It took four weeks, but the Baker football team got its first win of the season after defeating Avila University 41-17 Saturday at Liston Stadium.

The Wildcats jumped out to a 20-0 lead in the first 17 minutes of the game. BU had not scored more than 17 points in a game in the first three games of the season.

“The first one is always nice,” head coach Mike Grossner said. “This team deserves a win. I felt we played good.

“The offense struggled after the first 17 minutes, but the defense and special teams picked up the slack.

“Our special teams are playing great,” Grossner said. “They’ve sparked us the last three weeks and then defensively and we held them out of the endzone again. We gave up some rushing yards, but our guys played tough and we kept them out of the endzone.”

After Avila cut Baker’s lead to 20-10, freshman Xavier Lewis returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown to give momentum back to the Wildcats.

The ‘Cats have a bye week next, but will look to start a winning streak on the road against Culver-Stockton College in two weeks.