Football Suffers Senior Day Loss to No. 22 Baker

Marshall, Mo., (Nov. 11, 2023)- The Missouri Valley College football team hosted No. 22 Baker (Kan.) for Senior Day at Volney C. Ashford Stadium to close out the 2023 season in a Heart of America Athletic Conference South Division contest.  The Vikings stayed close with the Wildcats into the third quarter, but fell by a final score of 48-14.

Both teams traded punts at the start of the game, as the Viking defense came up with stops on the first two Baker drives.  After Missouri Valley punted back to the Wildcats with less than six minutes to play in the first quarter, the defense came up with another play.  Baker moved into MVC territory, but Senior Defensive Back Jalen Brown (Hartwell, Ga.) intercepted a pass and gave the Vikings possession at their own 20-yard line.

Missouri Valley followed with a long drive, which included 13 plays and covered 52 yards.  However, facing a fourth-down conversion, a rushing attempt by Senior Running Back Jeremiah Bryant (Atwood, Tenn.) came up short, and the ball was turned back over the Wildcats.  The ensuing drive for BU covered 72 yards and was capped with a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead with four minutes played in the second quarter.

The Vikings were unable to put together a drive on their next possession, and Baker followed with another scoring drive.  The Wildcats settled for a 27-yard field goal to extend their lead to 10-0 with less than six minutes remaining before halftime.  Missouri Valley answered with a quick score, helped by a 61-yard rush from Bryant.  Three plays later, Senior Quarterback Tionne Harris (St. Louis, Mo.) connected with Senior Wide Receiver Dorian Miles (Gwinnett Co., Ga.) on a 12-yard touchdown pass.  Junior Kicker Justin Keller's (Shawnee, Kan.) extra-point brought MVC into a 10-7 deficit late in the quarter.

Baker answered back, and moved down the field in nine plays to extend the advantage out to 17-7.  Both teams had one more possession in the final minute of the second quarter, but could not extend a drive, and Missouri Valley went into halftime trailing.

The opening possession of the second half belonged to the Vikings, but the team was forced into a punt.  However, the return was fumbled, forced by Sophomore Defensive Back Jeremiah McNair (Hattiesburg, Miss.), and recovered by Senior Linebacker Gabe Ellefsen (Marshall, Mo.) to extend the MVC possession early in the quarter.  Harris hit Miles for an 18-yard gain right after the fumble, and three plays later, he completed a nine-yard touchdown pass to Junior Wide Receiver Khaleel Dampier (Columbia, Mo.).  Keller's extra-point brought the team to within a 17-14 score with less than three minutes played after the break.

The ensuing kickoff was returned into MVC territory by the Wildcats, and helped set up a quick touchdown to put the team in front, 24-14, less than one minute after the previous score.  The next Viking drive lasted only two plays, as Harris suffered a sack, and fumbled the ball back to Baker.  With possession deep in MVC territory, BU was stopped by the Missouri Valley defense, as McNair intercepted a pass in the end zone to prevent a score.

The Viking offense suffered another turnover, when a pass was intercepted midway through the quarter.  The Wildcats responded with another touchdown, this time capping an eight-play drive to make it 31-14 with just over four minutes to play in the third quarter.  After stopping MVC on its ensuing possession, Baker added another touchdown in the closing moments of the quarter, and held a 38-14 lead.

Play in the fourth quarter started with a Missouri Valley drive that reached the BU 29-yard line.  However, a Harris pass was intercepted.  Baker quickly added to its lead, which sat at 45-14 with three minutes played in the final quarter.  Another drive for MVC ended in an interception, this time from a Senior Quarterback pass.  The two teams traded possession late in the quarter, and BU added a 44-yard field goal to cap scoring on its final drive of the contest.  Missouri Valley fell by a final score of 48-14.

Bryant finished with 129 yards rushing on 21 attempts.  He broke 100 yards rushing for the fifth time this season.  Harris had 115 yards passing on 13 completions, with two touchdowns.  Dampier led with four receptions for 47 yards and one touchdown, while Miles added three receptions for 42 yards and one touchdown.

Senior Linebacker Craig Travis (Kansas City, Mo.) led with nine tackles and one tackle-for-loss.  Senior Linebacker David Gysbers (Columbia, Mo.) added five tackles.  Brown totaled three tackles, one pass break-up and one interception, while McNair had three tackles, one forced fumble and one interception, and Ellefsen finished with three tackles and one fumble recovery.

Senior Defensive Back Johnathan Bailey (North Las Vegas, Neb.) totaled 63 yards on kickoff returns.  Bridges had a 36.2 yards per punt average on six punts, with two downed inside the 20-yard line.  Keller made his two extra-point attempts.

The loss brings an end to the season for Missouri Valley with a 5-5 overall record, and a 2-3 record in the Heart South Division.  Baker improves to 8-2 on the season, and 4-1 in the division.

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ABOUT MISSOURI VALLEY COLLEGE

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.