Baird 24, Throckmorton 15

By BILL HART Senior Staff Writer

BAIRD - What started out as a potential runaway wound up being a dogfight for the Baird Bears at homecoming Friday night.

The Bears scored on their first two possessions and then held on for a 24-15 victory over Throckmorton, which trailed at halftime, 21-0. The Greyhounds had a chance to get closer in the final minutes, but a holding penalty killed a drive deep in Bear territory.

Throckmorton may have lost more than just the game. All-state kicker Nick Rankin suffered a possible broken arm, back Blake Weaver may have broken his leg and lineman Aaron Smith suffered a knee injury. The game was held up for almost 32-0 minutes when Rankin and Blake were injured.

'We gave up a lot of yardage tonight, but we didn't give up many points," said Baird coach Kelly West. "Throckmorton really got after us in the second half, but we were hurt by field position in the third quarter. Then we got the yardage when we needed it. "

Throckmorton had 106 yards rushing in the first half and 279 for the game, but both teams were plagued by turnovers. The Greyhounds lost two fumbles and had two pass interceptions, while Baird lost three fumbles.

On the first play of the game, quarterback Lee Harle passed to Logan Russell for a 55-yard touchdown. The next time Baird got the ball, the Bears drove 79 yards for a score with Justin Rivera going the final 31 yards to make it 13-0 with 6:53 left in the first quarter.

he Greyhounds got to the Baird five late in the quarter, but four running plays netted four yards and the Bears took over. "That was a big stand for us, it gave us a lot of emotion," West said. "Our defense played well and we stopped them deep several other times. "

Justin Ash's pass to Stephen Nixon gained 38 yards to the Baird nine, but he fumbled when tackled and Harle recovered for the Bears. From there, Baird drove for a touchdown, but a fumbled punt at the Throckmorton 17 was recovered by Baird's Russell to keep the drive going. Harle then passed to Russell for the 15-yard touchdown with 1:11 left in the half.

arle's interception set up a Baird threat that got to the Throckmorton eight, but Harle fumbled and the Greyhounds took over.

Throckmorton got on the scoreboard in the third quarter when a Baird punt wound up for no yardage at the Bear 15, thanks to a backward roll, and the Greyhounds scored in two plays with Josh Dormier going the final six yards.

The Bears got a little more breathing room when Ryon Vestal booted a 25-yard field goal with 11:10 to play for a 24-7 lead, but the Greyhounds retaliated with a 72-yard drive with Ash throwing a nine-yard fourth down pass to Scott Bellah for the touchdown with 5:34 to play.

Harle fumbled the snap on first down after the kickoff and Throckmorton took over on its 43 and Ash drove the Greyhounds to the Baird 33. He ran for 11 yards on the next play, but holding was called and Throckmorton was penalized back to the Baird 46. The Bears took over when a fourth down pass didn't gain enough yards for new life.

Rivera had a 58-yard touchdown run called back by a penalty, but Jeremy Riney gained 49 yards to the Throckmorton 11 on the next play. The Bears then ran out of the clock to even their record at 2-2.

Throckmorton ......0......0......7......8-15

Baird ......13......8......0......3-24

SCORING SUMMARY

B - Logan Russell 55 pass from Lee Harle (Ryon Vestal kick)

B - Justin Rivera 31 run (kick failed)

B - Russell 15 pass from Harle (Rivera run)

T - Josh Dormier 6 run (Nick Rankin kick)

B - Vestal 25 field goal

T - Scott Bellah 9 pass from Justin Ash (Dormier run)

......Throck......Baird

First downs ......18......17

Rushes-yards ......47-239......34-232

Passing yards......89......155

Comp-Att-Int ......5-13-2......8-24-0

Punts ......3-40......6-22

Fumbles-lost ......3-2......5-3

Penalties-yards ......3-34......3-21

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - Throckmorton: Dormier 17-129, Ash 19-77, Kevin Voss 6-46, Rankin 2-14, Bellah 1-9, Blake Weaver 2-4. Baird: Rivera 19-153, Jeremy Riney 8-83, Harle 6-(-4), Russell 1-0.

PASSING - Throckmorton: Ash 4-11-2, 56 yards; 1 TD; Rankin 1-2-0, 33 yards. Baird: Harle 8-24-0, 155 yards, 2 TDs.

RECEIVING - Throckmorton: Michael Leal 2-31, Voss 1-16, Bellah 1-9, Stephen Nixon 1-3. Baird: Russell 4-95, Dusty Baron 2-47, Jeremy Gonzales 2-23.