Jaguars Football Drops Close Matchup with Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted, 26-13 Loss on Parents' Night -- Up Next: @ Minneota for the Section 5A Opener

A handful of football photos will be added to my sports photos website on Friday during the day...*scratch that, it will be Saturday morning. Someone forgot to get that on his "to-do" list for his Friday. My bad.

The 6th-seeded Jaguars will face the 3rd-seeded Vikings (5-3) at Minneota next Tuesday, October 26th, at 7:00. It mirrors the seedings in 2005, when they traveled to Wabasso for a 27-6 loss (though they trailed only 14-6 with 9:00 left in the game). This season, the Jaguars' odds are considerably better against the Vikings, and a win in the opener would give them a date with 2nd-seeded Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (8-0).

Fresh updates on Friday: Dawson-Boyd (8-0) is the #1 seed. Renville County West (5-3) is celebrating their first winning football season since the BDRSH-Renville County West pairing was formed in 1989. They are the #4 seed, rounding out the teams with home-field advantage in the quarterfinals. RCW will host Lakeview (5-3), a consolidated school of Hanley Falls, Wood Lake, and Cottonwood based in the town of Cottonwood, on Highway 23 between Granite Falls and Marshall. Lakeview plays in the 9-man Southwest Ridge Conference, and only four of its games in the regular season were 11-man games. Russel-Tyler-Ruthton (2-6) and Canby (1-7) round out the #7 and #8 seeds in the section.

Minneota capped their regular season with a 27-22 loss to Class AA state-ranked Tracy-Milroy-Balaton (8-0). The Vikings finish 5-3 overall and in the Little Sioux Conference. They are a pass-happy team that will be tested by the Jaguars' 3-5 defense. It will be a great game.

In tonight's game for Parents' Night, the Jaguars played a superb first half of ball, trailing 14-7 at halftime. They had everything going their way in the second half until the Lakers scored from midfield to go up 20-7. The Jaguars punched in a touchdown in the final minutes to get within 20-13, but it was not enough to bring the 3rd win of the season.

The HL-W-W Lakers finish 4-4 overall and 4-3 in the Central Minnesota Conference. While the Jaguars finished a third straight season at 2-6, they enter playoffs for the third straight year with high hopes of winning the playoff opener. In 2006 they took apart a weak Ortonville team 53-19, setting a new school record for points scored in a regular season or playoff game (post-Mr. Weimerskirch coaching era). The previous record for most points scored in a game (1989-present) stood after a 43-0 win over Montevideo in the 1997 regular season finale. That season was also the only post-1988 season in which the Jaguars finished with a winning record (5-3 regular season, 7-4 after playoffs).

In 1988, the first year of the B-B-E sports pairing, the Jaguars destroyed Brandon-Evansville on Belgrade-Elrosa's Homecoming game 64-12. It was the final year of our local teams being in the Prairie Conference. (The Prairie Lakes Conference for football that season) They went 4-0 in the Prairie Lakes conference, the last year a local team won a football conference championship, 7-1 in the regular season, then 1-1 in the Class "B" playoffs for a final 8-2 overall record.

Scores from the CMC:
Eden Valley-Watkins 55, Holdingford 12 (EV-W finishes as sole CMC champs)
Pierz 22, Kimball 12
Rockford 36, Maple Lake 17 (The Rockets clinch a first-round home playoff game in a tough Section 5AAA, where they are the #4-seed)

Final CMC standings: conference and overall record
Eden Valley-Watkins 7-0 (8-0)
Pierz 6-1 (7-1)
Rockford 4-3 (5-3)
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 4-3 (5-3)
Kimball Area 3-4 (4-4)
Maple Lake 3-4 (3-5)
B-B-E 1-6 (2-6)
Holdingford 0-7 (1-7)

For the first time ever, Holdingford finishes in last place in the CMC. Rockford finishes in a tie for third place in the CMC, a remarkable feat after placing last in 2006 and 1-7 overall. Kimball Area's 4-4 final record is their best season since the mid-1990s, and they are seeded 5th in Section 4AA, facing 4-seed Mayer Lutheran. Eden Valley-Watkins enters playoffs as the top-ranked team in Class AA and the number-one seed in Section 5AA. Pierz is in Section 6AA and is the 2-seed behind Breckenridge (8-0), the Heart O' Lakes Classic Conference champions. Howard Lake-W-W will host Maple Lake in the first round of Section 4AA, with the Lakers being the 3-seed.

Lastly, I will add that Ogilvie finished this season 7-1, an incredible turnaround from their 3-7 season in 2006. Fans may remember the Jaguars taking apart the Lions in the '06 season opener 36-22 (leading 28-8 at halftime). That is a turnaround season, so hats off to their program for the great season. They are in a conference (Great River Conference) that is nowhere near the caliber of the CMC, however.

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