No. 16 Baker Set for Home Opener, Clash of the Week with William Penn

BALDWIN CITY – The first home game of 2025 for No. 16 Baker football will also be featured as Urban Edge Network's "Clash of the Week" as the Wildcats (0-1) take on William Penn (2-0) on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 11 a.m. at Liston Stadium and Don Parker Field.

In their first game of 2025, Baker fell on the road at Peru State, 31-17, last weekend to give BU its first 0-1 start in 15 years. The Wildcats scored on their opening drive of the year, but didn't find the endzone again until late in the third quarter and were hindered by four turnovers on offense.

Sophomore wide receiver Adrion Seals had a big game to kick off the season, finishing with a game-high six catches for 150 yards and a touchdown. BU had three players rush for over 50 yards, with newcomer Gavin Fellingham leading the way with 62 yards, followed by Truman Juelsgaard and Gabe Martin, who each had 58 yards rushing.

Picked to finish fourth in the Heart North's preseason poll, William Penn is off to a 2-0 start after a couple of blowouts on the road at William Woods (52-23) in the season opener and Central Methodist (38-6) last weekend.

Led by a balanced attack, the Statesmen totaled over 420 yards of offense and scored at least 38 points in both matchups. They are averaging over 150 yards on the ground and over 260 passing yards between their two games, while their defense held CMU to less than 200 total yards.

WPU freshman quarterback Christian Benning has thrown for nearly 200 yards in each of his first two games, throwing for two touchdowns against the Owls before tallying 285 yards and adding three touchdowns against the Eagles. Running back Destynd Loring already has five touchdowns to his name this season and rushed for 125 yards against the Owls.

Saturday's meeting will be the 11th meeting between the two teams, with Baker owning a 7-3 lead in the all-time series. Last year, the Wildcats won 43-21 in Oskaloosa, Iowa, for their third straight victory in the series. Juelsgaard went 22-for-28 with 261 yards and four touchdowns, while Gaige Warren scored three of the five touchdowns for BU in the game.

Baker is looking to avoid going 0-2 to start the season, something that hasn't happened in 15 years for the program. In 2010, the Wildcats lost their first three games of the season before turning things around and winning seven of their last eight games.

As the "Clash of the Week", UEN will broadcast its pregame show at 10 a.m. in the northwest corner of Liston Stadium. Gates will open 15 minutes early at 9:45 a.m. to allow fans inside to watch the pregame show.

The home opener is set to kick off at 11 a.m. on Saturday. A free live stream of both the pregame show and the game can be found on the Urban Edge Network. Live stats will be available here.

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