Volleyball in Willmar

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team will take on New London-Spicer in the Willmar tournament semifinals this afternoon. In pool play, the Jaguars started with a 2-1 win over Renville County West; game scores were 22-25, 25-12, 15-11. Next were straight-set wins over Lakeview (25-11, 25-12) and Central Minnesota Christian-Prinsburg (25-17, 25-16) to complete a sweep of three Camden Conference teams.

Stay tuned for more updates.

**Update: in the tournament semifinals, the Jaguars won game one 25-17 before the Wildcats eked out a narrow 26-24 win in game two. The Jaguars breezed past NL-S 15-8 in the third set to get into the championship.

The Jaguars fought hard against Willmar, who is 6-0 in the Central Lakes Conference with a half-match lead over powerhouse Rocori. The Cardinals finished the day 5-0 while improving to 13-3 overall with a 25-22, 25-17 win in the championship.

B-B-E is now 9-8 overall and play next at New London-Spicer on Tuesday, September 26.

*Homecoming week reminders: the coronation is Monday night at 7:30 p.m., while the B-B-E girls' tennis team hosts Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala-Swanville Area on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. for their Homecoming match.

Two big events coming today in the Bonanza Valley

Shown is Todd Trustheim (Brooten high school Class of 1987) leading the Brooten Fire Department raffle at the Brooten Pavilion on October 3, 2015.

The Brooten Fire Department hog roast and 20-gun raffle is at the Brooten Pavilion tonight, Saturday, September 23, with social hour and games from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., food with free-will donation, then the general / gun raffles starting at 7 o'clock.

Down in Swift Falls, Brink's Beer Joint invites everyone to their annual Fall Turkey Fest celebration, also being held today, Saturday, September 23. The fun starts with a bean bag tournament at 2 o’clock; the Turkey Cook-Off is 3 to 5; during that time the Firemen Water Fight will start at 3:30 p.m. with area fire departments invited - the parade is at 5:30 and live music will be from 6 to 9. 

As always, you can see a long list of area events throughout the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper, with the community calendar printed on page 2 each week. You can visit the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's community calendar at this link: http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/page/bonanza-valley-community-calendar/102.html.

Thank you for your interest in what's happening across the Bonanza Valley and B-B-E area!

*Today I will try posting volleyball updates: in the first match of the day for the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team at Willmar, they beat Renville County West in three sets. Next is a pool play match against Lakeview.

The Jaguars easily beat Lakeview in straight sets!

**Pool play update: the Jaguars finished 3-0 in pool play with a straight-set win over Central Minnesota Christian-Prinsburg. No word yet on who they face in the championship semifinals. Additional updates from Willmar will be added in a new blog post.

Friday Night Lights IV: statement win on the road!

Tonight was statement night for the B-B-E Jaguars football team! On the road at Browerville, the Jaguars completely dominated the Tigers while pitching a shut out in the third and fourth quarters. After having a slim 22-20 halftime lead, the Jaguars were in top form on their way to a 42-20 win.

Browerville was a state entrant and Class 1A state semifinalist in 2016 after winning the Section 6A title. They beat Mahnomen 40-28 in the state quarterfinals and finished 9-4 overall after losing to eventual state champion Rushford-Peterson 49-0 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. While not knowing what they lost for seniors to graduation, I have a hunch that the 2017 graduation hit them hard. Still, Browerville lists 11 seniors on their 33-man roster, which also has 13 juniors.

Browerville also competed at state in 2015, going 8-0 in the regular season, winning the Section 6A title and then falling to Minneota in the state quarterfinals. They made it to state in 2012 after an 0-2 start. Browerville was a section finalist in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013.

Also noteworthy: this is B-B-E's first win over Browerville since 1993, when the No. 7-seeded Jaguars shocked the heavily-favored and No. 2-seeded Tigers in the Section 5C quarterfinals with a 22-20 win. Tonight's win was also B-B-E's widest margin of victory since a 26-point win at K-M-S on Sept. 25, 2015 by a 34-8 score.

Both teams scored on their first possessions for an 8-8 tie in the first quarter. The Jaguars struck first when Ryan Illies passed to Adam Jaeger for a 30-yard touchdown. Browerville answered with a 60-yard touchdown run by senior running back Dalton Butler with a successful two-point conversion. On the following kickoff, Jaeger took it to the house with an 82-yard touchdown return that helped the Jaguars go up 16-8. Late in the first quarter, Browerville was threatening and drove deep into B-B-E territory. They finished off the drive early in the second quarter with a 15-yard touchdown pass and narrowed B-B-E's lead to 16-14 with a failed two-point conversion.

B-B-E then scored again on a two-yard carry by Illies to go up 22-14, and the Tigers responded with a 10-yard touchdown catch before halftime. At the half, B-B-E led 22-20.

The Jaguars then played perhaps their best quarter of football in years when they outscored the Tigers 20-0 in the third quarter. Jaeger electrified the B-B-E faithful with a 78-yard punt return to open up the third-quarter scoring. Kyle Felling then tacked on touchdown runs of 7 and 17 yards for a 42-20 lead.

I was very pleased that the J.V. Jaguars took over in the fourth quarter to finish the game. Classy. Winning with class and losing with class are both important in any sport - especially at the high school level when many lessons are taught to our youth. Great job, B-B-E! The J.V. squad played very well even though they did not score. They kept the ball on the ground with no turnovers and kept the game clock running.

Ryan Illies finished with 4-of-10 passing marks for 50 yards, with 30 of those 50 yards coming on the touchdown pass to Jaeger.

Overall, Browerville outgained B-B-E 245 yards to 214, with two special teams touchdowns helping make the difference for the Jaguars. The Tigers rushed for 187 yards to 164 by B-B-E, with nearly one-third of their rushing yards coming on one play, the 60-yard touchdown run. Browerville's Butler finished with 78 yards rushing on seven carries, so six of his carries yielded 18 yards.

The Jaguars converted just one of nine third-down tries, but they made good on two of three fourth-down conversions. Felling had B-B-E's longest carry with a 37-yard run, while Isaiah Gilbert was their leading rusher with 62 yards on nine carries. Jaeger had 30 yards on three carries, Ryan Schwinghammer had 30 yards on four carries (long of 18 yards), Tyler Bents had 17 yards on two carries, Illies had 12 yards on five carries, Andrew Weller had one carry that lost four yards, and Jackson Peter (second-string quarterback) lost 17 yards on four carries.

Browerville's starting quarterback, junior Brady Emery, had nine passing attempts and made good on three of them for a total of 30 yards with a 15-yard touchdown pass. Butler had a successful halfback pass for 28 yards, so both teams each finished with four succcessful pass completions on 10 tries each.

Browerville (1-3) was hurt by two lost fumbles, the only turnovers of the game. Jaden Pastian had one fumble recovery.

Now 3-1 overall, the Jaguars host Parkers Prairie (2-2) and their 45-man roster with 12 seniors next Friday for Homecoming. It will be another big game for the Jaguars, as they look to build on the successes of the first half of the season. Tonight, Parkers Prairie hosted 11th-ranked (Class 1A) and undefeated Upsala/Swanville Area, and the outcome of that game will tell quite a bit about each of those teams.

*Update: the bartender in Urbank heard that Parkers Prairie lost tonight. The score he heard was 30-18, but I have not confirmed that from another source. That's all I have so far for intel.

*Update after midnight: indeed, Upsala/Swanville Area did win by a 30-18 score at Parkers Prairie tonight, but just like B-B-E, they had their hands full in the first half. The unranked Panthers caught fire in the first quarter and built an 18-8 second-quarter lead over the state-ranked Patriots. USA had an 8-6 lead before the Patriots got an interception by junior Travis Yohnke at the USA 25-yard line. Yohnke soon scored on a six-yard plunge to put the host Panthers ahead 12-8. Earlier, Parkers Prairie's senior running back Austin Koep scored on a 42-yard run to get his team out to a 6-0 lead. Koep scored again in the second quarter to make it 18-8. USA's Lawrence Mettler scored a touchdown run with five seconds left in the first half to narrow the deficit to 18-16.

USA then owned the second half as injuries took their toll on Parkers Prairie along with the visitors' stifling defense.

Parkers Prairie head coach was quoted in the Echo Press saying, "It was pressure on the quarterback and no sustained drives. And then we just got tired. The USA team runs, runs, runs. They don’t huddle. And if you’re not in shape, boy, you get tired quick."

I finally have a long list of area football scores. See below.

Midstate, Sub-District 3 football scores in Week Four on September 22:
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 32, Kimball Area 20 (at Kimball)
#11 Upsala/Swanville Area 30, Parkers Prairie 18 (USA and B-B-E remain on top of the sub-district with 3-0 records)
B-B-E 42, Browerville 20
Royalton 40, New York Mills 0

Area football scores on September 22:
Brandon/Evansville 27, Bertha-Hewitt 20 (B-E Chargers hand B-H Bears their first loss)
Verndale 49, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 6
Rocori 30, Alexandria 16
West Central Area/Ashby 28, Wadena-Deer Creek 20
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 14, Osakis 0 (A-C-GC improves to 3-1 by dominating the ground game with 302 rushing yards on 42 carries compared to Osakis's 136 rushing yards on 44 carries; the Falcons scored on their first possession, and they tacked on another touchdown in the fourth quarter at Grove City)
Willmar 38, Big Lake 6
Hawley 48, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0
BOLD 23, Minnewaska Area 7 (BOLD took an early 10-0 lead, and at halftime the 6th-ranked Class 1A Warriors led 10-7 over the 7th ranked Class 2A Lakers at Minnewaska; BOLD then flexed its muscle by pitching a shut out in the second half to win the battle of unbeatens)
Red Rock Central 62, MACCRAY 6 (at Lamberton, No. 8-ranked nine-man RRC improves to 4-0; the Wolverines are 0-4)
Canby 27, Lakeview 13
Eden Valley-Watkins 27, Rockford Area 0
Maple Lake 7, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 0
Paynesville Area 48, Holdingford 27
Rothsay 52, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 13
Hancock 34, Underwood 6
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 35, Benson 16 (winless Benson led 8-7 early in the second quarter before fading and trailing 28-8 at halftime on their home field; they have just 23 players on their 9th-12th grade roster, including 7 seniors; MA/CA finished with 354 rushing yards on 34 carries)
New London-Spicer 38, Foley 7
Renville County West 34, Fulda 12
Sauk Centre 31, Montevideo 14
#3 Pierz 17, Melrose Area 0
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 30, Ortonville 13
Mayer Lutheran 42, Medford 8
Minneota 39, Yellow Medicine East 0
Glencoe-Silver Lake 21, Albany 14

Football on the road

The B-B-E Jaguars football team has an early lead at Browerville tonight. At the start of the second quarter, the Jaguars are ahead 16-8. B-B-E put up the first points with an 8-0 lead, and the Tigers then tied it. On the following kickoff return, Adam Jaeger scorched the Browerville special teams unit with a touchdown run.

*Update: early in the second quarter, Browerville now trails 16-14.

*Update: later in the second quarter, the Jaguars now have a 22-14 lead. Extra points will be crucial tonight!!

**Halftime: B-B-E 22, Browerville 20. It's a barn burner! Let's go Jaguars, time for a big second half!!

*Update at 21:00...the Jaguars had a HUGE third quarter and now lead 36-20 with the fourth quarter coming. Stay tuned!!

More updates to follow!!

Volleyball sweeps

Back in the friendly confines of their home gymnasium, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team shook off two straight losses with a 3-0 sweep of Eden Valley-Watkins. The Central Minnesota Conference match was won by scores of 25-15, 25-17, 25-19 to lift the Jaguars to 5-7 overall. The win also gives them some positive momentum heading into the Willmar tournament this Saturday.

Below is video from game three tonight:


Don't forget! Tomorrow night, for Friday Nights IV, the B-B-E Jaguars football team travels to Browerville for a Midstate, Sub-District 3 contest. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.!

Central Minnesota Conference volleyball scores on September 21:
Maple Lake 3, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 1
Pierz 3, Kimball Area 0
Holdingford 3, Paynesville Area 2 (Huskers win game five 15-9; Holdingford is in a tie with Maple Lake for first place in the CMC at 3-0)

Area volleyball scores on September 21:
Watertown-Mayer 3, New London-Spicer 1

Albany 3, Becker 0

Sauk Centre 3, Melrose Area 0

Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 3, Minnewaska Area 0

Sebeka 3, Henning 1

Pillager 3, Bertha-Hewitt 0

MACCRAY 3, Central Minnesota Christian-Prinsburg 0

Russel-Tyler-Ruthton 3, Lac qui Parle Valley 0

Canby 3, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 0

Lakeview 3, Renville County West 1

Minneota 3, Dawson-Boyd 0

Wadena-Deer Creek 3, Verndale 1

New York Mills 3, Menahga 1

Montevideo 3, Benson 0

Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 3, BOLD 1

Royalton 3, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0

(HD video) Storm aftermath in Belgrade

Here's a glimpse of the storm clean up that took place on Wednesday morning in Belgrade (September 20):


...and here's video from an Elrosa-area farm that suffered severe damage from the storm:


See additional coverage of the storm aftermath in the Bonanza Valley at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. *Also: school will resume at B-B-E on Thursday, September 21.

(HD video) B-B-E football vs. Royalton

Below is video from late in the third quarter in last Friday's home game against Royalton:


This week the Jaguars take on Browerville on Friday night in Browerville.

(Video) Special music at West Lake Johanna

Here's a nice way to start the week! From the West Lake Johanna Lutheran church's 150th anniversary worship on August 20:


For the B-B-E Jaguars, the next home varsity event is on Thursday when the volleyball team hosts Eden Valley-Watkins (3-8, 0-2).

Friday Night Lights III: ground game rules

A powerful running game propelled the B-B-E Jaguars football team to a 24-8 win over No. 9-ranked (Class 2A) Royalton in their Week Three match up. The Royals were a state entrant last year after winning the Section 7AA title.

The Jaguars led 16-0 after the first quarter and tacked on a third touchdown in the third quarter.

Their 242 yards rushing compared to just 70 for Royalton. Another key statistic: the Jaguars were 6-of-12 on third-down conversions, while the Royals were just 2-of-10 in that category. Royalton had 83 yards passing, while the Jaguars gained 24 yards through the air. B-B-E's Ryan Illies completed five passes on eight attempts in the game.

This was an impressive performance after two less-than-memorable nights in their first two games.

Below, video showing B-B-E's first touchdown of the game:


Below, video from the opening minutes of the third quarter, featuring the Jaguars stopping Royalton inside the 35-yard line on the opening drive of the second half:

The Jaguars take a 2-1 record to Browerville next Friday for their Week Four match up. The Tigers are 1-2 now after getting their first win of the season tonight by a 32-0 score over winless New York Mills.

Mid-State, Sub-District 3 scores on September 15:
Browerville 32, New York Mills 0 (at New York Mills)

Upsala/Swanville Area 24, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 14 (at Swanville, USA led 16-14 at halftime)
Parkers Prairie 28, Kimball Area 12 (at Parkers Prairie)

Area football scores in Week Three, September 15:
Barnesville 21, West Central Area/Ashby 0
Eden Valley-Watkins 20, Holdingford 6
Willmar 54, Princeton 14
Minnewaska Area 35, Montevideo 6
Dawson-Boyd 47, Lakeview 7
Zimmerman 28, New London-Spicer 7
Pierz 34, Maple Lake 7
Brandon-Evansville 47, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 6
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 26, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 25 (Tigers score 18 points in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough to pull off the win at Big Cat Stadium)
Bertha-Hewitt 38, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 18
Hancock 36, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 0
BOLD 40, Sauk Centre 7
Renville County West 50, MACCRAY 7
Osakis 27, Benson 6
Staples-Motley 27, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 6
Albany 51, Little Falls 12
Hutchinson 21, Big Lake 14
Paynesville Area 54, Rockford Area 0 (Max Weidner passed for 254 yards for the Bulldogs with 14 completions in 20 attempts)
Melrose Area 56, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 0
Minneota 53, Canby 0
Wabasso 35, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 0
Ortonville 17, Yellow Medicine East 16

Game updates

At halftime: B-B-E 16, Royalton 8. The Royals entered the game 2-0 and ranked No. 9 in Class 2A.

The Jaguars scored touchdowns on their first two drives of the game to take a 16-0 lead.

Paynesville!

We have a barn burner going in Paynesville! The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team is fighting to get a game five right now.

The Bulldogs won game four 25-23 to clinch the match. The Jaguars held a 23-21 lead in game four and seemed poised to win the set and force a tie-breaker. Two straight errors tied the game at 23-23, with the Bulldogs earning the win with four unanswered points. Game scores were 14-25, 25-20, 22-25, 23-25.

Below is video from the end of game two:


Next for the Jaguars (4-6) is a tough road match at Albany (5-5) next Tuesday. They return home next Thursday to host Eden Valley-Watkins (3-7, 0-1) in a conference match that will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood.

Central Minnesota Conference volleyball scores on Sept. 14:
Maple Lake 3, Pierz 0

Area volleyball scores on September 14:
Willmar 3, St. Cloud Apollo 0
Rockford Area 3, New London-Spicer 1
Albany 3, Little Falls 0
Royalton 3, Browerville 0
Upsala 3, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 2 (Cardinals win game five 15-11)
Sauk Centre 3, Minnewaska Area 0
Montevideo 3, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 1
BOLD 3, Benson 1
Wadena-Deer Creek 3, Henning 1 (W-DC gives Henning their first loss)
Sebeka 3, Verndale 1
Menahga 3, Bertha-Hewitt 0
Lakeview 3, Central MN Christian 0
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 3, Minneota 1
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 3, Lac qui Parle Valley 2 (Game scores for this Camden North Conference match were 25-18, 25-23, 19-25, 21-25, 18-16! at K-M-S high school)
MACCRAY 3, Dawson-Boyd 0
Russel-Tyler-Ruthton 3, Renville County West 0

Here's a quick shout-out to the Terrace Mill Foundation! They are gearing up for a very exciting family-friendly event on Sunday, Sept. 24. You can learn more about it on page 12 of this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

Youth tackle football

I just noticed on the school calendar that the B-B-E 5th-6th grade youth tackle Jaguars will scrimmage at halftime of this Friday's home varsity football game. It appears that the weather will be perfect for a football game.

I can't wait!

In other news...
I read that K-12 enrollment has increased at West Central Area schools. Last year they started the school year with 723 students. This year they had 752 students enrolled as of the first week of school.

I'm currently gathering as much enrollment data as I can on surrounding schools and will report on it in the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

Not a subscriber? Well, get on it! You are cheating yourself! Just $18 locally, $20 out of the area - PER year! http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/cgi-bin/htmlos.cgi/00148.1.2974986213020409509/subscribe.
Local, local, local! That is what makes up our newspaper every week. We go out of our way to fill the newspaper with local news that you can only find in the Bonanza Valley Voice.

And here's the Bonanza Valley Voice online photo gallery. It includes photos printed in the newspaper as well as what didn't get printed! https://bonanzavalley.smugmug.com.