Baker quarterback Paul Hobson carries the ball against Vale on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022.

Baker’s response to its first loss on the young football season was emphatic.

The Bulldogs traveled to Vale on Friday, Sept. 16 and dominated the Vikings from the start.

Baker, coming off a 41-14 loss to Homedale, Idaho, on Sept. 9, led 20-0 at halftime and cruised to a 33-14 win to improve to 2-1 on the season.

Junior quarterback Paul Hobson was involved in each of Baker’s first four touchdowns.

After a scoreless first quarter, Hobson scored on a 5-yard rush early in the second quarter and Baker led 7-0.

Hobson then found one his favorite targets, wide receiver and fellow junior Hudson Spike, for a pair of touchdown passes, from 13 and 30 yards, to extend the lead to 20-0.

Baker then opened the third quarter with another Hobson scoring toss, this one to freshman Rasean Jones from 18 yards, to lead 27-0.

“We played pretty well for the most part,” Baker coach Jason Ramos said. “We threw the ball well again. Paul had another good game, making great throws and our guys were catching the ball and making plays.”

Hobson finished 17 for 25 passing for 225 yards with the three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Spike had seven catches for 115 yards. Jones had five grabs for 50 yards, junior Malaki Myer had three catches for 24 yards, and senior Tate Powell caught two passes for 27 yards.

“We got off to a slow start, maybe a little sloppy with some execution, offensively,” Ramos said. “But once we got going, we got that momentum late in the first quarter, then maintained that through the second quarter, we were able to drive the ball and score.”

Ramos said Baker still needs to improve its running game.

Sophomore Jaxon Logsdon led the Bulldogs with 57 yards on 15 carries. Junior Kayden Garvin had 18 yards on seven carries, including a 3-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that gave Baker a 33-7 lead.

On defense the Bulldogs kept Vale scoreless until late in the third quarter.

The Vikings actually outgained Baker, 324 yards to 309, but Vale gained many of its yards after the game was all but decided. Baker held the Vikings to six of 15 on third-down conversions, and more important, the Bulldogs forced three turnovers.

“Defense played pretty well, they pretty much were able to make Vale work pretty hard to get what they got in the second half,” Ramos said.

Myer had one interception in the first half which he returned to the Vale 30 to set up a Baker touchdown. Hobson and senior David Shaw had the other interceptions.

“Defense stepped up when they needed to,” Ramos said.

The Bulldogs not only regained momentum after the loss to Homedale, but they avenged a 34-13 loss to Vale in October 2021.

Baker returns to the road for its final nonleague game, traveling to Ontario on Friday, Sept. 23.

The Tigers, formerly a Greater Oregon League opponent, have left the league for football this fall, along with Mac-Hi.

Ontario is 2-1, with wins over Caldwell (48-28) and Mac-Hi (57-8) sandwiched around a loss to La Grande (62-30).

Ramos said a goal this week is to have more players ready to contribute against Ontario.

“That’s going to be an emphasis this week, getting more guys on the field, giving the other guys a break,” he said.

Baker begins its schedule in the newly constituted GOL on Friday, Sept. 30, traveling to La Grande for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Community Stadium.

The Bulldogs return to Baker Bulldog Memorial Stadium for the first time in almost a month, playing host to The Dalles, one of the new league members, on Friday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.