FAIRMONT – A good memory allows Fairmont State University receiver Perry Baker to vividly recall a bad memory.
Coming off a sophomore season in which he had 34 catches for 589 yards and nine touchdowns and 18 carries for 258 yards and two scores to earn All-West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors, Baker was primed for an even more impressive campaign last year.
“The coaches were telling me I was going to be an All-American,” Baker said.
That might have been the case if he hadn’t hurt his left ankle in the Falcons’ season opener, an injury that hindered him the rest of the season.
With his team trailing Clarion (Pa.) University 3-0, Baker used his speed to turn an end-around into a 54-yard touchdown run on the third play of Fairmont State’s first series.
The Falcons tried the same play in the opposite direction on the second play of their second series. The results were painful for Baker and Fairmont State.
“I ended up stopping because the defense was running me to the sideline and I was going to cut back,” said Baker, who is from New Smyrna, Fla. “My shirt got tugged, and I got rolled up. A dude was lying on my leg, and then I got hit up high and in the other way I was going.
“I heard a pop and went to the sideline. I asked the trainer if he could retape my foot or tighten my ankle brace. I wanted to keep playing, but I sat out until the third quarter. Then, I came back in, but I couldn’t stand to put any pressure on it when I ran.
“Everybody was kind of down after I got hurt. I felt like I let my team down. That is what made it more frustrating for me. I knew I couldn’t perform because I couldn’t run.”
The scenario – an injury to Baker and a loss to Clarion – served as an example of football foreshadowing. Fairmont State and Baker struggled the rest of the game and the rest of the season.
The Falcons finished with a 3-8 overall record and a 3-5 league mark. Partly because he was unhealthy and partly because the Falcons’ quarterbacks struggled to get him the football, Baker finished with only 16 catches for 233 yards and no touchdowns and 10 carries for 65 yards and one score.
“It was very frustrating,” said Baker, who also injured the same ankle in the final game of his breakthrough season two years ago. “When I hurt it, I thought to myself, ‘I’m about to be out for a while.’ The same thing happened to me the year before, and it hurt all the way to February. I missed the second game and then I played the rest of the season, but I wasn’t 100 percent mentally or physically.”
As is often the case, a positive came from a negative.
“I honestly feel like I got hurt for a reason,” Baker said. “I feel like I had a cocky swag last year because of what I did the year before. God did this to open my eyes. I needed to change who I am and how I act.”
That is exactly what he has done. For example, Baker has become more of a team player. Unlike last summer, he stayed in Fairmont and worked out with his teammates this summer.
Baker also began attending church services at Restoring Life Ministries.
“It was an eye opener for me,” Baker said of his experience. “I thank God for all of it.”
Entering his senior season, the 6-foot-1, 173-pound Baker is in the best shape of his life after adding 13 pounds of muscle under the tutelage of Fairmont State Coach Mike Lopez.
“He told me my weight was the only thing that was going to stop me from getting to the next level,” Baker said. “He put me on a special diet and told me what to buy at the grocery store. I started eating everything he said and I started getting stronger in the weight room, and I realized it was working for me.”
Baker comes from a football family with professional experience. His brother is Dallas Baker, and his uncle is Wes Chandler. Both starred at the University of Florida and played in the National Football League – Baker spent three years with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Chandler spent 11 seasons with the New Orleans Saints, San Diego Chargers and San Francisco 49ers.
“Perry is just a great player,” Lopez said. “He can flat-out fly. He has tremendous speed. He has a pretty good bit of wiggle. He has very good hands. He has big-game potential. He can score points in a hurry. Anytime you have those people on the field for your team, it makes you dangerous.”
Lopez expects Baker to bounce back from last year’s disappointing season.
“He has had an up-and-down career,” Lopez said. “He has battled some injuries, including a severe high ankle sprain last year. When your best attribute is running and you have a high ankle sprain, it’s the equivalent of having a quarterback with a blown-out shoulder.”
Lopez also expects the Falcons to bounce back, as long as they can get the ball to Baker. That is one of the reasons Lopez hired former Robert C. Byrd Coach Bryan Fisher as their new offensive coordinator during the off-season.
“Oh, no question, we have to get the ball in his hands,” said Lopez, who enters his fourth season with a 14-19 record. “Coach Fisher has a pretty complex offense and wants to find better ways to get him the ball.”
The Falcons return 14 starters, including seven from an offense that scored 19.5 points per game and seven from a defense that allowed 27.8 points per game.
In addition to Baker, they are running back Doug Brazill, tight end Stefan Johnson, fullback Cody Reed, offensive lineman Matt Khouri, offensive lineman Josh Knicely, offensive lineman Pat Halpin, defensive end Luke Black, linebacker Dan Dario, linebacker David Pack, cornerback Daniel Strosnider, cornerback Brandon Tucker, safety Dewey McDonald and safety Greg Underwood.
“We are excited,” Lopez said. “With each new season comes a new opportunity. We have to improve on offense. If we are able to do that, we are going to be all right.”
Fairmont State will visit Clarion on Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. in the teams’ season opener.
The Golden Eagles lead the series 9-5.