BAKER FOOTBALL: Vale’s ground game rolls past Bulldogs, 48-19

Published 5:41 pm Friday, September 20, 2024

The Baker football team traveled to Vale Friday evening, Sept. 20, to take on the Vikings, one of the top Class 3A teams.

Baker’s Rasean Jones returned two kickoffs for touchdowns, and Hayden Churchfield caught a touchdown pass from Jake McClaughry, but the difference in the game was Vale’s punishing rushing attack, which piled up 480 yards and 27 first downs en route to a 48-19 win.

Vale broke the game open in the third quarter, outscoring Baker 24-6 to turn a 16-13 halftime lead into a 40-19 advantage.

Vale improved to 4-0 on the season. Baker fell to 1-2.

Baker coach Jason Ramos said the Bulldogs knew the Vikings would focus on establishing a running game. During practices leading up to the game, Baker added a fifth defensive lineman to bolster the rush defense.

“We knew they were going to run right at us,” Ramos said.

The strategy was effective at times in the first half, Ramos said, as the Bulldogs were within three points at halftime.

But in the second half, “they kind of wore us down,” Ramos said.

The Bulldogs struggled in particular on third down defense, as Vale converted nine of its 11 third down plays.

Baker, meanwhile, was 0 for eight on third downs (although the Bulldogs did convert three of five chances on fourth down). The quick offensive possessions following Vale touchdowns gave the Vikings extra opportunities in the third quarter, and they took advantage of every chance by scoring a touchdown.

“We couldn’t get stops,” Ramos said.

First half

Baker had the ball first, and Vale took a risk by kicking off deep to Jones, who has a kickoff return for a touchdown this season. Jones nearly broke loose but the Vale kicker held on to Jones’ foot and brought him down at at midfield.

McClaughry passed to Jones for a first down to the Vale 32 but the drive stalled and Jones punted to the Vale 7. The Vikings then went 93 yards for a touchdown, relying mainly on running back Kase Schaffeld. The two-point conversion gave Vale an 8-0 lead with 6:18 left in the first quarter.

The Vikings then played with fire again, kicking deep to Jones. This time he shrugged off several defenders and broke into the open field, where his speed was too much for the Vikings. Jones went 90 yards for the touchdown. The extra point missed, but Baker was within 8-6 with 6:01 left in the first quarter.

On the ensuing possession, the Vikings had a long runback of their own to start at the Baker 49. The Vikings gained two first downs and advanced to the Baker 1. But on a quarterback sneak on third and goal the Vikings fumbled and Baker recovered in the end zone for a touchback with 40 seconds left in the first quarter.

Baker went 80 yards on a drive that included McClaughry passes for first downs to John Garcia and Jones. McClaughry completed a pass to Jones to the Vale 2, and after an incomplete pass brought up fourth and goal from the 2, McClaughry found Churchfield open on a slant pattern for the touchdown. The extra point gave Baker a 13-8 lead with 6:26 left in the first half.

Vale responded with a long touchdown drive, again relying mostly on Schaffeld’s runs, including a 6-yard touchdown run on a direct snap. The two-point conversion gave the Vikings a 16-13 lead with 3:15 left in the first half.

On the ensuing possession, Jones caught a screen pass on third and long, bounced off two defenders and went in for the apparent go-ahead score, but a holding penalty on Baker negated the score, and Baker was forced to punt with 30 seconds left in the first half.

Second half

Vale had possession to start the second half, and a block in the back call on the Vikings pushed them back to their own 12 yard line. The Vikings then methodically marched 88 yards for the touchdown, with all the yards gained on running plays. The two-point conversion gave Vale a 24-13 lead with 7:41 left in the third quarter.

Yet again the Vikings kicked off to Jones, and again he raced through the coverage team for a touchdown, this time covering 86 yards. The two-point conversion failed, but Baker cut the lead to 24-21 with 7:29 left in the third quarter.

Vale ran back the ensuing kickoff to the Baker 48, and the Vikings, after completing a rare pass on first down, went back to the reliable running game with Schaffeld, who ran for a first down to the Baker 15. Schaffeld then ran almost untouched for a 15-yard touchdown. Schaffeld ran in the two-point conversion on another direct snap, and Vale’s lead was up to 13 points, at 32-19, with 6:18 left in the third quarter.

Vale’s kicker booted the ball away from Jones on the kickoff, and the Vikings forced a punt from deep in Baker territory. The Vikings took over on the Bulldog 30, and their steamrolling ground game produced another touchdown and two-point conversion, boosting Vale’s lead to 40-19 with 1:47 left in the third quarter.

On Baker’s ensuing possession, a receiver slipped on fourth down and McClaughry’s pass fell incomplete, giving Vale the ball on the Baker 38 in the final minute of the third quarter.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Jones intercepted a pass deep in Baker territory and returned it to the Baker 45. McClaughry completed a pass to Jones on fourth and 1 at the Vale 46 for just enough yardage for the first down. McClaughry then found Jones for a 15-yard gain on fourth and 10 from the Vale 45.

But the Bulldogs fumbled on the next play and Vale recovered at their own 40 with 7:34 left in the game.

Vale took advantage, going 60 yards for a touchdown, followed by a two-point conversion that increased the lead to 48-19 with 4:48 left in the game.

Ramos said Baker needs to be more effective with its running game to balance McClaughry’s passing to Jones, Churchfield, Garcia and Daniel Maldonado.

“We have to be able to run the football just enough to keep teams honest,” Ramos said.

Baker had 11 rushing yards against Vale.

Ramos said he is “very happy” with McLaughry’s poise after three games as a varsity starter. Although Jones is clearly Baker’s top offensive threat, Ramos said McClaughry has taken advantage when defenses have double-teamed Jones, looking for Baker’s other receivers.

“I’m really happy with his decision making,” Ramos said of McClaughry.

McClaughry completed 14 of 27 passes for 129 yards against Vale, with the touchdown to Churchfield, and no interceptions. Jones had 10 catches for 96 yards, and Churchfield three receptions for 24 yards. Jones had 228 return yards.

Up next

Baker’s daunting nonconference schedule continues when the Bulldogs travel to Cascade on Friday, Sept. 28, to play the top-ranked Cougars, who are 3-0. Cascade beat Scappoose 36-0, a team that beat Baker 55-28 in the season opener on Sept. 6.

“They’re a really good football team,” Ramos said of the Cougars. “It’s going to be a challenge.”

But he said Baker’s first-half performance against Vale, being down by just three points, proves that the Bulldogs can compete against top teams.

Powder Valley volleyball

In other local sports action Friday, Sept. 20, the Powder Valley volleyball team was at home against Crane, a match up of two top 5 teams in Class 1A. Crane held on for a five-set win, winning the fifth set 22-20.

Powder won the first set, 25-17, Crane won the second, 25-19, Powder won the third set 25-16, and Crane won the fourth, 25-19.

Football

The Powder Valley Badgers fell to 3-1 on the season after a 38-22 loss to Crane at North Powder.

Pine Eagle lost 48-6 at Joseph.

Huntington lost 70-0 to Harper Charter at Harper.