When you play against an opponent from a Division I-AA school, you can expect to play against some tough competition.
The Baker football team ran into just that Saturday, and the squad is focused on staying upbeat after the 56-0 loss to the University of Tennessee at Martin.
“Despite the score, which everybody sees in the bright lights, there were some positives,” head coach Mike Grossner said. “We went toe-to-toe with them in the first quarter.”
Safety Jamie Resseguie said the team showed some progress overall.
“Despite the score, I think we showed a lot of great potential on both sides of the ball,” he said. “We moved the ball well in offense, and we flew around in defense.”
Grossner said scores at the end of the first quarter proved to be costly for the Wildcats.
“There was a 14-point momentum swing into the second quarter,” he said. “The floodgates opened up a little bit. We missed two field goal opportunities to put points on the board.”
The Wildcat offense did show personnel-wise that there are some weapons that can gain some yards.
Running back Richie Bryant gained 66-yards rushing on 15 carries.
Wide receiver Tyrell Spain had 47 yards receiving on five catches. Receiver James Hensley added four catches for 32 yards.
Grossner said Tennessee-Martin’s overall team speed played a big part.
“They are very athletic,” he said. “You can see it on tape. Athletically, they probably outmatched us with a couple positions. That became apparent on Saturday.”
Wide receiver Brad Fawcett said the team stuck together throughout the tough ballgame.
“As a team, there wasn’t a lot of team conflict even though there was a lot of adversity,” Fawcett said. “There was no yelling. We stayed as one family, one unit.”
Resseguie said it was a tough task to prepare for an opponent with so much speed.
“They gave us a lot of speed to look at, which we had to adjust to right out of the gate,” he said. “I think we just had a couple missed assignments that hurt us.”
Fawcett said playing at a larger venue versus a team from a National Collegiate Athletic Association conference was a good experience.
“It was a good atmosphere for us to get a taste of the big time,” Fawcett said.
Fawcett added that the media timeouts that occurred during the contest provided some humor for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics conference Wildcat team not used to playing games that are televised.
Next up, the Baker football team starts conference play at Culver-Stockton College on Saturday.
“We want to come out and hit them in the mouth,” Resseguie said. “We want to come out and set the tone for how we will play all the teams in our conference.”
Grossner said he expects Culver-Stockton to play well at home Saturday.
"Culver-Stockton has always presented us with a tough game up there," he said.<br/>Fawcett said the Wildcats are hoping to not hold themselves back with mental mistakes and redeem themselves from last Saturday's contest.Fawcett said the Wildcats are hoping to not hold themselves back with mental mistakes and redeem themselves from last Saturday's contest.
Fawcett said the Wildcats are hoping to not hold themselves back with mental mistakes and redeem themselves from last Saturday’s contest.
