No. 16 Baker Set for Heart “Game of the Week” at No. 13 Benedictine
BALDWIN CITY – After winning three straight games to open the season, No. 16 Baker squares off against No. 13 Benedictine in The Heart Conference Network's "Game of the Week" on Saturday, Sept. 28 in Atchison, Kan.
Baker heads out for its second road game of the season after picking up a tough win at William Penn a couple of weeks ago, defeating the Statesmen by a score of 43-21.
Last week, the Wildcats took care of Culver-Stockton, 61-7 on Homecoming for their second home game with at least 52 points. BU tied a program record with three interceptions returned for a touchdown and recorded a safety on special teams, while Truman Juelsgaard tallied four touchdowns.
With the 3-0 record, the Wildcats are off to their best start since 2020 when they won their first seven games of the year. After leading the nation in defensive touchdowns last season, the Wildcats once again are atop the category this year with four scores by the BU defense. Juelsgaard has thrown for over 775 yards (776) and has scored three or more touchdowns in every game.
Canon Karn was named Heart Defensive Player of the Week this week after he became Baker's career tackles leader and had one of the pick-sixes in BU's blowout over C-SC. He also had a forced fumble and finished with six tackles to bring his career total to 285 tackles, surpassing former Wildcat Colton Miller (2007-2010) in the record book.
Benedictine comes into the game with a 3-1 record overall with its lone loss coming against No. 3 Grand View. The Ravens have scored at least 45 points in three of its first four games, including a 45-14 victory over St. Ambrose last week. Quarterback Jackson Dooley, who earned Heart Offensive Player of the Week honors this past week, averages over 330 yards per game and has 10 touchdowns on the year, tallying half of them in the game against SAU.
Saturday's matchup will be the first time the Wildcats have faced a ranked opponent this season with both teams moving up a spot in the latest rankings with the Ravens coming in at No. 13 and BU at No. 16. BC is 1-1 against top-25 teams with a win over Morningside, who was ranked 10th at the time, in the season opener and a 24-point loss to the Vikings.
The top-20 showdown will be the 42nd meeting between the two teams with Baker leading the all-time series, 23-17-1. Last year, the Wildcats couldn't overcome a couple of early turnovers and fell to the Ravens, 30-6 on a dreary day in Liston Stadium.
The Heart's "Game of the Week" will kick off from Larry Wilcox Stadium at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Atchison.
A live stream of the game can be found on The Heart Conference Network and live stats for the game are available here.
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