The Pioneers and Wildcats have a history of close and exciting games, and Saturday's 33-30 MNU victory was no exception.
Baker jumped out to a 3-0 lead after starting the game with an impressive 17-play 67-yard drive which took 8:23 off the clock and ended with a 32-yard field goal. The Pioneers answered with a 7-play 59-yard drive capped off with a
Sean Ransburg 24-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Phillips to take a 7-3 lead. The Wildcats followed with touchdown drives in 3 of their next 4 possessions to take control of the game. With the Pioneers trailing 23-7 with under 2 minutes remaining in the half, Baker threatened blow the game open. But MNU finished the half with a touchdown drive (PAT no good) to head to the locker room trailing by just 10.
MNU started the second half perfectly by scoring an opening-drive touchdown, recovering an onside kick, and scoring another touchdown to take a 26-23 lead. But Baker didn't back down and took a 30-26 lead early in the 4th quarter after an MNU turnover. At this point in the game, the Pioneers were missing their 3 biggest offensive weapons in QB
Sean Ransburg, RB
Greg Gates, and TE
Juan Redmon. All had been banged up and didn't see the field for the rest of the game. But backup QB
Tyler Herl and runningback
Ashford Johnson handled the next drive and gave MNU the lead. With 10 minutes remaining, Herl and Johnson went to work. 15 plays, 80 yards, and 6 minutes later, Herl completed a 9-yard strike to
Brett Houchen to give MNU a 33-30 lead. Johnson had 5 carries and 2 receptions on the drive, and Herl completed 5 passes for the 6th lead change of the contest.
The defense forced a 3-and-out with 3 minutes remaining, and the offense picked up 2 first downs to seal the victory.
Sean Ransburg was 8-11 passing for 91 yards and a touchdown. He also ran the ball 7 times for 73 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Greg Gates,
James Tillman, and
Ashford Johnson joined Ransburg to pick up 219 yards on the ground.
Tyler Herl was 9-17 passing with 83 yards and a touchdown. Brandon Phillips caught 5 passes for 41 yards and a touchdown. And
Brett Houchen caught 4 balls for 47 yards and a touchdown.
The Pioneers are 3-1 (3-1 HAAC). The next game is Saturday, October 8 at home vs. Culver-Stockton (1-4, 1-4) at 6:00.
Stats and Play by Play
