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Baker 45, Missouri Valley College 24

Micah Mason had not scored a touchdown this season in 72 carries as Baker University's starting running back.
Switched to defense, the sophomore from Baldwin City, Kan., scored twice on interception returns Saturday, leading the winless Wildcats to a 45-24 blowout of 17th-ranked Missouri Valley.

Baker's defense matched the Vikings' offense with three touchdowns. Unfortunately for Valley, the 'Cats' offense was productive as well, sophomore Kendall Bradley throwing for 232 yards and two TDs.

"We knew they were going to be tough," remarked MVC head coach Paul Troth. "We just didn't make plays."

That was obvious from the start, when junior free safety Donrail Crane had a chance to intercept a Bradley pass at his own 26-yard line, but instead of aggressively going after the ball, drifted toward it like a center fielder camping under a lazy pop fly while Baker junior Brandon Crosby snatched it from his grasp.

If that weren't bad enough, Crosby was grabbed by the facemask to add penalty to insult, setting up sophomore Ryan Smith's 27-yard field goal. Valley's comedy of errors continued on its next possession, which ended with sophomore Paul Foltz blocking junior Tyler Fennewald's punt into the end zone for a safety.

After the ensuing punt, the 'Cats marched a steady 55 yards on nine plays, gaining 19 yards when freshman James Hensley beat Crane on fourth down at the Vikings' 7. Senior Ryan Pitts grabbed a 5-yard scoring strike two plays later.

Valley's offense was unable to sustain anything, held to two first downs on its first four series, not helped by five dropped passes.

"Early on if we catch some of those balls it keeps drives going," Troth admitted. "We just never got in a rhythm."

An 11-yard run by junior Ralph Volcin finally kick-started the offense midway through the second quarter. Senior Roy Harden connected with junior Ryan Ross -- one Valley receiver not suffering from dropsy -- for 11 yards and junior Jason Gaffney for 12 yards before settling for a 38-yard field goal by senior Gary Burley.

Mason actually got his first rushing TD, a 1-yard plunge which followed his 16-yard catch as Baker went 78 yards on its next series, prior to taking a pick of a flat pass 33 yards for a score with 38 seconds left in the first half to make it 25-3.

"Those were bad calls on my part," Troth conceded. "We shouldn't have run them with the defense they were in."

The Vikings had been down by a similar margin against Evangel in their season-opener and came back to make it a ballgame, losing by only three points, but it needed some stops. That didn't happen on Baker's first possession of the second half, the visitors going 79 yards as the 6-foot-5 Pitts twice out-leapt 5-foot-9 freshman cornerback Marion Jordan - for 29- and 38-yard gains - before catching a 3-yard touchdown flip.

"You have to time your jump and do everything just right to even have a chance," Troth explained of the difficulties of a eight-inch mismatch. "If anything is off, the tall guy definitely has an advantage."

Valley put together its longest drive of the day to that point when it got the ball back, Volcin rumbling 28 yards and freshman Derron Dixon hauling in a 23-yard pass on third down before senior Pat Wiltshire made a diving catch of a 29-yard pass in the end zone.

Before the third period was over, though, Mason struck again with a 47-yard interception return. Although Volcin answered with a 57-yard TD dash, all the Vikings could do would be to trade blows -- the knockout coming when junior C.J. Boram picked off a pass 3 yards behind his own goal line and then going the length of the field for a touchdown.

"You take away three picks for touchdowns and it's a tie game," Troth whistled in the dark. "Things we usually do well we were struggling to do."

Although Valley out-gained the Wildcats (1-5, 1-5 HAAC), 478 to 254 yards, it couldn't overcome its own mistakes -- not only the three turnovers for scores, but 10 penalties for 101 yards by another one of the league's officiating crews.

The loss doesn't knock the Vikings (4-2, 3-2) out of playoff contention, but it removes any margin for error. Valley has already beaten two of the other teams in the race, and has the other two left to play. With four games left, anything can happen, but Saturday's road game at Culver-Stockton -- where MVC hasn't won since its 1999 title campaign -- promises to be another dogfight.

"If we play our best and they play their best, I think we can win," Troth asserted. "We need to make sure we play our best."