Any questions about the alumni football team’s ability to match-up against the Wildcats in the spring game were answered Saturday, as the game remained scoreless after an entire quarter of play.
“The talent is still there,” Wildcat defensive back Ronald Atkinson said. “Coach (Mackie Valentin) of the track team was real fast. It was fun to play against some of the coaches here right now.”
By the time the horn sounded and the dust had cleared, the Wildcat team had put up three touchdowns on the alumni.
Wide receiver Tyrell Spain caught the first touchdown pass, and tight-end Alfonso Nino caught a 5-yard touchdown later in the game.
Running back Frank Owens had a 5-yard touchdown run to complete the score.
Team members said, overall, the experience was a good one for football players, young and old.
“We understood that some of them weren’t in tip-top shape,” Atkinson said. “We were interested to let them know Baker’s football program is going in the right direction.”
Wide receiver Will Baum said the game was a good one.
“It was enjoyable because you got to see coaches that coach now play in the game,” Baum said. “We got to see all of the alumni and how they played back in the day.”
Defensive tackle Ryan Burns said the alumni had a lot of talent present.
“Most of them had pretty good teams back when they played here at Baker,” Burns said. “There were some pretty hard hitters and some pretty tough runners.”
Some college teams have spring games in which the players are divided up and play against each other. Baker’s alumni game sets the team apart from other schools.
“We feel like we are going against some real talent every day in practice,” Atkinson said. “We go against the best everyday.”
Burns said he also valued playing in the spring game Saturday.
“It was a very enjoyable experienceÂÂÂÂ-seeing those guys come back and seeing the pride they have for Baker football,” Burns said.
Atkinson said playing against the newest alumni was one of the highlights.
“We got to go against some guys one last time that we played with last year,” Atkinson said.
The team will now part ways for the summer, but some players will stick around campus and compete in seven-on-seven drills against other college teams.
The team will begin its fall season on Sept. 1 at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Mo.