Last-Second Touchdown Sends Baker Flag Football to NAIA Semifinals

RIVERSIDE, Mo. - After qualifying for the Championship bracket, the Baker flag football team came away with a thrilling 26-20 victory over Warner in the quarterfinals of the 2025 NAIA Flag Finals on Wednesday before falling in the semifinal matchup.

Relocating from Atlanta, where the previous tournaments were held, the 2025 NAIA Flag Finals were held at KC Current Training Facility in Riverside, Mo., the same spot where the KCAC Conference Tournament was played just a couple of weeks ago.

On Monday, the Wildcats won their first game of pool play by blowing out fellow KCAC team William Woods, 41-0. BU fell to Keiser on Tuesday, 21-13 in its final pool-play matchup, but advanced to the NAIA Championship bracket as one of the four wildcard teams.

In Wednesday's matchup against the Royals, the Wildcats scored first with Sanija Waller running one in to spot them a 7-0 lead, but Warner scored twice, including a touchdown in the final minute, to go up 13-7 at halftime.

BU struck quickly in its first drive of the second half to retake the lead with Kaley Phillips hauling in a long touchdown pass to make it 14-13. The back-and-forth continued, though, as the Royals scored again to take a 20-14 lead going into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Mahagonay Simmons reeled in a game-tying touchdown catch to tie the game at 20-20. After a fourth-down stop from the BU defense, the Wildcats drove the ball down on the decisive drive and got within striking distance to set up the game-winning score.

On the last play of the game, Faith Phillips soared and outstretched the Royals defender to come down with the jump ball from Waller in the end zone for the game-winner and seal a 26-20 victory for the Wildcats.

In the semifinals, Baker faced off against Keiser for the second straight day and saw its 13-13 deadlock late in the second quarter turn into a comfortable 21-point win for the Seahawks. Keiser scored right before half to take a one-score lead into the break before shutting out BU in the second half and tacking on a couple more touchdowns.

With a 2-2 showing at this year's NAIA tournament, the Wildcats improved on their debut postseason performance last season, where they went 1-2 and earned their first postseason NAIA victory.

Baker finished off the program's second season of competition with a 13-9 record overall and went 8-3 in conference play, advancing to the KCAC Semifinals for the second straight year and reaching the NAIA Flag Finals Semifinals for the first time.

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