Despite the dreary weather Saturday, the Baker University football team had every reason to celebrate after shutting out Avila University 27-0 at Liston Stadium.
Along with a win to add to their record, the ‘Cats captured the 500th win in the football program’s history.
Head coach Mike Grossner said a win like this shows what kind of tradition the Baker program has.
“It exposes the fact there’s great tradition in Baker football,” Grossner said. “I would just like to get back on a winning way and get that streak going. This allows our younger players to see that we’ve had some great football teams in the past, and we want to strive for that.”
Coming off a four-game losing streak, the ‘Cats scored early after sophomore Drake Taylor blocked a punt, and sophomore Spencer Curran returned the ball 20 yards for the first touchdown of the game.
“We got off to a good start,” Curran said. “The offense and defense played well at the same time in the same game.”
The ‘Cats continued putting it to the Eagles in the second quarter with two touchdowns. After setting up for a fake field goal, freshman Brad Fawcett passed it off to sophomore Tylor St. Clair to put the score at 14-0. Freshman Mack Brown finished the quarter off with a 1-yard touchdown run.
The final touchdown of the game came from junior Micah Mason after a 3-yard touchdown with 12:39 left in the third quarter.
Grossner said the team’s attitude had changed between its last game and its game against Avila.
“I felt like we came out of the tunnel with a lot more emotion this game,” Grossner said. “They hung onto that emotion the entire game.”
The ‘Cats finished the game with 220 total offensive yards, 155 of which were rushing. Sophomore Richie Bryant led the way with 15 carries for 73 yards, while Mason finished out with 13 tackles and a touchdown.
Grossner said this bye week will be a big help by getting players healthy and refreshed for their Nov. 4 game at Culver-Stockton College.
“We need to heal up,” Grossner said. “This week off is perfect timing to get guys back. We will use this week to get better and work on recruiting. We don’t worry about the opponent as much as just getting back to basics this week. It also allows them to refresh and to want to get back and play a game.”
Curran said he hopes the team will keep its confidence level up for these next two weeks so it can continue winning.
“We need to keep our confidence that we can win out throughout the rest of the season,” Curran said. “We need to feel confident we can finish the season at .500.”