Baldwin -- A city-wide blackout in Baldwin couldn't keep Baker University's football team from playing at least a portion of its annual alumni game Saturday night.
Yet it remains to be seen whether a solitary half of football has readied the Wildcats to face a top 10-ranked opponent in Southwestern College on Saturday.
"We got quite a bit out of it actually," said Baker coach John Frangoulis, whose team will host the Moundbuilders at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Liston Stadium in Baldwin.
"The big reason that we play that game is to give our kids a chance to get used to a real game situation. It's pretty much a trial run."
On Saturday, Baker's varsity defeated the alumni, 21-7, in an abbreviated contest that lasted just over an hour. Both the first and second-string varsity units played in the game against the alumni, made up primarily of featured players who had graduated in the past couple years.
Among the players in the alumni lineup were Chuck Osborn, a second-team NAIA All-American last season, and Eric Davidson, an honorable mention choice, along with a handful of other players from the '98 Wildcat squad.
This week's opponent, however, should pose a much greater challenge. Southwestern enters as the No. 10 ranked team in the NAIA preseason poll. The Mounbuilders, who defeated Baker, 41-7, in Winfield last season, return 10 defensive and six offensive starters from last year's 9-2 team.
"We're definitely excited to be finally playing," Frangoulis said. "Southwestern is going to be a good football team. They made the NAIA playoffs last year and they have a lot of talent and experience coming back. We're certainly not in awe of them, but there's no doubt that they'll come to play."
Conversely, the Wildcats return six offensive and six defensive starters from the 5-5 team of a year ago. Among the returnees are five all-conference selections from last season in wide receiver Paul Thompson, defensive tackle Carlos Grace, offensive lineman Seth Langford, linebacker Jason Montgomery and defensive back Mark Emry. Last year's starting quarterback for part of the season, junior David Ewers, and senior tailback Lamar Delt also return.
"We're expecting to be a lot more balanced of a team this season, offensively," Frangoulis said. "On defense, we're going to try and utilize our team speed by blitzing more often."
Following the Southwestern game, Baker will open its conference schedule with a road contest at Lindenwood in St. Charles, Mo. The Lions, ranked 13th in the nation, are the second of the three teams on Baker's schedule ranked in NAIA's Top 25 poll. Baker will also face No. 3-ranked Benedictine in its eighth game of the season on Oct. 30 in Atchison.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.