Baylor at Brentwood Academy

[WesVLT]

Final score: Brentwood Academy 10, Baylor 7

 

A sloppy defensive struggle ended with a flourish, as Brentwood Academy drove 58 yards for a late fourth-quarter touchdown to take the lead with 41 seconds left. A 54-yard Red Raider field goal attempt fell just short as time expired, cementing a 10-7 Eagle win and thrusting them to the top of Division II-AA.

 

Baylor recovered a BA fumble at its own 27 yard line with just under four minutes left, but well after the officials signaled that it was Baylor's ball, a Red Raider lineman spiked the ball to the turf, sparking a personal foul penalty. The Eagles forced a Baylor three-and-out and took over at their own 42 yard line with just under two minutes left.

 

That's when BA completed its first and only touchdown drive of the night. Quarterback Max Staver found a wide-open Al Thompson at the Baylor 20, connecting for a big gain and giving the Eagles their best field position of the second half. Two plays later, running back D'Montre Wade beat a slew of Baylor defenders to the corner, nosing his way into the end zone to give BA the lead.

 

The drama wasn't over. Baylor converted a fourth down at its own 34, but a late unsportsmanlike conduct call moved the ball to the Red Raiders 49. Baylor would get the ball as far as the BA 39, setting up a long game-tying attempt. But the kick failed to reach the crossbar, securing the Eagle victory.

Edited October 1, 2011 by WesVLT

[fan6]

Well, it did indeed come down to Baylor's kicker. He missed from 54 yards as time expired and BA won 10-7. Exciting game as BA drove 70+ yards in the final 1:30 to take the lead. BA looked to be the better team but made way to many mistakes (penalties, dropped passes etc.). I thought the refs had a bad game - you just don't call a side line infraction (15 yards) with .15 left to go. . . The best "call" of the night was the BA announcer with " . . . and Baylor is stopped Again for no gain!" (referencing what we BA fans thought was a very bad spot of the ball . . . WesVlt . . . that one was for you).

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see these two teams meet again.

[WesVLT]

My thoughts:

 

1) These two teams will see each other again. They were very evenly matched and played excellent defense. They'll contend for the DII-AA title.

 

2) There were too many penalties. Both coaches will be hoarse after film sessions. Neither team was as fundamentally sound as you'd expect.

 

3) The scoring summary would indicate that BA stole this game, but the Eagles had plenty of chances in the first half -- they just failed to capitalize. BA had the ball inside the Baylor 30 yard line twice in the first half and only came away with three points. I haven't seen the stats, but I would imagine the Eagles had the edge in total yards.

 

4) The officials did not change the outcome of the game, but I would like to hear explanations on a couple calls. First, they gave Baylor two yards on a late third-down spot, moving the chains. Second, the late unsportsmanlike call on BA was interesting. I'm sure they had a valid reason for the call, but nothing was readily apparent from the stands.

 

Edit: The unsportsmanlike call was for a sideline warning, according to BA head coach Ralph Potter. It was thrown very late. Suffice it to say BA will not likely request these officials anytime soon.

 

Definitely a defensive classic between two strong teams. I can't wait to see the rematch.

Edited October 1, 2011 by WesVLT

[WesVLT]

The best "call" of the night was the BA announcer with " . . . and Baylor is stopped Again for no gain!" (referencing what we BA fans thought was a very bad spot of the ball . . . WesVlt . . . that one was for you).

 

 

Thanks for the mention! I was proud of him for that line.

[shakinthefat]

Edit: The unsportsmanlike call was for a sideline warning, according to BA head coach Ralph Potter. It was thrown very late. Suffice it to say BA will not likely request these officials anytime soon.

The 1st unsportsmanlike warning went to Potter for arguing with sideline official on Baylor running back forward progress spot. The 2nd warning was the same sideline official who had heard the wrath of Potter earlier just waiting to call another sideline warning. It was thrown late but if Potter had kept his cool earlier it would had not mattered.

 

Any word on BA's Barron who left game limping?

[WesVLT]

The 1st unsportsmanlike warning went to Potter for arguing with sideline official on Baylor running back forward progress spot. The 2nd warning was the same sideline official who had heard the wrath of Potter earlier just waiting to call another sideline warning. It was thrown late but if Potter had kept his cool earlier it would had not mattered.

 

Any word on BA's Barron who left game limping?

 

Thanks for the explanation. Potter had every right to be ballistic. The officials should've let him vent.

 

I'm not well-connected enough to know anything about Barron. I certainly hope he's okay -- it didn't look good.

[fan6]

I don't have any details on Woody Barron, but he was on the field after the game with the team and seemed to be OK. My son (who is a senior at BA but doesn't play) said they thought he was OK.

 

I'd also like to know if #9 for Baylor is OK. He took quite a shot on Baylor's last drive and came out of the game with an obvious shoulder injury. I think he was the receiver who caught Baylor's TD in the first half.

[nike7]

The 1st unsportsmanlike warning went to Potter for arguing with sideline official on Baylor running back forward progress spot. The 2nd warning was the same sideline official who had heard the wrath of Potter earlier just waiting to call another sideline warning. It was thrown late but if Potter had kept his cool earlier it would had not mattered.

 

I've been told Woody was chop blocked, no call, and it's an MCL injury. I'm not sure what the severity of it is though

 

Any word on BA's Barron who left game limping?

[SafeT]

I too felt BA was the better team and the score should have had a larger spread. We jumped offside time after time in the first half, once to give them a first down. Misc other penalties keep us in their rear view mirror till the last few minutes. I don't blame Potter for the spot flag. I was really impressed with BA quarterback who kept his composure and made some tough passes under pressure. Great catch by Thompson when it counted! Baylor was good with a huge line, both sides of the ball. Quarterback was an excellent athlete. I spoke to several of their players after the game all of which were a class act. All things considered, we were lucky to get out of that game with a W considering the penalties etc. Ill take it and look forward to BGA.

[doct]

I too felt BA was the better team and the score should have had a larger spread. We jumped offside time after time in the first half, once to give them a first down. Misc other penalties keep us in their rear view mirror till the last few minutes. I don't blame Potter for the spot flag. I was really impressed with BA quarterback who kept his composure and made some tough passes under pressure. Great catch by Thompson when it counted! Baylor was good with a huge line, both sides of the ball. Quarterback was an excellent athlete. I spoke to several of their players after the game all of which were a class act. All things considered, we were lucky to get out of that game with a W considering the penalties etc. Ill take it and look forward to BGA.

I would amend that from BA was lucky to the fact that Baylor is lucky they weren't blown out. BA was overwhelmingly dominant defensively.

 

Stats from the paper showed Baylor had around 145 yds of offense, and they were very fortunate in that they fumbled 6 times and recovered the first 5. BA has a TD called back on a ridiculous penalty for face mask on the ball carrier (I have watched FB for 40 yrs and have never seen that called), and penalties kept several Baylor drives alive. The officiating was ridiculous, the officials must have huddled 5 or 6 times trying to figure out what the call was, they were a train wreck. That crew was incompetant and should stick to Jr Pro FB. The spot foul referenced was a blatant missed call to give Baylor a crucial 4th down conversion with time running out, and who has EVER seen a flag thrown for a sideline infraction with a game in the balance and 15 sec remaining? That penalty gave Baylor a shot at the potential game tying FG. BA winning was due to a talented, hungry team never giving up in spite of ridiculous circumstances, and I think it would have been a travesty if Baylor had won that game. I hear W Baron has a knee sprain and will miss a couple of weeks.

Edited October 1, 2011 by doct

[SafeT]

I wondered what that call was i.e. offensive face mask? I was speechless. To make matters worse, it called back a touchdown.

[PSU]

It was great to witness how dominate the BA defense has become. If the defense continues to gel even more, it will give the young BA offense more time to come together and work on timing, especially on the deep balls.