Three Jaguar football players talk strategy with defensive coordinator David Schwinghammer during halftime against Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted.Their improved defensive play this season has raised their chances of winning playoff games, last done in 2003 and only five total times in school history.
It doesn't get much more exciting than this. The forecast is for cool, sunny weather on Tuesday night, with the game's kickoff set for 7:00-pm. The local team, our Jaguar football team, will host their playoff opener as the fourth seed in Section 5A.
Their opponent, the Ortonville Trojans, went into a nosedive as the regular season came to a close last week, after a major upset to an 0-6 Canby Lancers team on their home field, a 30-13 loss. That was followed by a 28-0 shutout again at their home field to Class AA Tracy-Milroy-Balaton (5-3), a team with nothing to brag about as they play in a mostly Class A conference, the Little Sioux of southwest Minnesota. The Trojans finished their season 2-6 after a 1-3 start. They were shutout in two of their final three games, with one shutout against Class A Russel-Tyler-Ruthton (3-5). They averaged 13 points per game and gave up 33 points per game, as stated previously, against mostly Class A competition.
On paper, they should be no match for our Jaguars, who have averaged 16 points per game on offense while giving up 28 points per game on defense...against all Class AA and AAA competition, with the exception of their opener against Ogilvie.
Three of their Class AA opponents, Pierz and Eden Valley-Watkins and Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted, all are superior football teams to any Little Sioux Conference football team. The Jaguars played very good football against two of those three teams.
The same could be said about teams from the Prairie and Southern Minnesota Conference (no offense to Wabasso or K-M-S). They just don't stack up to the elite teams of the CMC.
The Jaguars are two or three years away from truly challenging for a Central Minnesota Conference title. (Yes, write that down as you read it first here...we WILL seriously challenge for the CMC title in 2008 or 2009.) However, the time to win a section championship is right now.
Doing such would grease the wheels like nothing else could for a true resurgence of our downtrodden football program, as our school has very real and very tough football talent in the junior-high and senior-high grades. The question is: how do we get them to stay out for football through their senior year?
Bringing busloads of high school students and non-football student-athletes to the FargoDome...and possibly HHH Metrodome...would be the key sparkplug needed to bring more new faces out for football next August. It starts tonight, Step 1 of many steps to come this fall for our Jaguar football team.
Jaguar Football Opens Playoffs at Home
While it was not the way they wanted to earn it, our Jaguar football team picked up a top-four seed in Section 5A to earn a first-round playoff game for the first time since 1997, and only the third time in school history. Their strong schedule and early-season wins combined to give them 20 section points, out-distancing fifth-place Ortonville by 6 points in the standings. With the exception of their loss to Kimball, the Jaguars improved their level of play throughout the season and will head into the playoffs with the best chance of winning their section since 1997, when they lost 14-12 in the Section 5AA championship.
They wrapped up a grueling Central Minnesota Conference schedule at Howard Lake last Wednesday, against a Lakers' team that was fighting for a two-seed in their section. With 5:00 remaining, trailing 21-6, the Jaguars were driving towards the endzone when an interception returned for a touchdown ended nearly all hopes of a win. They awaited word for Ortonville's loss to Tracy-Milroy, and with the Trojans' 28-0 loss our Jaguars locked up the fourth seed and first-round home playoff game.
The Jaguars started slow on offense while playing a solid defensive game, holding the Lakers to two touchdowns in the first half. In the second half, after giving up one more touchdown to the Lakers, the Jaguars punched into the endzone to start the fourth quarter. It was all the scoring the Jaguars could get, as they lost 27-6 to the third-best team in the conference. The Lakers, usually a lower-half conference team, finished 5-2 (3rd) in the CMC for the first time this decade.
On their opening possession, the Jaguars picked up only one first down and ten yards. The Lakers, helped by a shorter field with 50 yards to the endzone, drove the distance in 2:21 to go up 7-0 on their first possession.
On their second possession, the Jaguars went three-and-out and then promptly got the ball back after the punt on the hands of Austin Kampsen, who grabbed an interception deep in Jaguars' territory. The Jaguars would gain only one first down, on two runs by Michael Zenzen, before facing another punting situation.
Zenzen layed a solid hit on the Lakers' punt returner, causing a fumble that was recovered by Johnny-on-the-spot Adam Borgerding at the Lakers' 42 as the first quarter ended. The Jaguars' offense sputtered as they were forced to punt again.
On the Lakers' next series, a great defensive stop by Scott Simonson helped slow them down after earning two first downs to get deep in Jaguars' territory. Dustin Gruber then grabbed an interception with a 10-yard return.
The Jaguars would get only one first down, however, and punted with 3:50 on the clock. The Lakers capitalized by scoring on an 18-yard reception to go up 14-0 with 1:17 left in the first half.
Two big runs by Austin Kampsen and Michael Zenzen were not enough in the final 70 seconds though, as 70 yards was the distance required to hit paydirt.
Adam Borgerding inflicted two hard hits on Lakers' running backs to open up the second half, and with Zenzen's deflection of a pass, the Jaguars forced a punt.
Repeating a similar pattern of the first half, the Jaguars would again gain only one first down on their next series. The Lakers scored five plays later on a 27-yard reception with 3:09 left in the third quarter.
Finally, the Jaguars put a scoring drive together, going 70 yards in four minutes. They began by running the ball six straight times for a first down and 26 yards. Suddenly two thrilling pass receptions covering 33 and 23 yards were earned by Chad Starr and Dustin Gruber, getting the Jaguars to a first-and-goal, one yard out possession. Quarterback Jackson Illies snuck in the touchdown to erase the goose-egg, Jaguars down 21-6 with 11:00 left in the game.
The Jaguars' defense picked up its game and held the Lakers on a fourth-and-three play at the Jaguars' 33. They were boosted from an incredible stick by Chad Starr on a crucial third-and-four play, as Starr layed out the Lakers' running back to force the fourth down play.
From their own 32 with 8:00 left, the Jaguars again began moving the ball and drove downfield, lifted by a 21-yard reception by Steven Gruber, who reached above his head for a great two-handed grab at the Lakers' 43. A short dump pass to Michael Zenzen would be all the Jaguars could get from there, however, as they got to the Lakers' 27 before the returned interception sealed their fate.
The Jaguars rushed for over 150 yards, led by Zenzen's 118 yards on 22 carries for a healthy 5.4 yards-per-carry. Illies was 6-of-15 in passing for 108 yards, gaining confidence as the game developed against a tough Lakers' secondary.
After elevating their level of play on offense and bringing their defensive average down from a dismal 42-points-per-game in 2005 to their current 27-points-per-game, the Jaguars are ready to make noise in Section 5A, just as planned during preseason practices. Wabasso and Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg are their biggest obstacles in the way to a section championship, teams who have nothing on the top teams in the Central Minnesota Conference.
They look for an overflow crowd at our high school athletic complex as we get behind our Jaguars and cheer them on to playoff success. A second-round game would presumably be at Murdock against K-M-S at 3:00 on Saturday afternoon. Visit http://bbejaguars.blogspot.com for complete event site/location information, section analysis and playoff opponent scouting.