By Gerry Steele

gsteele@bakercityherald.com

It took a lit bit of a wakeup call, but Baker rallied to defeat Nyssa 26-10 in a nonleague football game Friday at Bulldog Memorial Stadium.

Baker managed just five offensive plays in the first five minutes of the game, and trailed 10-0 despite the fact the Baker defense didn’t allow a point.

“No points allowed by our defense was a pretty good night right out of the chute,” said Baker coach Dave Johnson.

Baker’s defense stopped Nyssa’s first drive, forcing a punt.

But that punt pinned Baker back at its own 9.

On Baker’s first offensive play, the center snap sailed over quarterback Brad Zemmer’s head and into the end zone. After a brief scramble Nyssa recovered for a defensive touchdown.

The two-point conversion gave Nyssa an 8-0 lead with 8:50 left in the first quarter.

Baker took the next Nyssa kickoff at its own 20. After three running plays the Bulldogs were facing fourth down on their own 1.

This time the center snap flew over punter Luke Ham’s head and out the back of the end zone for a safety and a 10-0 Nyssa lead.

After stopping Nyssa, Baker again took over on its own 8. This time however, the Bulldogs converted.

Baker marched 82 yards, including two long passes from Zemmer, one to James AhHee and one to Sam Hamilton, to get to the Nyssa 1.

Marcus Plumley then got Baker on the scoreboard when he scored on a 1-yard touchdown run as the first-quarter horn sounded.

Ham’s conversion kick pulled Baker to within 10-7.

Baker again stopped Nyssa on the ensuing drive, this time at the Nyssa 45.

Five plays later Zemmer found Grant Berry on a wide receiver screen over the middle for a 22-yard TD pass and a 13-10 Baker lead.

Two big plays increased Baker’s lead late in the third period.

Starting on his own 5, Zemmer broke a 52-yard run to midfield.

Four plays later Zemmer found TJ Dunn on a 45-yard pass to the Nyssa 1.

Zemmer then went off right tackle for the touchdown and a 19-10 Baker lead.

Zemmer completed the scoring on a 24-yard TD pass to Cody DeCarli early in the fourth quarter.

“It was a W. It was a good start,” Johnson said. “Defensively we swarmed really well. “The kids responded well after that opening bump.”

Zemmer finished 18-of-35 passing for 268 yards, including one stretch in the second half where he completed 10 straight passes. Six different Bulldogs had at least one catch in the game.

Baker outgained Nyssa 343-104.

Baker (1-0) hosts La Grande (0-1) in a nonleague game Friday at 7 p.m.

Nyssa -10 0 0 0 — 10

Baker – 7 6 6 7 — 26

N — Tapia recover fumble in end zone (Martinez run)

N — Safety: Center snap goes out of end zone

B — Plumley 1 run (Ham kick)

B — Berry 22 pass from Zemmer (Kick failed)

B — Zemmer 2 run (Run failed)

B — DeCarli 24 pass from Zemmer (Ham kick)

Individual statistics

Rushing —Nyssa: Martinez 16-62, Iniguez 1-2, Espin 2-0, Anderson 10-(-1), Thompson 1-(-2). Baker: Zemmer 16-33, Hayes 11-25, Plumley 10-14, Hamilton 1-3, DeCarli 1-1, Ham 1-(-1).

Passing — Nyssa: Thompson 5-19-1-43. Baker: Zemmer 18-35-0-268.

Receiving —Nyssa: McIntosh 2-17, Vineyard 1-15, Anderson 1-6, Dorothy 1-5. Baker: Hamilton 5-58, Berry 4-43, AhHee 3-63, DeCarli 3-43, Dunn 2-51, Ham 1-10.