Escape From Baldwin City

Whew...that was close.

The Pioneers escaped with a wild road win in Baldwin City, Kansas against conference rival Baker University. They had to overcome penalties, turnovers and injuries to win a 33-30 ball game on the road against a motivated Wildcats team. We saw trick plays, great coaching and some lucky bounces to propel the 'Neers to a tough road win.

The game started off well enough, the Pioneer D bent, but did not break and allowed a Baker field goal on the game's first drive. When the Pioneers got the ball back, they marched right down the field using a no-huddle attack led by quarterback Sean Ransburg that looked VERY deadly. The Baker defense didn't have an answer for it, and Ransburg found Brandon Phillips in the end zone for a 24 yard touchdown strike. That's when things went awry.

The Wildcats then scored touchdowns on three of their next four drives, and the Pioneers found themselves trailing 23-7 with under two minutes remaining in the half. Thanks to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the previous Baker TD, the Wildcats were forced to kick from their own 15, giving the Pioneers the ball in Baker territory. Ransburg led a tremendous 2-minute drill and capped off the scoring with a 9 yard touchdown run, to take the 'Neers into the half down 10 points.

The second half started out great for the Pioneers, they got the ball to start off the second half, and quickly converted on another TD run by Ransburg, and then recovered an amazing onside kick by Cody Morrow, to score again. The 13-point swing put the Pioneers up 3 quickly in the 3rd quarter.

Then the injuries started piling up: Redmon out, Ransburg leaves the game after a big run, and then Greg Gates goes down with a leg injury. The outcome of the game looked bleak for our 'Neers, and after a Pioneer turnover, Baker put 7 more points on the board to take a 30-26 lead early in the 4th quarter. At this point in the game, the Pioneer D really stepped it up, forcing 3 and outs, making big stops when Baker had converted on 3rd down at will in the first half, they did just a tremendous job out there.

Tyler Herl really showed a lot of moxie in this game to come back after a tough interception and basically will this team down the field for the game-winning touchdown. He used his arms, his legs and some guts to lead the squad to a win. It all came together with an absolute laser to Brett Houchen for a touchdown with around 4 minutes remaining. The Pioneer Defense sewed it up with a 3 and out, and cue the fight song, the Pioneers win!

It wasn't pretty, but it is a win, and a win is what matters. The Pioneers move on to play Culver-Stockton College at home on Saturday, in a game in which the Pioneers need to start fast, but that's a topic for another day.

Until then, thanks for reading, and keep listening on KMNU Sports Radio.