JOLIET — Baker trailed by two possessions in the second half Friday night but rallied to hand No. 6 Joliet its first loss of the Class B football season.
Joliet’s Tucker Lind broke off a 48-yard run for a touchdown with 4:45 left in the first quarter to put the J-Hawks ahead 7-0. Later in the second, Kaden Juhnke added a 12-yard TD scamper to help Joliet build a 15-0 advantage.
Baker got on the board with 28 seconds before halftime on Jesse Brawley’s 1-yard touchdown run, making the score 15-6. Brawley wasn’t done making an impact. His interception return for a touchdown pulled the Spartans within one, 15-14, with 4:11 left in the third quarter.
Early in the fourth, Jake Cook had a 47-yard touchdown run to pad Joliet’s lead at 21-14. The J-Hawks had the ball with 3:00 left but were forced to punt. Baker, without a timeout, scored on a Brawley-to-Jaren Lingle TD pass with 12 seconds left. Brawley then ran in a two-point conversion to put Baker on top.
Baker then squibbed the ensuing kickoff and recovered, and was able to run out the clock for a comeback victory on the road.
Elsewhere in Class B ...
No. 1 Florence 44, Huntley Project 27
No. 2 Eureka 54, Cut Bank 0
No. 3 Missoula Loyola 52, No. 8 Big Timber 0
No. 4 Red Lodge 56, Colstrip 0
No. 5 Columbus 41, Glasgow 0
No. 7 Manhattan 35, Thompson Falls 12
No. 9 Jefferson 48, Malta 14
Three Forks 45, No. 10 Whitehall 0 (Thursday)
Fairfield 26, Wolf Point 14
Shepherd 54, Roundup 0
