ECS stops Baker 22-20
Ida Baker High took control early in a spring football game against visiting Evangelical Christian School Friday night, marching 74 yards for a touchdown on its opening drive.
From the start, the Bulldogs appeared to have the edge physically, but the Sentinels weren’t about to give in.
Even when the Bulldogs took a 20-15 lead with 1:20 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Sentinels still had fight left.
Quarterback Colton Lynch capped off the game-winning 75-yard drive with an 11-yard run with 21 seconds left, lifting ECS to a 22-20 victory.
“It was a disappointing end to what we thought was a really good spring,” Bulldogs coach Brian Conn said. “We had more talent, speed, size, strength, everything you need, but those guys (from ECS) have a lot of heart. They just played a lot harder.”
The Bulldogs concluded their spring session with the focus on next fall, which will be the fourth varsity season for the program. The Bulldogs are coming off their best season at 6-4, but must replace many key seniors.
From that standpoint, there were several positives gained in Friday’s loss to ECS.
Sophomore-to-be Sean Francis, who is among four players battling for starting quarterback, got the start and played the entire game.
He showed good touch on a pair of touchdown passes, a 27-yarder to Ryan Schwartz and a 22-yarder to Justen Urraro late in the fourth quarter, and finished 15-of-21 for 171 yards.
Conn said the plan was to play more than one quarterback, but decided to stick with Francis to see how he would respond in a close game.
“Overall he played well and hung in there,” Conn said. “He didn’t have the look of a deer in headlights in that last drive that very easily could’ve been the winning score.”
The Bulldogs were playing without one of their top offensive players, last year’s leading rusher Joseph Byrd. He was kept out most of the game due to a coach’s decision.
Senior Marvin Riedewald was effective in his absence, rushing 22 times for 172 yards. Senior fullback Rafaelito Palazzolo ran through a tackle for a 17-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
Junior Jonathan Garcia, at 6-foot-5, provided a rangy target for Francis, catching five passes 77 yards.
The Bulldogs didn’t waste much time getting on the board. They ran mostly on their opening possession, which lasted seven plays, but that set up Francis’ first touchdown pass to Schwartz.
It remained 7-0 until midway through the second quarter when ECS’ running back Jonathan Skaff scored on a three-yard run. Palazzolo’s touchdown before halftime made it 14-7.
The Bulldogs led by that same margin with 10:51 remaining, but a fumble set up ECS at the Baker 22. Three plays later, Skaff carried for a nine-yard touchdown to make it 14-13.
On the extra-point try, ECS faked the kick and the holder Lynch handed to Skaff, who scored to make it 15-14.
The game was on from that point, with both teams mounting go-ahead scoring drives in the final two minutes.
Evangelical Christian 0 7 0 15 — 22
Baker 7 7 0 6 — 20
1st quarter
Baker — Schwartz 27 pass from Francis (Dean kick)
2nd quarter
ECS — Skaff 3 run (Skaff kick)
Baker — Palazzolo 17 run (Kick)
4th quarter
ECS — Skaff 9 run (Skaff run)
Baker — Urraro 22 pass from Francis (run failed)
ECS — Lynch 11 run (Skaff kick)