The Baylor Red Raiders wasted no time in taking charge of their quarterfinal match up with Memphis University School Friday night.
Needing just 1:33 to score their first touchdown, the Red Raiders won for the 11th time this fall as they scored TDs on five of their first seven possessions en route to a convincing 45-6 victory over the Owls, who finish their season at 5-7 with a three-game winning streak getting snapped.
Baylor has had an extremely explosive offense this fall, scoring at will in incredible short periods of time. That was the case on Friday in front of a disappointing small Baylor crowd as junior quarterback completed 13 of his 16 passes in the first half for 318 yards and four touchdowns as a 35-6 halftime lead turned into a running clock for the final 10 minutes after junior Decoda Davenport scored Baylor’s final touchdown on a 13-yard run with 9:40 left in the game.
Baylor coach Erik Kimrey knows that his team might not have been their sharpest after having last week off, but he was really happy with the way the Red Raiders took charge early.
“It was an overall great effort against a team playing for their playoff lives and we’re two games away now,” he said, knowing that if his team wins next Friday against Brentwood Academy, they will play for their second state title in three years at Finley Stadium on the Dec. 5. The Eagles eliminated Father Ryan by a 43-14 for the right to play Baylor, who had won a close 7-6 game earlier in the season.
“It all gets real now. We were a little sluggish at times, but made the big plays when we needed them,” Kimrey added.
Chris Brown is Baylor’s defensive coordinator who had a big smile on his face after limiting the Owls to 238 yards and no touchdowns against a scrappy MUS squad.
“I thought we executed well on defense and it’s big when you limit a team to just two field goals. But we played really hard football tonight and I’m really proud of them,” he added.
MUS coach Mark Chubb knew his team was facing a huge uphill battle trailing 35-6 at intermission, but he was just happy that his kids kept battling the entire game.
“That’s a really good football team that we just played, but I’m really proud of how we kept battling in the second half,” he said afterward.
Cherry hooked up with Joakim Dodson on a 51-yard pass play to move from the 20 to the 29 and it took just three more plays before Shekai Mills-Knight raced 11 yards off tackle for Baylor’s first touchdown with 10:27 left in the first quarter. Philippe Laforge then booted the first of five extra points for a 7-0 lead early.
Cherry started the game with six straight completions, the sixth being a 46-yard strike to Cameron Sparks for a 14-0 Baylor lead with 6:18 left in the first.
Cherry’s next throw was intercepted by Thomas Davis, but that didn’t slow him down a bit as his next pass to Sparks covered 51 yards before he hooked up with Dodson from the 21 on the next play.
Trailing 21-0 when the second quarter began, the Owls got on the board when Joshua Wittber booted a 29-yard field goal with 11:12 left in the second. He later booted a 39-yarder on the final play of the first half, but that was all the scoring the Owls would do on this evening.
MUS punted on their first possession of the second half before an interception by Tyler Rice ended the second one. The Owls had their most productive drive of the game at the end as they moved from their own 20 to the Baylor 4 before two 15-yard penalties kept them from getting any closer, the game ending on an incomplete pass by Brady Hughes.
The Owls were limited to just 238 total yards, including 79 on the ground and another 159 through the air. Baylor ended the game with 505 total yards, including 164 on the ground and 341 through the air.
Jackson Hood was the leading rusher for MUS with 28 yards on three carries while Kyle Sneed was the leading receiver with 93 yards on nine catches. Jacob Wade had three catches for 49 yards.
Mills-Knight was Baylor’s leading rusher with 112 yards on 16 carries, including the first touchdown of the game. Davenport had 40 yards on three trips and also a TD.
Sparks was the leading receiver for Baylor with 163 yards on five catches with touchdown plays of 46 and 63 yards. Dodson had five catches for 94 yards and the one TD.
MEMPHIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL 0 6 0 0 -- 6
BAYLOR 21 14 3 7 -- 45
BAY – Shekai Mills-Knight 11 run (Philippe Laforge kick), 10:27 left in first;
BAY – Cameron Sparks 46 pass from Briggs Cherry (Laforge kick), 6:18 left in first;
BAY – Joakim Dodson 21 pass from Cherry (Laforge kick), 0:32 left in first;
MUS – Joshua Wittber 29 field goal, 11:12 left in second;
BAY – Sparks 63 pass from Cherry (Laforge kick), 4:25 left in second;
BAY – Bradley Ilunga-Bisselele 32 pass from Cherry (Laforge kick), 1:03 left in second;
MUS – Wittber 39 field goal, 0:00 left in second;
BAY – Laforge 32 field goal, 4:14 left in third;
BAY – Decoda Davenport 13 run (Marshall Bible kick), 9:40 left in fourth.
TEAM STATS: MUS BAYLOR
FIRST DOWNS 14 22
RUSHES-YARDS 18-79 24-164
PASSING YARDS 159 341
TOTAL YARDS 238 505
PASSES (Comp-Att-Int) 14-34-1 17-24-1
PENALTIES-YARDS 2-30 10-100
FUMBLES-LOST 0-0 0-0
PUNTS-AVERAGE 4-28.7 0-0
INDIVIDUAL STATS:
MUS RUSHING: Jackson Hood 3 carries for 28 yards, Gavin Gatere 10 for 27, Brady Hughes 5 for 24;
MUS RECEIVING: Kyle Sneed 9 catches for 93 yards, Jacob Wade 3 for 49;
MUS PASSING: Brady Hughes 14 of 34 for 159 yards and one interception.
BAYLOR RUSHING: Shekai Mills-Knight 16 carries for 112 yards and one touchdown; Decoda Davenport 3 for 40 with one TD; Cameron Sparks 1 for 12;
BAYLOR RECEIVING: Cameron Sparks five catches for 163 yards and two touchdowns, Joakim Dodson 5 for 94 and one TD, Bradley Ilunga-Bisselele 2 for 41 and one TD, Kaiden Dewey 2 for 22;
BAYLOR PASSING: Briggs Cherry 16 of 23 for 334 yards and five touchdowns; Ben Halevi 1 of 1 for 7 yards.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)