Baker started with a heavy run offense and began chipping away at the Tigers’ defense downfield. Unable to convert, Blountstown took over on downs and scored on its first play. But Baker answered back soon enough with a pass from Dawson Mitchem to Ray Rentz in the end zone.
The Tigers scored once again to regain the lead, but Baker’s defense prevented the two-point conversion from being successful. The Gators’ special teams once again stepped up when it mattered, and Elijah Lindros recovered a mishandled punt by Blountstown to set up the Gators in scoring position. Chasen Lawrence then punched it in to take a 14-12 lead.
After the half, Baker and Blountstown were at a stalemate. Neither team found the end zone for the majority of the third quarter. Lindros once again stepped up with a touchdown-preventing interception.
It was a tough fight between two top teams in the 1A classification, and head coach Matt Brunson commended Blountstown’s toughness but knew Baker had sown a good seed.
“Well, they are kind of setting a standard for the North in 1A, and we battled them jokers. But what our guys did is fought for four quarters, and what I told them at halftime is the next 24 minutes are going to set the tone for the next six weeks, and we’ve competed at a very high level,” Brunson said. “This was a physical football game, so we’re going to be fine, but them guys played hard.”
Baker continued to try and find ways to progress downfield and found some success with the passing game. Bridger Noffke broke free of his defender and came down with a touchdown catch to close the gap. Sam Kollar followed suit with a two-point conversion reception.
The Gators put in a last-ditch effort in the final minutes to try and close the gap once again but fell shy of converting. Even with the loss, Brunson is excited to see how his team will grow moving forward.
“Over the next six weeks we’ll definitely see what we’re about and we’re going to keep playing, but I’m excited,” Brunson said.
Baker will be back at home next week as previous rural district rival Central pays a visit to Doug Griffith Stadium.
Aubrey Kelley is a reporter for the Crestview News Bulletin.
To contact him, email him at aubrey@sandpaperpublishing.com