A6 — BAKER CITY HERALD TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2021 SPORTS BAKER FOOTBALL Vale ends Baker’s win streak By COREY KIRK ckirk@bakercityherald.com On a crisp fall evening under the lights at Baker Bulldog Memorial Stadium, the Vale Vikings ended Baker’s two-game winning streak with a 34-23 win on Friday, Oct. 8. After Baker stopped Vale on the Vikings’ initial drive, the Bulldogs took an early 7-0 lead on senior running back Gauge Bloomer’s 10-yard touchdown. “We came right out the gate with a stop, got them off the fi eld and we went down the fi eld and scored,” Baker coach Jason Ramos said. “We executed really well that fi rst drive with the four or fi ve plays that we ran, so we felt good about that.” But Vale (5-1), behind the dynamic duo of senior quarterback Tanner Steele and wide receiver John Wolfe, responded. First, Wolfe, after Bloom- er’s touchdown, took the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. That switched the momen- tum, Ramos said. “Th e Vale takeaway is we can’t aff ord to make our own mental or major errors in the ball game.” ment of seeing the winning streak end, Ramos is optimis- tic that the Bulldogs (2-4) will continue to improve as they look to the fi nal three games on their schedule. “The Vale takeaway is we can’t afford to make our own mental or major errors in the ball game,” Ramos said. “Our focus this week will be cleaning up and executing our own stuff.” Baker returns to the road this Friday, traveling to Ontario to take on the Tigers (1-4) for a 6 p.m. PDT kickoff. — Baker coach Jason Ramos “Had they not returned that kickoff immediately after, things might have been different, at least in the fi rst half,” he said. Vale scored 27 straight points to lead 27-7. But before halftime Bak- er’s sophomore quarterback, Paul Hobson, found fellow sophomore receiver Malaki Myer for a touchdown that cut the Vikings’ lead to 27-13 at intermission. Ramos said he told the Bulldogs at halftime that the score should have been even closer. “Our conversation was we need to own the defi cit that we had at halftime because it was our own doing, that kickoff shouldn’t have had happened ... it should have been 20-13 at halftime or 14- 13 at that point,” Ramos said. “We just talked about coming back out, get the ball and Corey Kirk/Baker City Herald Prairie City/Burnt River tops Pine Eagle The combined team of we are knocking on the door yards on 14 carries. Fresh- come back to score and get Prairie City/Burnt River (4-1) man Jaxon Logsdon, who had beat Pine Eagle 24-6 on Fri- and of course we penalized right back in the game.” a couple series at quarterback day, Oct. 8 at Prairie City. Baker had a great chance ourselves and dig ourselves in the fourth quarter, had 15 back out where we don’t to do that after Vale was Pine Eagle fell to 2-4. exactly convert,” Ramos said. yards on four carries. penalized for a late hit and The Panthers will travel Hobson fi nished 15 of 21 a subsequent unsportsman- “We’ve got to be more oppor- to Echo for a 7 p.m. kickoff like conduct, moving the ball tunistic and we have to clean passing for 131 yards and a on Friday, Oct. 15, while touchdown. Myer led Baker up our own mistakes.” 30 yards to just outside the the Spartans play host to receivers with nine catches After a scoreless third Vale 20. Dayville-Monument on Fri- quarter, Vale scored an insur- for 86 yards. Hudson Spike But the Bulldogs, in part day at 2 p.m. ance touchdown in the fourth had fi ve catches for 41 yards, due to their own penalties, and Dash Bloomer had a 22- quarter, with Wolfe getting couldn’t take advantage. yard reception. into the end zone again. “That put us way down Despite the disappoint- Bloomer led Baker with 51 just outside the red zone and Baker sophomore Hudson Spike, No. 8, tackles Vale’s John Wolfe midway through the fi rst quarter Friday night, Oct. 8 at Baker Bulldog Memorial Stadium. Boise State forces 4 turnovers, knocks off No. 10 BYU By JOHN COON Associated Press PROVO, Utah — Hank Bachmeier threw for 172 yards and Boise State forced four turnovers in a 26-17 up- set victory over No. 10 BYU on Saturday, Oct. 9. Cyrus Habibi-Likio ran for a season-high 75 yards and a touchdown, and Andrew Van Buren added a season-high 60 yards and a touchdown to help the Bron- cos (3-3) snap a two-game losing streak in the series. The Broncos held the Cougars (5-1) to a single touchdown over the fi nal three quarters after blowing second-half leads in losses to UCF and Nevada. “We fi nally fi nished the second half,” Bachmeier said. “I think we’ve always been capable of doing it.” Jaren Hall threw for a career-high 302 yards and a touchdown for BYU, and Tyler Allgeier ran for 73 yards and a touchdown. The Cou- gars outgained Boise State 413-312 in total yards. “I felt like we moved the ball pretty well, except for a couple of drives,” Hall said. “We just didn’t take care of the ball and did a lot of uncharacteristic things ... and put our defense in a tough spot several times. That’s pretty much the story of the game for us.” Hall looked sharp dur- ing the fi rst quarter despite a two-game absence with a rib injury. He completed long passes to open each of BYU’s fi rst two drives. Hall punctu- ated the second drive with a 14-yard strike to Samson Nacua that made it 10-0. Boise State rallied to take a 20-10 halftime, capitalizing on back-to-back BYU fumbles. The Broncos became the fi rst opponent to lead the Cougars at any point this season. “Early on there, the fi rst couple of drives they had success,” Boise State coach Andy Avalos said. “It was about getting settled in and not getting rattled.” The Broncos tied it when Habibi-Likio broke free for an 11-yard sprint. Scott Matlock recovered a fumble by All- geier at the BYU 24 to set up Boise State’s fi rst touchdown. Boise State went ahead 17-10 on a 1-yard plunge from Van Buren. The Bron- cos’ second touchdown came fi ve plays after Lopini Katoa fumbled a kickoff return at the BYU 23. “Our defense has done a really good job of getting the ball back to the offense this year,” Boise State linebacker Riley Whimpey said. “A couple of those turnovers came at crucial points in the game and set up our offense with great fi eld position and they capitalized.” The Cougars struggled to rally after repeatedly failing to convert in the red zone in the second half. Katoa’s second fumble stopped one drive at the Broncos 13. An incomplete fourth-down pass from Hall stopped a second drive at the Boise State 5. BYU fi nally cut it to 23-17 midway through the fourth quarter on a 1-yard plunge by Allgeier. A 59-yard catch by Gunner Romney on the opening play of the drive set up the score. Jonah Dalmas hit a 22- yard fi eld goal with 3:27 left and Kaonohi Kaniho picked off a pass from Hall at the Broncos 11 to seal it. “I saw a lot of mistakes,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “Against a good team it’s hard to overcome those mistakes.” Don’t text and drive... you won’t have to come see us! 2390 Broadway, Baker City 541-523-5223 B HUNTING PHOTO CONTEST Choose your favorite local hunting photo BRAGGIN' RIGHTS VOTING NOW OPEN HUNTING PHOTO CONTEST bakercityherald.com/braggin-rights We’ve got what you need to track s. Tire Svc ro B ew L your buck in any terrain. 210 Bridge St. y Cit traction Come see our full B line tires aker of GARAGE DOORS #huntingredneck #gokilladeer #didyougetyourtags With Thermospan TM doors, you have your choice of styles, colors and customizing options. N E -H I E NTERPRISES CCB#155399 2122 10th • Baker City • 541-523-6008 LEW BROTHERS LES SCHWAB 210 Bridge Street, Baker City 541-523-3679 Walk-ins Welcome