Baker senior running back Kayden Garvin gains yards against Cascade as Cougar defender Landon Knox looks to make a tackle on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, at Baker Bulldog Memorial Stadium.

Baker’s football team needed to improve in multiple areas after opening the season with a 42-21 loss at home to Cascade.

Two weeks into the season, the Bulldogs still do.

“We’ve got some things to work on, obviously,” coach Jason Ramos said after Baker lost 62-14 at Homedale, Idaho, on Friday, Sept. 8.

The Trojans were a formidable opponent, to be sure.

Baker actually scored more points than Homedale’s first two opponents combined — the Trojans beat Filer, Idaho, 54-7, and Gooding, Idaho, 42-6.

“We knew how good they are,” Ramos said. “But we’re disappointed by our level of play. The game wasn’t really reflective of who we think we are.”

Ramos did see improvement in some areas compared with the Cascade game.

Baker struggled to deal with the Cougars’ blitzes, leaving quarterback Paul Hobson scrambling on most dropbacks.

Ramos said the Bulldogs were better in that respect against Homedale, particularly in recognizing blitzes. But they still need to improve on executing their blocks, he said.

Giving Hobson time to survey the field is vital. The senior, who has signed a letter of intent to play at Eastern Oregon University, has a trio of skilled receivers to throw to in Malaki Myer, Rasean Jones and Hudson Spike.

Hobson was 12 of 19 for 163 yards against Homedale.

Myer had two catches for 82 yards, including a touchdown, and Jones had nine receptions for 82 yards.

Hobson scored Baker’s other touchdown on a run.

Kayden Garvin ran 14 times for 32 yards, and Jimmy Sullivan gained seven yards on two carries.

After giving up 104 points in two losses, defense is an obvious priority, Ramos said.

Against Homedale, the Bulldogs made multiple “critical errors” that Ramos said he wasn’t expecting based on recent practices.

“We’re going to try to address that,” he said.

Baker’s schedule remains daunting.

The Bulldogs return to their home field Friday, Sept. 15 for a 7 p.m. nonleague game against Vale.

“It’s Vale — they’re always going to play hard,” Ramos said. “They have some really good athletes. They’re a quality opponent.”

The Vikings are 2-0 and ranked fourth in Class 3A after opening the season with two easy wins — 46-6 over Santiam Christian and 45-12 over New Plymouth, Idaho.

“This is going to be a critical week,” Ramos said. “We’re going to have to challenge the team to respond to adversity, and find out if they can respond.”