Wildcats Claim Second Straight Heart South Title, Defeat Spartans on Senior Day

BALDWIN CITY – No. 12 Baker secured its second straight conference title, pulling out a 16-8 victory over Missouri Baptist on Senior Day here Saturday afternoon to earn a share of the 2024 Heart South Football Conference Championship.

With a 5-1 record, the Wildcats finished in a three-way tie with No. 9 Benedictine and No. 13 MidAmerica Nazarene atop the league standings. The three teams split conference bragging rights last season too, finishing as Heart South tri-champions.

Prior to the game, the Wildcats recognized a total of 27 seniors for their contributions to the BU football game as part of Senior Day.

A week after keeping MNU to a season-low 14 points, the Baker defense came within a couple of minutes of pitching a shutout with the Spartans scoring their only touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

On a gusty day inside Liston Stadium, Seth Simpson drilled three field goals to help a BU offense that was kept out of the end zone in the second half.

Sam Heggemann led the Wildcats with 71 rushing yards on 13 carries, while putting up 113 yards and a touchdown through the air.

After trading punts to start the game, the Wildcats put together a solid 11-play scoring drive that stretched over to the second quarter and capped off with a short touchdown pass from Heggemann to Gaige Warren to make it a 7-0 lead for BU.

Simpson connected on his first field goal with a 30-yard kick to push Baker's advantage to 10-0 with just over seven minutes left in the first half.

A forced fumble by the Wildcats on an MBU fourth-down play, followed by a missed field goal from the Spartans kept the halftime score at 10-0 in BU's favor.

Baker took its first drive of the second half and marched down the field with Heggemann finding Austin Tabor and Maveryck Becker on a couple of nice gains. The BU offense stalled near the goal line though, settling for another Simpson field goal.

With both sides continuing to punt, Simpson connected on his third and longest field goal of the day with a 33-yarder to give Baker a 16-0 lead with less than four minutes left to play.

After having just 37 yards of offense in the second half up to that point, MBU had a long drive to score its touchdown and followed it up with a successful two-point conversion to make it a one-score game with 1:47 remaining.
The BU defense came through for the final time, forcing its second fumble of the game to seal the title-clinching victory for Baker.

As the NAIA's all-time winningest program, the Wildcats have now earned a total of 21 conference championships, including a dominant 10-year stretch that features eight league titles since 2015.

BU closes out the 2024 regular season with a 9-1 overall record, giving them at least nine wins for the second straight year after the Wildcats went 9-3 in 2023.

Looking to make its second straight FCS appearance, Baker will await its postseason fate with the Selection Show for the 2024 NAIA Football Championship Series scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. You can watch the stream of the Selection Show on the Urban Edge Network.

2024 Baker Football Senior Class

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