Baldwin City ? For the third straight season, Baker University’s football team finds itself in the top 10 of the NAIA coaches’ poll with a 7-1 record with three weeks remaining in the regular season.

The No. 3-ranked Wildcats have built their foundation on the defensive side of the ball — limiting opponents to 15.9 points per game — while also scoring early and often behind junior quarterback Nick Marra.

“We’ve been a big-time first-half team,” head coach Mike Grossner said. “To me, that tells you that our preparation has been really good, and our coaching from a game-plan situation has been really good.”

Preparation being key for Grossner and the Wildcats has been an understatement, particularly over the past two seasons. Grossner and his coaching staff’s game-planing skills were put to the test more than usual during the 2014 season, but it had nothing to do with the opposing teams on Baker’s schedule. Cancer and an unexpected tragedy, which occurred a year ago today, were two unscheduled, hard-hitting opponents that Grossner had to take on in 2014.

Fighting on

With the help of his players, assistant coaches, friends and family, Grossner beat cancer after being diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma on Aug. 12, 2014 — three days before BU’s first practice.

“Everything is clear. I have had multiple tests here and there to gauge it,” Grossner said. “I feel a lot better — a lot more energy, weight is good and right where I want it to be. I’ll go in every two months and get some blood work, and make sure things are going the right direction.”

Despite the ongoing bout with the cancer, Grossner was leading the Wildcats in the right direction, too. Baker opened the season with a 7-0 record and climbed to No. 2 in the nation before suffering an overtime loss to MidAmerica Nazarene.

While the setback was a painful one for the Wildcats, BU sustained a much bigger loss four days later — defensive tackle Sione Maumau took his own life on Oct. 29, 2014.

“That’s probably the hardest thing any of us have ever been through,” defensive coordinator Jason Thoren said.

Following Maumau’s death, Thoren still had to find a way to prepare his defense for its next game against Culver-Stockton. Baker gave up an uncharacteristic 38 points in a loss to C-SC, and fell to Missouri Valley two weeks later by three points to miss the NAIA playoffs.

“I was really worried about their health playing a football game to be honest with you, and that’s probably the last thing those guys should have been doing, but they went out there and played their hearts out,” Thoren said. “That was just a game. What we were going through off the field was something that we were all trying to figure out, but again, that’s where we decided to lean on each other.”

Special shutout

The close-knit bond that the Wildcats developed at the end of the 2014 season has carried over to the 2015 campaign both on and off the field.

The Wildcats grinded out a 20-15 road win over then No. 6 Grand View to begin the season, before an emotion-filled rematch against Culver-Stockton in Week 2.

BU was able to fully prepare for Culver-Stockton this go-around, and it showed. Baker shut out C-SC, 58-0, and the score was that much more meaningful with 58 being Maumau’s jersey number.

“Very special, very special for me. At the end of it, when you look up at the scoreboard and everything was blank,” Thoren said. “It was all zeros except for 58. The only thing on the scoreboard was a 58. I didn’t know who else caught that. I caught it.”

Defense deep with Lawrence roots

Thoren, a Lawrence High and Kansas University alumnus, is in his 12th season at Baker. The former KU and LHS linebacker has built strong recruiting connections at both Lawrence High and Free State over the years, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

Thoren was able to bring in 2013 FSHS alumnus Keith Loneker Jr. to BU, and the former Firebird linebacker made an immediate impact. Loneker Jr. led the Wildcats with 90 tackles in his freshman campaign, but that marked the end of his short stay at Baker. The linebacker returned to Lawrence after the school year ended, and did not come back to Baldwin City as he transferred to KU to walk on with the Jayhawks.

With Loneker Jr.’s departure, the BU linebacking corp was all of a sudden thin on experience aside from senior Tucker Pauley.

Enter 2013 Lawrence High alumnus Kharon Brown.

Brown, who played nose guard at Lawrence High, has transitioned to linebacker at BU and is second on the team in tackles with 52.

“It was really, really hard to do so,” Brown said of making the position change. “I probably had the worst football on the team for the longest time, so it’s really been gratifying for it to turn out the way it has.”

Joining Thoren on coaching the defensive side of the ball are two other former KU football players: defensive line coach Caleb Blakesley and safeties coach Matt Heider. Grossner credits much of Baker’s defensive success to the pressure of the front four coached by Blakesley, who played defensive tackle on KU’s 2008 Orange Bowl team.

“We’re leading the nation in turnovers (forced — 21 interceptions, 11 fumble recoveries),” Grossner said. “Those interceptions are coming from the linebackers as well as the DBs, and I think that is a direct result of our four-man pass rush.”

The defensive line has some area flavor as well, with Eudora grad Nick Becker leading the Wildcats with four sacks.

While Blakesley is in his fourth season coaching the defensive line, Heider joined Grossner’s staff shortly before the 2015 campaign. The move to hire Heider — who graduated from FSHS before playing at Baker and KU — has paid dividends with seven Wildcats having at least two interceptions.

Offense oozes with local ties, too

The quarterback-wide receiver combo of Jake Morse and Jake Green connected frequently during their playing days at Baker.

Now they’re keeping the Baker offense moving along from the sidelines.

With Morse coaching the quarterbacks and Green working with the wideouts, they’ve helped Marra and his receivers succeed in an offense consisting of a lot of four- and five-receiver sets.

“In a way, you wish you could play in this style that they’re playing in now that we’re coaching,” Green, a 2009 Lawrence High alumnus, said. “We attempted to do stuff like this, but we still had packages when me and Jake played where it was two wide receivers or three wide receivers at a time. So this whole five-wide package that we have going on now is something that is really fun for us to coach and see it work the way it’s been working so far.”

One critical piece to the offense that allows Marra to throw the ball all over the lot is sophomore Cornell Brown. Brown is listed as a wide receiver on Baker’s roster, but is also frequently used out of the backfield after playing running back at Baldwin High. The versatile offensive and special teams weapon has accounted for 681 total yards and six touchdowns. The 5-9, 180-pound sophomore has emerged after former FSHS quarterback and BU running back Camren Torneden took Brown under his wing last season.

“I learned a lot from him (Torneden) last year. I knew Cam growing up,” Brown said. “One of his cousins was my best friend, so I’ve looked up to him for a while since he was playing at Free State. When I got to come here and watch him play his senior year and watch him play a lot, it helps.”

One other influence on Brown early in his college career has been fellow Baldwin High product Jesse Austin, who starts at left guard for BU. Austin, left tackle Greg Snell from Eudora and right guard Kyle Wittman from LHS have paved the way for Brown and company in the backfield, and helped keep Marra upright.

“Nick’s attitude and his play style make it even more fun to block for him,” Austin said of blocking for Marra. “Getting to pass (protect) as much as we have has been awesome.”

Unfinished business

If there is a player who knows the ins and outs of the Baker football program better than anyone, it’s Austin. The 6-5, 315-pound lineman grew up attending Baker games every Saturday, and described the team as “a lot more family-oriented this year.”

Austin and his teammates still have a bad taste in their mouths from missing the playoffs last season, but he believes the team is better for it now after learning valuable lessons about football and life in 2014.

The Wildcats still have the end of the 2014 season in mind, but their focus is geared forward. Baker controls its own destiny in the south division of the Heart of America Athletic Conference with three regular-season games remaining against Central Methodist, Evangel and Missouri Valley and Central Methodist, and looks to return to the postseason for the third time in four years.

“It’s just nothing more than a game of king of the hill, and your goal is to move up on the hill,” Thoren said. “There is no doubt I know what’s in the back of their mind, and what’s in their eyes is a national title.”