The Baker University football team lost a heartbreaker to No. 8 MidAmerica Nazarene University Saturday by the score of 33-30.
“I mean, we were very competitive and we came out ready to play, but we have to limit the stupid mistakes,” sophomore Jake Morse said. “That cost us in the long run.”
The Wildcats jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on a 32-yard field goal from freshman Andrew Kimrey.
The Pioneers responded quickly, though, with a 59-yard drive that was capped off by a 23-yard touchdown pass from Sean Ransburg to Branden Phillips.
Baker then dug deep into the playbook and executed a double-pass play that resulted in sophomore Xavier Lewis throwing a 38-yard touchdown pass to junior Jake Green.
The ‘Cats’ offense continued to roll in the second quarter as senior John Babb ran the ball into the end zone from 12 yards out, to give BU a 16-7 lead.
After the Wildcats’ defense forced MidAmerica Nazarene to punt after just three plays, Morse led BU down the field again for another touchdown. Morse connected with 6-foot-8-inch junior Joel Murphy for a 5-yard touchdown pass.
Baker appeared to have momentum going into halftime, but the Pioneers cut the ‘Cats lead to 23-13 just before the break.
“There was a crucial play right before the end of the half when we were sky high and celebrating in the end zone and then one of our guys says something to their guy and we get a (15-yard penalty) and give them the ball at midfield with a chance to score, and they put seven on the board before the end of the half,” head coach Mike Grossner said. “That was huge.”
MidAmerica Nazarene continued to close the gap by scoring on its first drive of the half with a Ransburg 10-yard touchdown run. Then it was the Pioneers’ turn to using some trickery when they recovered their own onside kick.
The Pioneers drove down the field to take a 26-23 lead after a 1-yard touchdown run from James Tillman.
The Wildcats would not back down though as they regained the lead early in the fourth quarter with another 5-yard touchdown-pass from Morse to Murphy.
Despite knocking Ransburg, running back Greg Gates and wide receiver Juan Redman out the game and winning the turnover battle 3-0, Baker could not respond after MidAmerica took the lead 33-30 on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Herl to Brett Houchen.
“I think our effort was there,” sophomore Adrian Pearson said. “Everyone was out there playing hard and we were flying around. It is just we were one play away from winning the game. We get one play in any number of situations and we just couldn’t get it.”
The Wildcats are 3-3 on the season and 2-3 in the HAAC. BU will look to bounce back against Avila University at 1 p.m. Saturday in Kansas City, Mo. Avila is 0-5 on the season.