What can (Jesse) Brown do for you?  How about five touchdown passes and another on the ground, leading Baker from a halftime deficit to a 47-29 victory over Gladstone to reach Class 4A title game for second consecutive year.

After a 26-point second quarter propelled unbeaten Tri-Valley League champion Gladstone to a 26-21 lead over the Baker Bulldogs, it looked as though all of the momentum was with the black and orange.

But within the blink of an eye in the third quarter, "Big Mo" switched jerseys, and the Bulldogs ran away in the second half to beat the Gladiators 47-29 in a. OSAA/U.S. Bank Class 4A football semifinal playoff game at Hillsboro Stadium.

The Bulldogs will be back at Hillsboro this coming Saturday, shooting for their first state championship when they face the Douglas Trojans, who also reached the title game by beating a Tri-Valley foe, edging Estacada 8-0 at Cottage Grove High School Saturday.

Jesse Brown threw for three second-half touchdowns to help the Bulldogs run away and hide, but it was a special teams play and key stops on defense that provided the fuel for Baker's fire.

Brown's third touchdown pass of the game, a 35-yarder to Ty Everson early in the third quarter, helped the Bulldogs erase that halftime deficit and reclaim a 28-26 lead.

Gladstone then used a 15-play drive to help set up a 29-yard field goal by Kenny Simac with 6:37 left in the third to put the Gladiators back on top 29-28.

But on the ensuing kickoff, Baker's Colten Richards busted off an 81-yard touchdown to reclaim a 34-29 Baker lead.  The Bulldogs forced Gladstone to punt on its next possession, and three plays later Brown and Luke Austin connected on a 63-yard touchdown pass to push Baker's lead to 40-29.

The 11-point deficit forced Gladstone to pass, and as had been the case all day, the Gladiators weren't able to succeed through the air when, on the second play of the possession, quarterback Joe Baker was intercepted for the third time as Justin Durflinger picked off the pass on the final play of the third quarter and returned it to the Gladstone 24.  That set up the final score of the game when Brown hit Will Barr on a 12-yard touchdown pass with 10:21 left in the game for a 47-29 lead.

Gladstone put together a late scoring drive to try and get within two touchdowns, reaching the Bulldog 6-yard line when, on first-and-goal, Joe Baker committed his fourth turnover of the game, a fumble recovered by the Bulldogs' Bryce Waldron.

From there, the Bulldogs were able to run out the final 8:08 of the game with a clock-killing 13-play drive to get inside the Gladstone 10 as time expired.

Joe Baker was intercepted twice in the first quarter, the second by Richards which helped set up the Bulldogs' first score of the game, a four-yard TD pass from Brown to Ty Everson for a 7-0 lead.

Gladstone recovered from the early miscues to rack up 26 second-quarter points.  Hector Campos' three-yard TD run pulled the Gladiators even at 7-7, but Brown and Durflinger connected on a 55-yard scoring pass two minutes later for the Bulldogs to regain a 14-7 lead with 8:18 left in the half.

Gladstone once again evened the score when Adrian Joyner, one of the heroes in the Gladiators' late-game quarterfinal win over Banks, took the ensuing kickoff 80 yards to the house to once again tie the game, 14-14.

Brown's 10-yard TD run on the Bulldogs' next possession once again reclaimed a Baker lead, but Gladstone would score the next two touchdowns to take the halftime advantage.

Jacob Jordan found the end zone on a five-yard run to pull Gladstone within 21-20, then Cam Sommer, the ODS Player of the Game for Gladstone, recovered a Bulldog fumble and returned it 34 yards for a touchdown to give the Gladiators the halftime edge.

Brown completed 19 of 26 passes for 345 yards and five touchdowns to earn Player of the Game honors for the Bulldogs. Everson caught eight balls for 98 yards and two scores, while Durflinger added 96 yards and a score on five catches.  On the ground, Stephen Talbot ran for 58 yards as Gladstone's strong run defense limited the Bulldogs to just 120 rushing yards on 37 attempts.

Gladstone ran for 224 yards as a team, with six different ball carriers gaining at least 20 yards. A.J. Prom led the way with 51 yards on nine carries, while Joe Baker and Joyner had 45 and 44 yards, respectively.  Defensively, Sommer had three tackles for loss.

(Left) Baker's Jesse Brown passes for 345 yards and five TD's; (Right) Gladstone's AJ Prom led Gladstone attack with 51 tough yards.

Photos by Bruce McCain

Complete games photos may be viewed at OSAA Baker vs. Gladstone 112710

 For complete game statistics, visit www.osaa.org.