After two weeks of playoff football, Morro Bay is the last San Luis Obispo County team in the hunt.
Morro Bay has a chance to play for a CIF championship once again but first, they’ll have to make the long trek northeast into the Sierra Nevada mountains to play Bishop Union.
“A six-hour bus ride is not a fun bus ride,” said Robert Dougherty, Morro Bay High School Football Head Coach.
The team leaves Thursday on a charter bus, making a stop at Lone Pine High School for a practice before rounding out their journey in Bishop — an almost 362-mile trip.
“Our travel plans get us ready to go," Dougherty said. "We get moving around and get used to the environment and it's kind of exciting for our kids to get out of the elements, get out of here and kind of play up in a different area.”
Luckily for Morro Bay’s players, they’ve done this trip before. Last year, in the exact same game, the team lost 28-26 in a semifinal matchup against the Broncos.
“It left a sour taste in our mouth," Dougherty recalled. "They were crying on the field afterwards and they knew they let one slip through their fingers.”
It's a feeling this year’s team doesn’t want to repeat, especially with a long drive back home.
"It was really cold," junior quarterback Sands Dougherty remembered. "We didn't really finish drives and we kind of lost it, but this year can be different.”
“The elevation up there is a lot higher," senior wide receiver John Myers said. "It's a long, long road, so we're going to have to condition a lot more, be on our best game.”
Playing in the foggy, chilly conditions has definitely helped this year’s team prepare for frigid conditions as they brace for what will be colder conditions at higher elevations this Friday.
“We're a pirate for a reason," Coach Daugherty stated. "Pirate weather comes in here in the stadium and it gets foggy and nasty and we feel like we're right in our element.”
In addition to the normal Morro Bay playing conditions, they cold plunge in the ocean every Saturday morning in order to help rehabilitate and get ready for the next week with Sands Dougherty claiming "it helps a lot."
From the ocean to the mountains, Morro Bay heads to Bishop as the lone team left in the area still fighting to keep their season alive and in their words "get it done."
“We are the last one in the county. That's pretty awesome,” Dougherty said.
“Last season, we weren't ready to go home," Myers admitted. "A lot of us weren't ready, but our season got cut short because of a really, really close game, so this year we're coming back for vengeance.”
With an offense led by the state’s second-leading passer, Sands Dougherty, a win on Friday would give them a home championship game the following week.
“We take it one game at a time, but definitely you can't ignore the elephant in the room that if we do, then we could be in the championship game here and we'll play, which would be tremendous for the community. For the school — would be awesome,” Coach Dougherty said.
The Pirates won a section title back in 2021 in Division VI. If they win Friday, they'll play the winner of the Selma and Delano game the following week.
