The last time the Jaguars played at Eden Valley, 2007, they trailed 48-0 at halftime.
Three of the past five seasons, the Jaguars suffered shutout defeats to the Eagles, all in Eden Valley. They lost 56-12 in 2006 and 60-14 in 2008 on the home field.
The really frustrating thing is, had the Jaguars stayed in the West Central South Conference - they'd be really competitive against Benson, Morris Area, Minnewaska Area, Lac qui Parle Valley - and even Paynesville and Montevideo - along with A-C-GC and Yellow Medicine East. I could see the Jaguars finishing 5-3 this year, even better other years in what is now the WCCS.
B-B-E competed in the West Central South Conference from the fall of 1989 to the spring of 1999.
In the mid 1990s, the push was made to switch conferences. At the time, no one knew that Eden Valley-Watkins would become a state power in football. The 1997 season was the Eagles' first winning season since the 1970s.
However, it should have been pretty obvious that schools to the west of B-B-E were falling in enrollment, while schools to the east were growing. A simple phone call to the various schools to the east and west would have shown that trend in 1997, 1998, 1999.
What's happened to the population of towns/schools between B-B-E and the Metro Area? For the most part, they've grown. It was a trend that started long before B-B-E switched to the Central Minnesota Conference in 1999.
It's easy to criticize a decision made many years ago, when you've got 20/20 hindsight - however, it's frustrating that decisions are made by people who have little or no perspective of what's going on outside the little "bubble" of a small, rural community.
At least the Jaguars can look forward to the final two regular season games, both winnable games - and hopefully they'll be able to go into playoffs with a 3-5 record and a shot at doing some damage in Section 4A.
Around the Central Minnesota Conference:
Pierz 31 @ Maple Lake 7
(Maple Lake's lone touchdown came on a kickoff return after trailing 28-0)
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 40 @ Kimball Area 8
(the Lakers led 40-0 in the 3rd quarter when the Cubs scored their lone touchdown of the game to make it 40-8 going into the 4th quarter)
Holdingford 30, Rockford 0
(the Huskers are 4-2 overall and 4-1 in the CMC, having won four in a row - from 2006-2008 they had a total of only three CMC wins)
Area football scores:
Morris Area 35, Benson 0
Albany 42, Melrose 14 (a border battle that wasn't much of a battle)
Foley 28, Sauk Centre 7
Royalton 20, Browerville 6 (a huge Prairie Conference battle, Tigers' tagged with first loss)
BOLD 14, Paynesville 6 (a battle for 1st place in the West Central South Conf.)
Osakis 30, Upsala-Swanville Area 21 (Osakis remains unbeaten, 6-0)
Montevideo 21, Lac qui Parle Valley 6
Minneota 33, Dawson-Boyd 26 (that had to be a heckuva game!)
Adrian 41, Renville CountY West 14
United North Central 34, K-M-S 7 (K-M-S is 2-4)
New London-Spicer 49, Milaca 6
Little Falls 28, Fergus Falls 12
Sauk Rapids 33, Willmar 27, OT
Minnewaska Area 34, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0
New London-Spicer 49, Milaca 6
Yellow Medicine East 14, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 6 (A-C-GC is 2-4)
Red Rock Central 21, Buffalo Lake-Hector 18
Pipestone 16, Redwood Valley 15
Some really great Cross Country news...
At the BOLD Invite in Olivia on Thursday, junior runner Grant Bell placed fifth out of all runners at the eight-team meet. His time was 18:25.
This Jaguars sports update brought to you by:
