SAN FRANCISCO — Balboa’s wacky 25-24 AAA Semifinal win over Mission was deserving of a weird celebration to match such a strange game.
Roman Banks provided that, dousing himself with Gatorade after his teammates were unable to find a coach to dunk in celebration of earning their first Turkey Day Game appearance since 2015 and keeping their dreams alive of winning their first City championship since 1984.
Banks was at the center of both of the Buccaneers’ defensive stands in the final four minutes to keep the Bears from scoring a go-ahead touchdown and seal Balboa’s second victory over Mission in six days, first intercepting a pass in the end zone and then forcing Matthew Cohn out of bounds on a fourth down pass to the front pylon that sealed the game. In between those two plays was a safety that got third-seeded Mission (4-6-1) within a single point as Banks, caught up in the excitement of the moment on his interception, tried to advance the ball out of the end zone and got past the goal line before realizing his mistake.
“All that was on my mind was getting the ball back,” he said of his mentality following the safety, which came on the very next play as the Bears never let fullback Edward Colon get even close to leaving his own end zone. “We had to win it. I’ve worked too hard for this.”
In a year where they started 0-4 against a killer nonleague schedule and lost star running back AJ Velasquez before the season to a torn meniscus and ACL, the Buccaneers have put in the work to return to the championship game, doing so while constantly fighting an uphill battle.
“Everybody talked down on us, teams were telling the news we were paper champs,” said Banks, who ran 13 times for 113 yards. “They see us now.”
Banks was both one of Balboa’s featured backs and a key in the secondary, as was Jaziah Amataga, who fought through a series of injuries to remain on the field throughout the game.
“I had a stinger in the second quarter and in the beginning of the third quarter it started hurting, but I had to put aside what I was feeling and muster up some strength to put on for my team,” Amataga said. The senior also dealt with cramps throughout his left leg during the second half but hardly missed more than one or two plays at a time as he helped Balboa (6-5) preserve the lead. “It’s just the character we have. Nobody else has seen it outside of our school and our family, but this is all built from inside.”
Early in the third, Amataga’s interception and 67-yard return on fourth-and-goal set up a Raiden Thien-Jones four-yard touchdown pass to Chris Whiley to open up a 25-14 lead, but the Bears would never go away, even after finding themselves facing the prospects of going down by three scores. Mission went three-and-out on the following possession and let the Bucs drive inside their 30, but the first of Dean Manley’s two sacks cost Balboa 15 yards and ultimately forced the hosts to punt at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Jamareia Burroughs then uncorked a strike over the middle to Julian Neal, who turned his only reception of the game into a 78-yard touchdown. Will Delaney, who ran 12 times for 71 yards, ran in a screen pass for the two-point conversion to cut the lead to three.
Manley’s second sack forced a Balboa three-and-out, and the Bears made their way into the red zone with just over five minutes left as they converted a third-and-7 on a screen pass to Noah Lee and picked up another nine yards on a run by Delaney. They’d then lose yardage on a false start, one of their 14 penalties on the day, and facing fourth down, Burroughs tried to find Cohn in the end zone, failing to connect but drawing a pass interference flag on Banks, who never turned around on the play. Redemption was quick for Banks, who picked off a hurried Burroughs pass in the end zone two plays later after Ray Jones had rushed the Mission QB.
With the ball back in Mission’s hands just 18 seconds later, Banks again made the crucial play, steering Cohn out of bounds on a perfect ball from Burroughs to seal the game.
“I’ve just got to keep my hand on his hip, keep my eye on the receiver and play the ball as best as I can,” he said of his game-clinching play.
That play and the ensuing kneeldowns from Thien-Jones marked the end of the line for a Mission team that failed to return to the Turkey Day Game but showed remarkable growth off the field. Four players who were ineligible at the start of the season got their grades up in time for league play, and more than 20 of the boys on the roster made the school’s honor roll.
“It’s overlooked because nobody expected the kids we have to be where they’re at. It’s highly important,” said head coach Tobias Whitley.
Just as the Bears kept fighting when many gave up on them as students, they never quit despite facing two-score deficits throughout the afternoon. They did score on their opening possession, with Cohn scoring on a three-yard run out of the wildcat formation, but saw Balboa cut the lead to 7-6 before the end of the first quarter as a 44-yard run by Banks set up a four-yard Amataga touchdown. Phil Lenwood-Lamautia blocked a punt 10 seconds into the second quarter to lead to a seven-yard Amataga touchdown, and Nelson Ropati’s strip, fumble recovery and 25-yard return made it 19-7 as he took the ball out of the hands of a vulnerable Burroughs, who tried in vain to keep the play alive as he was being sacked by Jones. Unrelenting, Mission got back within a score by halftime as Julian Milton took a 29-yard kick return to midfield and Burroughs, who completed eight of his 22 passes for 174 yards, hit Cohn for a 23-yard touchdown. Cohn also picked off a deep pass from Thien-Jones before halftime to keep the Bears within five at the time.
Balboa will face Lincoln, 41-12 winners over Lowell, on Thanksgiving at 11 a.m. at Kezar Stadium. The Buccaneers came closer to beating Lincoln than any other AAA team in the regular season, falling 17-14 in two overtimes.
