After finishing the regular season on top of the City League standings (8-0), Mission Bay Bucs flag football beat Lincoln 32-28 in the playoffs at home on Tuesday, Nov. 12. Mission Bay will play at Westview at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 14, in the Div. II quarterfinals. The semifinal round is scheduled for Nov. 19, and the championship is set for Nov. 23.
“We’re an underdog in this division. We should be in Div. III but we got moved up because of our wins during the season. League is based on student population, but the playoff divisions only focused on MaxPreps standings,” said head coach Heather Nellis.
Mission Bay ended 16-4 overall, earning it the seventh seed, while Lincoln finished 7-5 to lock in the 10th seed.
“We played them last year and we know it’s going to be a tough game,” said head coach Heather Nellis. “I put my faith in the players and my assistant coach.”
The Bucs started off the season winning four of its first five games before falling to Brawley 26-20 in tournament play on Aug. 24. Mission Bay bounced back by winning seven in a row with a combined scoreline of 280 to 27, which also included four-straight shutouts.
“They’re starting to gel a little bit better now,” Nellis added.
After losing 26-8 to Mira Mesa on Oct. 8, the Bucs went on another impressive run by ending the regular season with five victories in the final six matches including a dramatic 22-20 nail-biter over at Clairemont in the finale on Nov. 4. That game had an added significance since Clairemont entered with a 6-1 league record while Mission Bay entered 7-0, which meant that a loss would have seen both teams share the City League crown.
What has made this year all the more impressive is that Mission Bay has been without the services of safety and star receiver Iris Brogan after suffering an injury versus Canyon Hills with the majority of the roster made up of juniors and sophomores.
As for the opponent on Tuesday, Lincoln ended the season with back-to-back losses after having won four in a row including dramatic one-point victories over Cathedral Catholic and Morse High. There are 12 teams in Div. II out of the 48 total flag football teams. A win on Tuesday would advance the Bucs to a quarterfinal meeting against second-seeded Westview on Nov. 14.
