Central Minnesota Conference volleyball clash set for tonight (Thursday) in Maple Lake - Section 4A football notes below

The Jaguars volleyball team is gearing up for a road trip to Maple Lake tonight, where they will face a red-hot Maple Lake Irish team that won seven of its first nine matches of 2009. This past weekend, the Irish went 2-2 in a tough Big Lake Invitational. They are 9-4 overall and 1-1 in the CMC coming into tonight's match. Note: Earlier I incorrectly said that they were 2-0 in the CMC - duhh, it's easy to look up what their CMC record is in 2009.

The Irish, who won the CMC outright in 2004 and 2005, and shared the title in 2006 with the Jaguars, are rebounding from an 11-15-2 season in 2008 where they had a very young team. They advanced to the Section 6AA finals in 2007, winning a 3-2 thriller against Rocori in the sub-section finals before losing 3-0 to eventual Class AA State Runner-up St.Cloud Cathedral. In 2005, the Irish lost 3-2 in the sub-section finals to St.Cloud Cathedral, who went on to place 6th in the Class AA state tournament that season. In 2004, the Irish had an incredible 24-match winning streak through the regular season into the playoffs. They lost a heartbreaker in the Sub-Section 5AA-20 championship, falling 3-2 to CMC rival Pierz.


A couple Section 4A football notes:
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City is 0-3 for the first time since 1998. They were one of the pre-season favorites in Section 4A - but right now the section appears wide open from top to bottom.

Another top preseason 4A team is Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity, who went 8-2 in 2008. The Bulldogs picked up its first win of the season last Friday, topping West Lutheran 38-21 in Minnesota Christian Athletic Association play.

The Bulldogs, now 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the MCAA, were led by senior Scott Thiemann, who ran for 132 yards and four touchdowns.

The victory came on Holy Trinity’s homecoming game.

LP/HT will next face Lion’s Gate Academy Friday, Sept. 25 in Bloomington at 7 p.m.

(From the Howard Lake Herald Journal, Aaron Schultz - sports reporter)

Notes from the Central Minnesota Conference:
The Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted Lakers’ football team lost its first game of the season last Friday, falling to Holdingford 26-14.

The game was tied at 14 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Huskers scored 12 points in the final quarter to pick up the win.

Adam Klinkner rushed for 122 yards and a touchdown for HLWW in the loss.

HLWW is now 2-1 overall, and 1-1 in the Central Minnesota Conference.

The Lakers will next host Eden Valley-Watkins Friday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. for homecoming.

(From the Howard Lake Herald Journal, Aaron Schultz - sports reporter)