In its first appearance in the NAIA playoffs since 2008, the No. 11 Baker University football team fell to No. 6 University of Saint Francis 22-17 Saturday at D’Arcy Stadium in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Head coach Mike Grossner said after the game that he isn’t one to complain about officiating, but he was not pleased about a season-high penalty total for the Wildcats coming in the playoffs.
“The better team lost, no doubt about that,” Grossner said. “We had to play against the 12th man today. We had 13 penalties called on us. and we don’t do that. We’re not that type of football team.”
Turnovers were also an issue for the Wildcats as they committed four of them. The Cougars capitalized early off an interception by senior Sam Vossen to take a 6-0 lead.
The Wildcats responded with two drives to set up field goals from senior Steven Stewart, but he missed wide left on attempts from 38 and 40 yards.
“Steve has been good all year, but he missed two (field goals),” Grossner said. “But we kept fighting. We turned the ball over right away and gave them six points and then two missed field goals. We should have been up at halftime. We felt like we were.”
After the two misses by Stewart, USF placekicker Emerson Ueber put one through the uprights from 26 yards out to push the Cougars’ lead to 9-0.
Baker fought back on the ensuing drive and got on the scoreboard with 4:59 to go in the first half as senior Jesse Schultz punched it in from a yard out to bring the Wildcats within 9-7.
The Wildcats’ defense appeared to follow that up with a three-and-out after a sack by junior Emmerson Clarke, but Baker was called for an illegal hands to the face penalty to extend the USF drive.
“Our kids played their tails off,” Grossner said. “I thought we played good football all day and made the plays we had to. It is very disappointing to get to this point in a top 16 game and we can’t get a better (officiating) crew than that, a fair crew. I’ve never been so mad to see something taken from such a special group of kids.”
The Cougars went on to score on the drive when quarterback Josh Miller shed two Baker defenders on a 13-yard touchdown run with 33 seconds to go before halftime.
The touchdown run by Miller gave the Cougars a 16-7 lead, but the Wildcats were not done scoring before halftime.
Junior Dylan Perry gave Baker good field position when he returned the ensuing kickoff 44 yards to put the ball at midfield. Vossen fired a 23-yard pass to senior Reggie Harris to set up Stewart for his third field goal attempt.
Stewart nailed the 44-yard attempt to bring the Wildcats within 16-10 at halftime.
After both teams were forced to punt on their first possession of the second half, the Cougars put together a drive, but then the Wildcats forced their lone turnover of the game. Clarke hit Antoin Campbell in the backfield and sophomore Andre Jolly recovered to give the Wildcats the ball on their own 14-yard line.
The ‘Cats did not hold on to the ball for long, however, as Vossen was sacked and fumbled on the second play of the drive to give it back to USF.
The BU defense held the Cougars to another field goal from Ueber, though, and USF pushed its advantage to 19-10.
Dillon Baxter fueled the Wildcats’ ensuing drive as he rushed for 49 of his 102 yards and scored a 5-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 19-17.
“(Baxter) was frustrated in the first half because he was trying to think too much instead of trying to hit a hole,” Grossner said. “We talked to him at halftime and just said, ‘hey, just let it happen.’ Make your one read, not 10 reads.”
The Wildcats’ defense thought it followed up the scoring drive with another three-and-out, but a penalty for roughing the passer on a third-and-1 play kept the Cougars’ drive alive.
“The disappointment is that every time we had an opportunity, whether it was going in or coming out, something happened that wasn’t in our hands,” Grossner said. “I don’t complain about referees, but that gutless head (referee) wouldn’t even come over and talk to me. If you make a call, you have to back it up and he didn’t all day.”
The Cougars converted another third down later in the drive for a 47-yard passing play to set up first-and-goal from the BU 7-yard line. Senior Josh Fairley came up with a pass breakup in the end zone, though, and the Cougars had to settle for a 22-yard field goal from Ueber.
The field goal put the Cougars up 22-17 and allowed the Wildcats a chance to drive down for a touchdown with 3:44 remaining.
Two first downs put the Wildcats in USF territory with 2:30 to play, but the Cougars’ Jamael Green intercepted Vossen to halt the drive.
“Vossen is a winner,” Grossner said. “He’s a senior who played his last game and played his heart out. If he could have one back, he would have one back.”
The Cougars recorded one first down and then went on to run out the clock to seal the victory.
“(Saint Francis) is a good football team,” Grossner said. “They know we came to hit them. It’s just the disappointment in the whole thing. Don’t take anything away from the University of Saint Francis. They won the game on the scoreboard and they’re going to move on, but the disappointment is that our kids don’t have the chance to keep playing.”
Baker ended the season with an overall record of 8-3.
“I just said sorry to the seniors because these other guys will get an opportunity to take this to another level, but that is what is so disappointing,” Grossner said.
