Baker gridders nip Vale

Friday, at Bulldog Memorial Stadium, was no exception. The two solid teams gave fans more than 48 minutes of action before Baker came away with a 35-34 non-league victory.

The Bulldogs (4-0) had to stop Vale’s Jeff Williams short of the goal line on a two-point conversion try with no time left on the clock to secure the win.

“We definitely kept th efan interest up,” said Baker coach Dave Johnson.

“One play for the whole outcome. I’m really proud of how the kids finished.

“I was happy with our offense, but not really pleased with our defense at times,” Johnson said.

The Bulldogs lost lineman Kevin Fraser early in the first quarter to a knee injury. (Johnson didn’t have an update on Fraser’s condition Saturday.) That caused the Bulldogs to have to shuffle some people around on the line against the Vikings.

“Our hats go off to Dekker Smith, Joe Black and Mark Swiger for filling double duty,” Johnson said. “They did an outstanding job.”

Baker led 27-14 after three quarters only to have Vale storm back to take a 28-27 lead with 10:32 left in the game.

Baker then answered by mounting an 8-minute, 19-play drive to take the lead at 35-28 with 2:25 left in the game.

Starting on their own 31 the Bulldogs kept the ball on the ground for all but one play, moving the ball to the Vale 2. There, on fourth down, Stephen Talbot swept the left end for the touchdown. Quarterback Jesse Brown then found Justin Durflinger for the two-point conversion pass.

Johnson said that acing fourth down, the Bulldogs considered attemtping a field goal to take the lead.

“We rattled the idea of a field goal attempt around,” he said. “We have a couple of plays we use on the goal line and we decided to go with one of them instead.

“When we get Stephen in space he’s pretty hard on people,” the Baker coach said.

“We had lots of scenarios during the game, and we made the plays when we needed to. It ws fun to watch. I loved it,” Johnson said.

“This game might not get us into the playoffs, but it will definitely tune us up for them,” he said. “I’m proud of the boys. They battled.”

Vale actually scored first in the game when Drew Torrey scored the first of his three touchdowns midway through the opening quarter.

Baker quickly answered, ending a 73-yard drive with a 1-yard Talbot run. Smith’s conversion kick knotted the score at 7-7 with 1:37 left in the first quarter.

The score remained tied until just 4”41 remained in the first half. Then Brown found ty Everson on a 33-yard touchdown pass. Everson went up between two Vale defenders and pulled the ball down as he fell into the end zone.

Torrey’s second TD run again tied the game at 14-14 with 1:12 left in the half.

But Baker had enough time to regain the lead before halftime.

Brown connected three times with Trace Richardson, and twice with Durflinger to move the ball to the Vale 28. A pass interference penalty against Vale moved the ball to the 14 with 17.1 seconds left.

Then, after an incomplete pass, Brown found Luke Austin in the end zone for the touchdown with 5.9 seconds left. Smiths PAT kick gave Baker a 21-14 halftime lead.

Baker received the second-half kickoff and added to its lead.

Brown rolled to his right and found Talbot alone behind the defense for a 23-yard TD pass. The kick failed leaving Baker up 27-14.

That’s where the score remained until two plays into the fourth quarter. Vale quarterback Kyle Barras then scored on a short run to cut the deficit to 27-21.

Vale then intercepted a Brown pass, setting up shop on the Baker 28. Torrey scored his third TD two plays later to give Vale a 28-27 edge.

Then, after Baker regained the lead at 35-28, Vale still had 2:20 left to move the ball. The Vikings twice converted on fourth down to score when Barras foundPaul Spivey with a 9-yard TD pass as the horn sounded.

The Vikings then chose to go for the win, but the Baker line stopped Williams short.

Talbot finished with 147 yards rushing, and Brown 194 passing.

Baker travels to Fruitland, Idaho, Friday.

Vale    7    7    0    20    — 34

Baker    7    14    6    8    — 35

V — Torrey 11 run (Tolman kick)

B — Talbot 1 run (Smith kick)

B — Everson 33 pass from Brown (Smith kick)

V — Torrey 10 run (Tolman kick)

B — Austin 14 pass from Brown (Smith kick)

B — Talbot 23 pass from Brown (Kick failed)

V — Barras 5 run (Tolman kick)

V — Torrey 13 run (Tolman kick)

B — Talbot 2 run (Durflinger pass from Brown)

V — Spivey 9 pass from Barras (Run failed)

Individual statistics

Rushing — Vale: Williams 17-147, Torrey 7-54, Barras 8-20, DeVos 9-19, Bentz 1-2. Baker: Talbot 30-147, Austin 3-22, Brown 11-15.

Passing — Vale: Barras 7-15-0-91. Baker: Brown 13-30-2-194.

Receiving _ Vale: Haueter 3-55, Spivey 3-26, Bentz 1-10. Baker: Richardson 5-64, Durflinger 3-27, Talbot 2-38, Austin 2-32, Everson 1-33.