Baker freshman and Lawrence High alumnus JD Woods looks for the open field after corralling an interception in the second half of the Wildcats' 36-33 loss to Georgetown (Ky.) in the first round of the NAIA playoffs on Saturday at Liston Stadium.

After winning its third straight Heart of America Athletic Conference south division title, the Baker University football team had its eyes set on another run to the NAIA national championship game as the Wildcats geared up for a first-round matchup with Georgetown (Ky.) on Saturday at Liston Stadium.

The sixth-ranked Wildcats looked to be well on their way to doing so after Lawrence High product JD Woods took a screen pass from senior Logan Brettell 83 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. The Baker offense wavered after that, though, and the Wildcats came up on the losing end of a 36-33 contest that saw seven lead changes.

“A lot of emotion. I won’t get to play with some of these guys anymore,” Woods, who transferred to Baker after one year at Missouri Western State, said. “I’m kind of glad I made this decision to come here with such great people and great family around me. I’ll miss these seniors and a lot of people on this team.”

Despite their offensive woes, the Wildcats still had a chance to tie it with 1:30 remaining on an Abram Garcia 47-yard field goal attempt. Garcia had converted on tries from 43 and 35 in the first half, but his attempt to pull the Wildcats even was short and wide left.

Special teams helped keep the Wildcats in it, though, and accounted for Baker’s lone second-half touchdown. Georgetown lined up for a field goal with 6:23 to go in the third quarter, but Nate McLaurin came off the edge to block it. Eudora alumnus Grant Elston did the rest, as he scooped it up before going 79 yards for a touchdown.

“Right before, he (McLaurin) got caught on a slant and Nate never gets the ball caught on him. He’ll lock down anybody,” Elston said. “When he got the ball caught on him, he was pretty ticked off about that. He’s the fastest dude I know personally, so I was like, ‘Go get it (the block)’ and he got it. I just happened to scoop up the ball and run with it.”

Elston’s touchdown put the Wildcats up 33-27, and they had a chance to add to it when senior defensive back Hayden Jenkins came up with an interception on the Tigers’ ensuing drive to give Baker the ball at the Georgetown 38-yard line. However, the Wildcats weren’t able to capitalize, and turned it right back over on downs.

After another Baker defensive stand, the Wildcats hurt their own cause when backup quarterback Marco Aguinaga fumbled it to give Georgetown a short field at BU 20-yard line. Kyle Longworth made the Wildcats pay when he scored on an 8-yard touchdown run to put Georgetown up for good. The Tigers padded their lead when Aguinaga fumbled the ball out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

Aguinaga entered the game for Brettell — who returned to action for the first time since suffering an injury in Week Eight against Avila — midway through the second quarter. Brettell had thrown 23 touchdowns to just six interceptions in his limited regular season action, but Baker coach Mike Grossner switched to Aguinaga after the 2016 NAIA Player of the Year threw two picks that resulted in Georgetown touchdowns. Gernell Jenkins scored on a pick six, and CJ Williams returned an interception inside the 5-yard line to set up another easy score on a Riley Hall quarterback sneak.

Grossner lamented that Brettell’s interceptions and Aguinaga’s fumbles were not entirely their fault. With Brettell playing through an injury and Aguinaga learning the ropes as a freshman, Grossner said it was critical to get better pass protection.

“Offensively, we got beat up front. They put a lot of pressure on both quarterbacks,” Grossner said. “Logan tried to go and was getting a lot of pressure and it was tough. Then Marco is a guy that’s pretty nifty with his legs was getting a lot of heat as well. That was the key to the game. They put the pressure on us.”

Brettell is one of 13 seniors on a roster who will be graduating for the Wildcats. Although Baker’s senior class is small, it included some impact players with the likes of Brettell, the NAIA’s all-time scoring leader in Clarence Clark and three-time Heart South Co-Defensive Player of the Year Josh Kock.

“This is my second family. I came out to Kansas a soccer player and I’m leaving a football player,” Clark, who caught four passes for 50 yards and drilled two first-half field goals, said. “I love it. Baker has done everything for me from being a home to a school to an education.”

The Wildcats closed the season with a record of 10-2 despite the first-round exit. Baker had 18 players named to the all-conference team on Friday, including Woods and Kock, who respectively earned Heart South Offensive and Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors.

“It doesn’t mean anything without winning. It’s a good accomplishment for me, but also goes to my teammates because they helped me get there,” Woods, who had 141 total yards and two touchdowns, said. “We didn’t get where we really wanted to get. We’ve got to come back next year hopefully to get that.”

Georgetown advanced to the quarterfinals and will find out its opponent when the pairings are released on Sunday.

Scoring plays

First quarter

14:42 — JD Woods 83 pass from Logan Brettell. Clarence Clark kick. (Baker 7, Georgetown 0.)

11:57 — Clark 38 field goal. (Baker 10, Georgetown 0.)

7:39 — Daric Pugh 20 run. Jack Nguyen kick. (Baker 10, Georgetown 7.)

6:09 — Riley Hall 1 run. Nguyen kick. (Georgetown 14, Baker 10.)

3:39 — Clark 36 field goal. (Georgetown 14, Baker 13.)

Second quarter

11:32 — Abram Garcia 43 field goal. (Baker 16, Georgetown 14.)

6:44 — Germell Jenkins 15 interception return. Nguyen kick blocked. (Georgetown 20, Baker 16.)

4:10 — Woods 20 run. Clark kick. (Baker 23, Georgetown 20.)

0:06 — Garcia 35 field goal. (Baker 26, Georgetown 20.)

Third quarter

12:05 — Bart Bell 17 pass from Riley Hall. Nguyen kick. (Georgetown 27, Baker 26.)

6:23 — Grant Elston 79 blocked field goal return. Clark kick. (Baker 33, Georgetown 27.)

0:34 — Kyle Longworth 8 run. Nguyen kick. (Georgetown 34, Baker 33.)

Fourth quarter

8:41 — Fumble out of the back of the end zone for a safety. (Georgetown 36, Baker 33.)