A6 — BAKER CITY HERALD
SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2021
SPORTS
Bulldogs drop season opener
By COREY KIRK
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
Baker’s girls soccer team opened
its season with an 8-2 loss to the
Weiser Wolverines Thursday after-
noon, Aug. 26, at the Baker Sports
Complex.
“We are proud of them and their
effort (and) we see more success
for them in their future than what
they showed today,” Baker head
coach Eric Layton said. “The score
does not refl ect our abilities, I think
we have a lot more potential.”
With the Bulldogs playing their
fi rst match in nearly half a year,
Layton said he “literally had no
expectations.”
“I asked the players to do a
couple of things, which was like try
hard, and work on what we had
worked on,” he said. “We knew it
was going to be rough, we were all
very rusty, we had a lot of rust to
knock off.”
Although Weiser kept Baker
off balance early in the fi rst half,
Baker assistant coach Christine
Teegarden said she was impressed
with the Bulldogs’ effort.
“For most of the game, we were
seeing pretty high effort across the
board,” Teegarden said.
The Wolverines led 2-0 early,
but around the 30the minute
Baker got on the board for the fi rst
time with a goal by sophomore
Skye Smith.
Teegarden said Smith’s goal
boosted the Bulldogs’ confi dence.
“I used that moment to talk
with the people on the bench at
the time to make note on how the
dynamic changed at that time
changed on the fi eld immediately
after (Smith’s goal),” Teegarden
said. “The opposing team became
a little bit fl ustered, we became
confi dent, it suddenly changed
how things were looking. That’s a
mentality issue, you didn’t have
the confi dence before, and then
we scored, and now you’re playing
like a different team. You have to
play like that before the scoreboard
represents it.”
Baker couldn’t build momentum
after Smith’s goal, as Weiser went
on to score six straight goals.
The Bulldogs narrowed the fi nal
gap on a goal in the closing min-
utes by senior Maya Smith (Skye’s
sister).
Layton said he told his team
after the match that they need to
continue working hard.
Weiser blanks Baker boys
Corey Kirk/Baker City Herald
Baker junior captain Anna Belding in action against Weiser, Idaho,
on Thursday, Aug. 26 at the Baker Sports Complex.
“We make mistakes, we move
on and we keep moving forward,”
Layton said. “So I am hoping they
are going to forget this. It’s going
to sting for a while but I felt like
the two goals are very encourag-
ing. We can score. We just need to
defend better.”
WEISER, Idaho — The Baker
boys soccer team struggled on
offense in a 3-0 loss at Weiser in
the Bulldogs’ fi rst match of the
season.
Baker senior goalkeeper
Silas Carter had 17 saves, a
performance Baker coach Victor
Benites touted.
“I’m happy with the outcome
even though I hate losing,”
Benites said. “We had some
good chances of scoring.”
Looking ahead, Benites is
excited to watch his team grow.
“We played well, there are a
few things we need to work on,
but we’ll get there,” Benites said.
Baker will play its fi rst home
match Saturday, Aug. 28 against
McCall-Donnelly at the Baker
Sports Complex. Kickoff is set
for noon.
— Corey Kirk
Baker returns to the Sports
Complex this Saturday afternoon,
Aug. 28, for a 2 p.m. match against
another Idaho squad, the McCall-
Donnelly Vandals.
Pick Six: Who wins college football’s biggest prizes in ‘21?
who enters the season with-
out much of track record.
The only player to fi nish
The last three Heisman
in the top 10 of last season’s
Trophy winners include the
fi rst receiver to win the award Heisman voting to return to
college football in ‘21 is Iowa
in nearly three decades, a
State’s Breece Hall. Consider-
quarterback who was the
ing recent Heisman trends,
52nd-rated passer in the
country the season before and the seventh-ranked Cyclones’
running back isn’t even the
a fi rst-year starting QB.
favorite on his team. That
The days of the Heisman
would be quarterback Brock
winner being a well-estab-
Purdy.
lished star and/or preseason
No. 1 Alabama, No. 3
favorite are long gone.
Clemson and No. 4 Ohio
Heisman voters embrace
State all have new starting
the breakout player more
than ever before, and in 2021 quarterbacks, with experi-
ence ranging from a couple of
there is a good chance the
winner will again be someone impressive starts (D.J Uiag-
By RALPH D. RUSSO
AP College Football Writer
alelei of Clemson) to some
mop-up work (Bryce Young
of Alabama) to not one single
college pass (C.J. Stroud of
Ohio State).
Even with that, some Heis-
man predictions have those
three among the top seven
favorites, led by Oklahoma’s
returning starter, Spencer
Rattler. Makes sense. The last
three starting quarterbacks
for coach Lincoln Riley’s
Sooners have been Heisman
fi nalists and two — Baker
Mayfi eld and Kyler Murray
— have won it.
HEISMAN TROPHY
(most outstanding player)
Top contenders (in alpha-
betical order): JT Daniels, QB,
Georgia; Spencer Rattler, QB,
Oklahoma; Desmond, Rid-
der, QB, Cincinnati; Kayvon
Thibodeaux, DE, Oregon; D.J.
Uiagalelei, QB, Clemson.
And the winner is ...
Uiagalelei. Trevor Lawrence’s
predecessor becomes the fi rst
Clemson player to win the
Heisman.
BRONKO NAGURSKI
TROPHY (defensive player of
the year)
Top contenders: Will Ander-
son Jr., OLB, Alabama; Derek
Stingley Jr., CB, LSU; Kayvon
Thibodeaux, DE, Oregon.
And the winner is ...
Thibodeaux. The sack mas-
ters tend to win this award.
The Ducks’ junior is primed
to follow recent winners
Chase Young of Ohio State,
Josh Allen of Kentucky and
Bradley Chubb of North
Carolina State.
OUTLAND TROPHY
(best interior lineman)
Top contenders: Bryan
Bresee, DT, Clemson; Evan
Neal, OT, Alabama; Tyler
Linderbaum, C, Iowa.
And the winner is ... Neal.
Alabama has dominated
this award during the Nick
Saban era with fi ve winners,
including three since 2016.
Neal makes it two Crimson
Tide offensive tackles in a
row after Alex Leatherwood
last season.
DOAK WALKER
AWARD (best running back)
Top contenders: Breece
Hall, Iowa State; Bijan Rob-
inson, Texas; Zamir White,
Georgia.
And the winner is ...
Robinson. New Longhorns
coach Steve Sarkisian will
build the offense around the
talented tailback, providing
him plenty of opportunities
in the running and pass-
ing game.
Saint Alphonsus Baker City
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For J.D. Power 2021 award Information, visit jdpower.com/awards
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