Baldwin ? Last week it was a powerhouse. This week it’s an upstart.

After bowing to No. 5-ranked Evangel last week, Baker University will open its home football season today against Avila, a surprise winner against William Jewell in its lid-lifter.

Kickoff will be at 7 p.m. at Liston Stadium.

This is only the third year that Avila, a Kansas City, Mo., school that uses Rockhurst High School’s stadium, has fielded a football team. The Eagles edged William Jewell, 28-27, in a double-overtime thriller last Saturday.

“Was I surprised they won? No, I wasn’t,” Frangoulis said. “Avila causes problems because they run the option. It’s an offense you seldom see today, so it’s difficult to get a scout team ready to work against it.”

Baker had defensive problems in Springfield, Mo., last Saturday, but it wasn’t Evangel’s formations that produced a 38-25 win.

It was the Crusaders’ talent.

“We just didn’t have an answer for their quarterback,” Frangoulis said.

Evangel quarterback Brett Mitchell, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound senior, was the Heart of America Conference MVP last season, and he picked up right where he left off by throwing for 267 yards and three touchdowns against the Wildcats.

Still, Baker and Evangel were knotted 7-7 at halftime before the dam broke in the third quarter.

“We went brain-dead for eight minutes and they scored 21 on us,” Frangoulis said. “We made a nice comeback. It was 31-25, but we were out of timeouts and they scored a late touchdown when we had no choice but to try to strip the ball.”

Frangoulis couldn’t complain about his offense. Junior quarterback Martin Updike was solid and sophomore running back Ramon Barber rushed for 79 yards in his Baker debut.

“The offense did very, very well for the first game,” Frangoulis said. “Updike threw for close to 300 yards and Barber looked good.”

Last season, Baker ranked last or next-to-last in several Heart of America Conference offensive categories. Baker spilled the Eagles, 22-12, in 2001.