
A change in defensive strategy has keyed Mission Bay’s recent success. After a 45-13 loss to Madison on Oct. 15, the Buccaneers’ coaching decided to keep it simple.
“Sometimes when you change it midseason you confuse the kids more but what I did was change to a defense that was very very simplified,” Matson said.
Since the change, Mission Bay has allowed an average of 13 points per game. Against La Jolla, the Buccaneers forced two turnovers and stifled the Vikings’ Wing-T attack.
“Today we called one defense. Earlier in the year we were calling 10, 12 different stunts; we were getting too complicated,” Matson said. “Everybody has an assignment and a gap to cover.”
Putting together their best offensive and defensive performance of the season on Friday, Mission Bay is playing its best football at the right time. Already with a playoff mentality, the Buccaneers could be a tricky first round opponent in Division IV if they win at Serra (1-8, 1-3) next Friday.
“I’m hoping our momentum is going and we can go in and beat Serra and then we’ll have a little bit of a roll,” Matson said. “The first team that plays us is not going to want to play us.”
Mission Bay running back Anthony Magee finds a hole against the La Jolla defense
PACIFIC BEACH – Though the section playoffs don’t start for two more weeks, Mission Bay is already in the playoff mindset. The Buccaneers delivered their most complete performance of the season on Friday afternoon, beating La Jolla 37-12 to keep their postseason hopes alive.
“It was a playoff game for us,” said Mission Bay quarterback Nate Long.
Long rushed for four touchdowns and threw for another to guide Mission Bay to a decisive victory. Three of those scores came in the fourth quarter, breaking open a 10-point game.
“I give credit to everybody on the field because they did their job,” Long said. “We did everything we were supposed to do, we actually did it and we scored.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Mission Bay (2-7, 2-2 Western) broke through early in the second with a 66-yard scoring drive capped by a 24-yard Long scoring run. La Jolla answered responded with a 74-yard scoring strike from quarterback Bobby Schuman to wide open receiver Bobby Hill to make it a 7-6 game.
“They’re a team that if you make mistakes they are going to beat you, especially with the way they run their offense,” said Mission Bay head coach Willie Matson.
With La Jolla (2-7, 2-2) driving to take the lead before the half, Mission Bay defensive back Isaac Griffin intercepted a Vikings pass in the endzone. The difference at halftime was La Jolla’s missed extra point.
Mission Bay took the opening drive of the second half for a touchdown, a 19-yard pass from Long to receiver Jaquan Madyun. After a La Jolla fumble, the Buccaneers extended their lead to 16-6 with a 31-yard Jorge Duarte field goal.
“If the defense does well, that means the offense has to pick it up and that’s exactly what we did these past two weeks,” Long said.
Long found the endzone twice in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. Mission Bay has now won two straight after losing their first seven games of the season.
“We want to go to the playoffs,” Long said.
A change in defensive strategy has keyed Mission Bay’s recent success. After a 45-13 loss to Madison on Oct. 15, the Buccaneers’ coaching decided to keep it simple.
“Sometimes when you change it midseason you confuse the kids more but what I did was change to a defense that was very very simplified,” Matson said.
Since the change, Mission Bay has allowed an average of 13 points per game. Against La Jolla, the Buccaneers forced two turnovers and stifled the Vikings’ Wing-T attack.
“Today we called one defense. Earlier in the year we were calling 10, 12 different stunts; we were getting too complicated,” Matson said. “Everybody has an assignment and a gap to cover.”
Putting together their best offensive and defensive performance of the season on Friday, Mission Bay is playing its best football at the right time. Already with a playoff mentality, the Buccaneers could be a tricky first round opponent in Division IV if they win at Serra (1-8, 1-3) next Friday.
“I’m hoping our momentum is going and we can go in and beat Serra and then we’ll have a little bit of a roll,” Matson said. “The first team that plays us is not going to want to play us.”