Baylor Steamrolls Chattanooga Christian, 42-0

Quick Start Helps Red Raiders Even Record At 3-3 With Big Games Coming

Friday, September 21, 2018
John Hunt

Baylor's Gabriel Stulce finds a hole as CCS's Russell Gadd tries to make the tackle.
photo by Greg Davick

Coach Phil Massey was looking for a fast start and a solid performance from his Baylor football team Friday night as they await next week’s game at home against top-ranked Brentwood Academy.

Massey was smiling for the most part when the game against Chattanooga Christian ended at Heywood Stadium, his Red Raiders evening its record at 3-3 with the 42-0 romp over an obviously outmatched Charger team.

CCS falls to 4-2 overall as a four-game winning streak was snapped.

The game ended on a down note as Baylor sophomore running back Austin Wolford was taken off on a stretcher with apparent tenderness in his neck. He appeared to be okay, but was taken to a local hospital as a precautionary measure.

“We have four big region games coming up, so we needed to come out and get the job done early,” Massey said at midfield following the game.

“Our goal was to get out of the game injury free and we did that for the most part, but I thought we took positive steps in all three phases of our game. We’re trying to build some confidence with Lorenzo White and I think we were able to do that, but we can build off the positives from this game,” the veteran Baylor leader added.

Baylor took the opening kickoff and promptly marched 62 yards in seven plays, scoring the first touchdown of the game with 9:23 left in the first quarter when White hooked up with fellow senior Patton Ford on a 23-yard TD pass.

Gabriel Stulce added the two-point run and the Red Raiders were on their way.

The CCS offense gained two yards in three plays to force a punt on its first possession and it didn’t go very far as the punt went out of bounds after only 12 yards.

Baylor had the ball on the CCS 34 and White hooked up with Ford on a perfect strike down the middle and the score was 15-0 with 8:23 left following Anthony Weekley’s kick.

Roope Niskanen, a senior exchange student from Finland, booted a 28-yard field goal on Baylor’s next possession for an 18-0 lead.

White then made it 25-0 before the first quarter ended when he scored on a keeper from the 4 following a 47-yard completion to Ford.

A 41-yard run by Stulce on the first play following a nine-yard CCS punt made it 32-0 with 8:34 left in the second while Niskanen booted another field goal, this time from 24 yards, as Baylor carried a commanding 35-0 lead into the halftime break.

White completed half of his 12 passes for 148 yards, including the three big ones to Ford.

The slender 18-year-old senior from Cleveland was pleased to get such positive results.

“It couldn’t have gone any better for us in the first half, but I’m confident when I throw to Patton. I think he dropped the first one I threw his way, but he made some nice grabs after that. A game like this is a momentum builder for next week’s game, but we just have to keep the train rolling,” he said with a smile.

There was a running clock throughout the second half, so the game ended pretty quick, but the Red Raiders were able to add one more touchdown with backup players.

Jermiah Skipworth, a promising freshman, scored from the 2 with 5:50 left to conclude the scoring.

Mondo Ellison, the CCS running back who is their most physical weapon on offense, did not play, but that certainly wasn’t any kind of excuse for CCS coach Mark Mariakis.

“We’re hoping to be at that level eventually, but I thought we played hard and gave good effort. We always expect our backup players to perform, but big plays hurt us tonight.

“You want to be fully loaded when you face a team like Baylor, but there are no excuses for this game. We’ve got a big region game with Boyd-Buchanan next week, so we have to go back to work. The good news about this game is that we didn’t quit,” he added.

The Red Raiders finished with 332 total yards while the Chargers were limited to just 35 total yards and only one first down.

Baylor used 11 running backs as they gained 184 yards on 30 attempts. Stulce was the leader with 55 yards on four attempts, including the 41-yard TD scamper. Skipworth was next with 30 yards on five carries.

Ford was the leading receiver for Baylor with three catches totaling 104 yards.

The Chargers had 22 yards passing and only 13 yards rushing on 26 attempts.

Traveon Scott and Jamichael Baxter had four yards rushing each while Micheal Houge was the leading receiver with two catches for 18 yards.

Both teams will be at home next week with Baylor facing Brentwood Academy and CCS hosting Boyd-Buchanan.

CHATTANOOGA CHRISTIAN 0 0 0 0 -- 0

BAYLOR 25 10 0 7 -- 42

BAY – Patton Ford 23 pass from Lorenzo White (Gabriel Stulce run), 9:23 left in first;

BAY – Ford 34 pass from White (Anthony Weekley kick), 8:23 left in first;

BAY – Roope Niskanen 28 field goal, 4:34 left in first;

BAY – White 4 run (Niskanen kick), 1:23 left in first;

BAY – Stulce 41 run (Niskanen kick), 8:34 left in second;

BAY – Niskanen 24 field goal, 1:34 left in second;