TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — 5A
Bulldogs rally for thrilling win in OT
■ Gabe Gambleton scores game-tying and winning touchdowns and has a key interception in overtime in 28-22 win over Nyssa
By Corey Kirk
“I’m just happy for them, being at home, having some
folks in the crowd which was nice, and (they) brought
the energy to the stadium.”
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
For the fi rst time in 17
months the gates opened at
Baker Bulldog Memorial Sta-
dium, and the fans who ar-
rived Friday evening, March
19, were treated to a thriller
as Baker rallied late to nip
Nyssa 28-22 in overtime.
Senior Gabe Gambleton
scored both the game-tying
and the winning touchdowns,
and he had a key interception
in overtime to lead Baker to
its fi rst win after starting the
pandemic-shortened season
with road losses to Vale and
North Bend.
“I’m just happy for them,
being at home, having some
folks in the crowd which was
nice, and (they) brought the
energy to the stadium. I’m
just so happy to fi nish the
game,” Baker coach Jason
Ramos said.
Nyssa sophomore quarter-
back Andrew Enders scored
on a 6-yard run early in the
fourth quarter to break a 14-
14 tie. The two-point conver-
sion gave Nyssa a 22-14 lead.
There the score remained
until just two and half min-
utes were left on the clock.
Then Gambleton, who
played both quarterback and
receiver, took over.
He led Baker down the
fi eld on a drive that culminat-
ed in his 2-yard touchdown
run that cut Nyssa’s lead to
22-20.
Then Gambleton ran the
ball in for the tying two-point
conversion.
Nyssa moved the ball in
the fi nal minute but Baker’s
defense was able stop the
threat and force overtime.
Baker won the coin toss
and elected to start on
defense.
“We just told our defense,
you got to get a stop, go get a
stop and we will punch it in,
and score to win this game,”
Ramos said.
— Baker coach Jason Ramos
Corey Kirk/Baker City Herald
Baker quarterback Gabe Gambleton, left, gains yards against Nyssa on Friday, March
20. There was no fumble as Gambleton was already out of bounds.
Corey Kirk/Baker City Herald
Baker quarterback Gabe Gambleton awaits the snap Friday, March 20, with running
back Gauge Bloomer, far right, beside him.
On Nyssa’s third play,
Gambleton snared a pass,
his second interception of the
game.
That gave Baker the ball
and a chance to win the game
with a score.
Gambleton took advantage
of the opportunity.
His 3-yard touchdown run
touched off a celebration that
Baker, and its fans, have been
waiting for since 2019.
“Really proud of Gabe,
really proud of his leadership
this year and just willing to
do what he is asked to do,”
Ramos said. “If we need him
to come in and play QB he
does, if we need him to play
(halfback) he does. He just
had a huge game at quarter-
back tonight.”
Gambleton had a hand in
332 of Baker’s 506 yards of
total offense.
Corey Kirk/Baker City Herald
Baker freshman Dash Bloomer (No. 22) tackles Nyssa quarterback Andrew Enders.
He completed 11 of 21
passes for 172 yards, had 102
yards on 18 carries and added
58 yards on three receptions.
After the exciting win over
Nyssa, Gambleton is ready to
get back on the fi eld and ride
the wave of momentum with
his teammates.
“Only good things from
here, just watch out,” Gamble-
ton said.
Ramos said that during
practices last week leading
up to Friday’s game, the
Bulldogs focused on fi xing
mistakes from the fi rst two
games.
“We focused on just execut-
ing our stuff better than we
have been,” Ramos said. “We
learned a lot from the fi lm
we watched last week and
just came out committing
ourselves to getting better at
what we are trying to do.”
The game didn’t start the
way Baker hoped.
Just two minutes into
the game Nyssa got on the
board fi rst when Enders
connected with junior wide
receiver Landon McDowall
on a 50-yard touchdown pass
to give Nyssa a 6-0 lead. The
two-point conversion try
failed. Vale led 6-0 after the
fi rst quarter.
Baker responded in
the second quarter when
freshman quarterback Paul
Hobson found Gambleton for
a 45-yard touchdown pass.
Andrew Zellars booted the
PAT to give Baker a 7-6 lead.
Nyssa struck again on
another Enders touchdown
pass later in the second
quarter. This time the two-
point conversion was good,
and Nyssa led 14-7.
With the seconds ticking
away to halftime, Baker
moved down the fi eld and
Gambleton, who replaced
Hobson at quarterback, hit
senior Kaden Myer for an
18-yard touchdown pass. Zel-
lars’ kick tied the score at 14
at halftime.
“That touchdown at the
end of the fi rst half was huge
for our team, 14-14, so it’s 0-0,
a new game going into the
second half,” Gambleton said.
The touchdown was excit-
ing for another reason, as
Myer, who missed the North
Bend game after injuring
his shoulder in the season-
opener at Vale on March 5,
returned. Although Myer
wasn’t able to play quarter-
back, he returned to receiver,
a position he excelled at as a
junior.
“Having Kaden back obvi-
ously helped us tonight, and
having him back even in a
limited role, he’s a playmaker
and if we can get him the
ball, good things will hap-
pen,” Ramos said.
After the back and forth
scoring of the fi rst half, the
second half was a different
matter.
The teams traded intercep-
tions, each getting two thefts
during the scoreless quarter,
setting up the thrilling fi nal
period and overtime.
“The defense was huge to-
night,” Ramos said. “We gave
up some plays, but we made
some plays, we challenged
them this week and this
game to be more aggressive
and take some chances, be-
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BAKER BOYS SOCCER
Baker boys down Nyssa, 5-1
last game, it seemed like we
of communication, he said,
came ready to play,” senior de- as the Bulldogs were much
Led by a dominating de-
fenseman Dakota Rilee said. more vocal.
fense, the Baker boys soccer
In the second half Quin-
“We were constantly talk-
team beat Nyssa 5-1 Saturday tela completed his hat trick ing, the last few games we
afternoon, March 20, at the
with his third goal, and
were constantly quiet,” Rilee
Baker Sports Complex to
junior Wyatt Hawkins also
said. “I think we are going to
improve its record to 2-4.
had a goal.
come back after spring break
“The defenders did a really
Rilee said the 5-1 win
and be ready to go again.”
good job this game, everything gives Baker a boost of confi -
Benites echoed his senior
worked out good today. All
dence.
captain’s thoughts.
those passing drills we’ve
It also showed the value
“We got to stay active, be-
been doing has been working,”
Jay & Kristin Wilson, Owners
Baker coach Victor Benites
2036 Main Street, Baker City
541-523-6284 • ccb#219615
said.
While the Baker defense
was limiting Nyssa to just a
couple shots on goal during
the fi rst half, sophomore Diego
Quintela scored two goals and
freshman Giacomo Rigueiro
put the ball in the net once.
“It seemed like we were
more awake today than the
By Corey Kirk
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
cause we have games coming
back-to-back,” Benites said.
Baker returns to the pitch
Tuesday, March 30, taking
on the Riverside Pirates at
5 p.m. at the Baker Sports
Complex, followed by a 5
p.m. match the next day
against rival La Grande.
cause we need our defense to
step up and make big plays
and they did tonight.”
Baker was dominant at
times offensively, particularly
on the ground.
Baker rolled up 251 rush-
ing yards to Nyssa’s 98, led
by junior Gauge Bloomer’s
152 yards on 22 carries.
“All credit to the O-line,
those guys played their butts
off, we ran the ball because of
them,” Gambleton said.
Hobson completed 6 of 10
passes for 83 yards.
Senior Carlos Delarosa
had seven catches for 116
yards and Myer had fi ve
receptions for 67 yards.
Baker had 87 total plays
to Nyssa’s 52, and amassed
506 yards of total offense to
Nyssa’s 328.
Baker’s offensive advan-
tage was offset somewhat
by penalties, as the Bulldogs
committed 14 for 118 yards
compared with Nyssa’s fi ve
for 55 yards.
Nyssa had fi ve turnovers,
Baker four.
Baker now prepares for
its second, and fi nal, home
game, this Friday, March 26
against Ontario. Kickoff is set
for 7 p.m.
“We still have some things
to work on,” Ramos said. “I
just think it’s going to be a
weight lifted off their shoul-
ders after the fi rst couple of
weeks where we felt like we
gave a couple of games away
just with our own mistakes.
They’re going to be happy,
they’re going to be jazzed. We
are missing a couple of guys
but we are battling through
adversity and next guy up.”
Nyssa
6 8 0 8 0 — 22
Baker
0 14 0 8 6 — 28
N — McDowall 50 pass from Enders (run
failed)
B — Gambleton 45 pass from Hobson (Zellars
kick)
N — Enders 7 pass (two-point conversion)
B — Myer 18 pass from Gambleton (Zellars
kick)
N — Enders 6 run (two-point conversion)
B — Gambleton 2 run (Gambleton run)
B — Gambleton 3 run
Individual statistics
Rushing — Nyssa: Enders 14-49, Miranda
5-36. Baker: G. Bloomer 22-152, Gambleton
18-102, D. Bloomer 1-5.
Passing — Nyssa: Enders 13-20-1-230. Bak-
er: Hobson 6-10-1-83. Gambleton 11-21-2-172.
Receiving — Nyssa: McDowall 4-103. Baker:
Delarosa 7-116, Myer 5-67, Gambleton 3-58,
Spike 1-14, D. Bloomer 1-0.
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