On Friday, August 20th, Morro Bay High School had their first football game of the 2021-2022 season against San Marcos High School. MBHS, being the away team, had to make the long bus drive to Santa Barbara for the season opener. Weeks upon weeks of practice led to this; football begins now.
JV played first, and the growing pains became immediately apparent. In the first game of the season, MBHS JV lost to San Marcos 50-0. Despite the score, there were a few bright spots.
Varsity was next to take the field. San Marcos received the ball first and put together a solid drive. The four-and-a-half-minute-long drive resulted in the first touchdown of the game, with San Marcos taking the first quarter lead 0-6 after being unable to score the extra point. MBHS was able to get the ball back and respond quickly, scoring their first touchdown of the game late in the first quarter, taking the lead 7-6. The second quarter came around, and San Marcos was able to come back and take the lead with a touchdown. They were able to convert on the extra point this time, extending the lead 7-13. MBHS was unable to score in the second quarter despite some big passing plays, courtesy of QB Nicky Johnson. This would put an end to the first half, with San Marcos in the lead 7-13.
Morro Bay received the ball to start the second half. Their first drive was unsuccessful, and they were forced to punt. San Marcos was starting to gain momentum. After a big 30 yard gain, San Marcos began to add on to their lead, scoring another touchdown with one minute left in the third quarter. Once again, they were not able to make the extra point kick, so the score became 7-19. With the fourth quarter going underway, MBHS had very little time to mount a comeback. San Marcos made that tougher, scoring another touchdown. Fortunately for MBHS, San Marcos missed their third extra point of the game, making the score 7-25. MBHS was not down for the count, however, as they were able to patch a few big plays together to score their second touchdown of the game. After a good extra point, the score was 14-25. San Marcos was then able to drain enough time off the clock to practically ending the game.
Although The Pirates lost, running back Dylan Turner put it all on the field with 150 total scrimmage yards. Next up, MBHS will go one on one with Carpinteria High. This will be the first home game of the year for the Pirates, and it will be free for all MBHS students to attend. Varsity will kick off at 7:00 p.m.
