Baker's Jake McClaughry (No. 16) gets ready to tackle Junction City's Grant Barnes in a Class 4A playoff game on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.

Baker football coach Jason Ramos will rely on multiple newcomers to lead the Bulldogs this fall, and they won’t exactly be easing in the season.

Baker’s first five opponents all advanced to the playoffs last year.

“The schedule certainly didn’t get any easier,” said Ramos, who is starting his sixth year as varsity head coach.

The 2023 Bulldogs went 5-5, losing 35-28 to Junction City in a Class 4A first-round playoff game. Baker lost its first four games, then won five straight, including rallying past Pendleton to win its Greater Oregon League title since 2012, before the playoff loss.

Ramos, who was picked as the league’s coach of the year, is happy that the Bulldogs open the 2024 season at home, taking on Scappoose Friday, Sept. 6, at 7 p.m. at Baker Bulldog Memorial Stadium.

“It’s nice to have the first one at home,” Ramos said. “We always enjoy playing at home.”

Scappoose, northwest of Portland, was 10-2 last season and advanced to the Class 4A semifinals. Scappoose beat Baker 54-28 on Sept. 22, 2023, at Scappoose.

The Bulldogs then head out on the road, traveling to Redmond on Sept. 13 to play Marshfield, which lost in the Class 4A quarterfinals last year.

Baker travels to Vale on Sept. 20 to take on the Vikings, 9-1 last season, their only loss in the Class 3A quarterfinals. Vale nipped Baker 8-7 last year.

The Bulldogs continue their multisport rivalry with Cascade on Sept. 27, traveling to Turner, near Salem, to play the Cougars, who beat Baker 42-21 last year and advanced to the Class 4A quarterfinals.

Although Baker lost 10 seniors, Ramos said this year’s roster includes several returning varsity starters and players who logged significant time with the varsity in 2023.

The list includes junior Rasean Jones, who was Baker’s lone first-team all-state player last year, earning the accolade as a wide receiver.

Ramos said the challenge for the coaching staff this fall is to find a variety of ways to get the ball to Jones, who is among the faster players in Oregon high school football.

He is a four-time Class 4A state champion in the hurdles.

Jones was a standout for the second straight year in the annual Les Schwab Bowl, a showcase for some of Oregon’s top high school athletes in late June.

Jones led the Willamette team with nine receptions for 93 yards and two touchdowns. He also had two rushes for nine yards and one kickoff return for 13 yards and led all players, on both teams, with 115 all-purpose yards.

Ramos will task junior quarterback Jake McClaughry with putting the ball in Jones’ hands both down the field and coming out of the backfield.

Ramos said McClaughry, who saw varsity action last season as a sophomore, performed well during a 7-on-7 camp in June at Eastern Oregon University, and again during a team camp at EOU in July.

“He’s throwing the ball really well, and I’m expecting him to have a really good season,” Ramos said.

McClaughry replaces senior Paul Hobson, who was the GOL offensive player of the year, throwing for 22 touchdowns and no interceptions in league games.

Hobson is joined at EOU by another Bulldog standout, Hudson Spike, who starred at wide receiver and at defensive back in 2023.

Baker also lost to graduation wide receiver Malaki Myer, a second-team all-league pick at that position and a first-team player at defensive back along with Spike.

Ramos said seniors Jimmy Sullivan and John Garcia will be key wide receivers. Ramos said a few players are working at another wide receiver position.

Ramos said his goal is to have fewer “two-way” Bulldogs — those who play both offense and defense, particularly in the wide receiver/defensive back group.

Many players in those groups lack experience, Ramos said, and he wants to avoid putting additional pressure on them by having them on the field for almost every snap.

To help, Ramos said Jones, who was a first-team all-league linebacker last year, is moving to safety.

The Bulldogs are also replacing their top running back, with Kayden Garvin having graduated.

Ramos said Sullivan, who backed up Garvin last year, is “in the mix” in the backfield, along with three or four others.

The Bulldogs lost several stalwarts on the offensive and defensive lines, including Russell Walden, Cole Richards, Kade Rudi and Brandon McCullough.

Rudi was an all-state as well as an all-league pick on the offensive line.

Ramos said restocking both interior lines “is probably our biggest concern.”

“We’re a little thin on linemen,” he said.

Returners include senior Chris Entrekin, a second-team all-league offensive lineman, and junior Rylan Jaensch, an honorable mention all-league player on the defensive line.

Sullivan returns at inside linebacker, where he earned honorable mention all-league honors last year.

Ramos said he doesn’t plan any significant changes to the offensive philosophy even as the Bulldogs break in new starters at quarterback, running back and wide receiver.

“We’re going to have to get a little more creative to get the ball to our playmakers,” he said.

League changes

The Greater Oregon League shrinks from six teams to five, as Madras has dropped to Class 3A.

“I think we’ll compete, we’ll be in the mix for the league (title),” Ramos said. “We have some high expectations still based on what we saw out of this group during the summer.”

Baker replaces one league game with a nonleague contest Oct. 25 against Gladstone/Riverdale at Baker Bulldog Memorial Stadium. The Gladiators were 3-7 last year.

Sept. 6: vs. Scappoose, 7 p.m.

Sept. 13: vs Marshfield (at Redmond High School), 6 p.m.

Sept. 20: at Vale, 6 p.m. PDT

Sept. 27: at Cascade, 7 p.m.

Oct. 3: vs. Pendleton/Nixyaawii, 7 p.m.

Oct. 10: at La Grande, 7 p.m.

Oct. 18: vs. Ontario, 7 p.m.

Oct. 25: vs. Gladstone/Riverdale, 7 p.m.

Nov. 1: at Crook County, 7 p.m.