Baker football finishes regular season 11-0 for first time in history

Baker junior quarterback Logan Brettell scrambles out of the pocket during the Wildcats' 60-7 win over Benedictine Sept. 24 at Liston Stadium. Brettell guided the Wildcats to an 11-0 regular season for the first time in school history.

? Prior to playing at Baker University, junior quarterback Logan Brettell and junior running back Cornell Brown were told by various college football coaches that they were too small to excel at their respective positions.

Brettell and Brown have enjoyed proving their critics wrong in a big way, as they helped the Wildcats cap off the first 11-0 regular season in school history Saturday with a 46-13 win over Evangel at Liston Stadium. The No. 2-ranked Wildcats also won the Heart of America Athletic Conference South division title.

“To go undefeated in the Heart or any league at any level is an unbelievable accomplishment. I’m so proud of you,” Baker head coach Mike Grossner said to his team in a post-game huddle. “Men, nobody can ever take that away from you. 11-0. First time in Baker history.”

Despite being told they were small in stature in the recruiting process, a large dose of the Wildcats’ success has come via Brettell and Brown in Baker’s Air Raid offense.

Brettell, 5-foot-10, has set single-season school records in offensive yards (4,062), passing yards (3,839), passing attempts (424), completions (302), consecutive attempts without an interception (150) and passing touchdowns in a game (seven).

The junior quarterback has spread the wealth to the players he calls his “ATMs.” The receiving corps of Clarence Clark, Damon Nolan, Quanzee Johnson, Ladai Shawn Boose and Brown have cashed in in the throw-happy offense, as they each have at least 46 catches for 500 yards.

“They make me look a lot better than I am. When you have receivers that can score from anywhere and run as good of routes as they do, it makes playing quarterback a lot more fun because you don’t have to throw a perfect ball every time,” Brettell said. “You can trust those guys to go make plays. Most of the time, I’m throwing quick screens or quick outs, and they turn it into a 20 or 30-yard play.”

Clark, Nolan, Johnson and Boose often line up in four-wide sets with Brown in the backfield, but the 5-8 junior running back also done his fair share of damage as a receiver, too. Brown — a Baldwin High product — has 917 yards and 19 TDs on the ground, and 67 receptions for 657 and four more scores through the air.

“It probably looks a little bit funny with me and him in the backfield together both 5-foot nothing,” Brown said. “Coming out of high school, we didn’t get a lot of looks because we were too small and I was at a small school, but I think that is a lot of motivation for me and him.”

Brown and Brettell have not felt too much pressure in the backfield throughout the season thanks to Lawrence High alumnus Kyle Wittman and the Wildcats offensive line. While Brettell has racked up the most school records in the Wildcats’ 11-0 start, Clark put his name in the record books two times Saturday as well. Clark — who is the cousin of Seattle Seahawks wide receiver and return man Tyler Lockett — set the Baker career receptions record Saturday. The Phoenix native also doubles as Baker’s kicker and broke the BU single-season mark for extra points.

While the Wildcats have not struggled on the offensive side of the ball with putting up 51.7 points per game, the Baker defense has been a big reason for their success, too.

The focal point of the Baker defense senior linebacker and Lawrence High alumnus Kharon Brown, who has recorded a team-high 75 tackles.

“For us every single week it’s like, ‘How few points can we allow the other team to put on the board?’ Every week is an opportunity to pitch a shutout and we get really mad when we don’t,” the senior linebacker said. “It’s always just a challenge each and every week to get better at what we do because we believe firmly that if we do what we do, then nobody can beat us.”

The mastermind behind Baker’s defense is another Lawrence native in Jason Thoren. The former Lawrence High and Kansas standout has his Wildcats defense holding opponents to 18 points per game.

“That’s my guy. Coach Thoren has really taken me under his wing since I got here,” Kharon Brown said. “He’s been a lot like a father figure to me. I’m not that far away from my family, but I’m far enough.”

The friends and family members of the Wildcats won’t have to travel far to watch Baker in the NAIA playoffs. As the No. 2 team in the nation, the Wildcats will likely have home field advantage up until the national title game Dec. 17 in Daytona Beach, Fla. The field will be announced at 4 p.m. Sunday during the NAIA Selection Show on naianetwork.com.

While Grossner and the Wildcats are elated about their perfect regular season, they’re not satisfied.

“I think it’s all-or-nothing. We won’t be happy unless we end up in the final,” Grossner said. “This group has won 17 straight Heart games, which is unbelievable. They’ve won 40 games as a group. They’ve got a couple of rings, but they want something different to say on it.”