Thirteen seniors are ready to lead the Jaguars football team to its first winning season since 1997

Ben Borgerding, a senior shown in action during last year's 14-10 playoff loss at Lester Prairie, will be a key player on this year's Jaguars football team. They open the 2010 season with a non-conference game at Class 2A West Central Area in Barrett, MN.


After going five straight years without an '0-8' or '0-9' season that plagued the first 16 seasons of B-B-E Jaguars football all too often, the team is ready to take it a step further under first-year head coach Chris Moscho this fall. With the biggest turnout for football in school history, Coach Moscho will also enjoy one of the largest group of football seniors at B-B-E at 13.

After nearly two weeks of practice have gone by, the Jaguars' roster stands 58 strong, besting last year's turnout by two players. Any time a Class A program can get its numbers into the high-50s, it's a sign the program is moving in the right direction.

To put it into perspective, at the end of the 2004 season, when the Jaguars finished 0-9, the varsity roster (9th-12th) was down to 35. The 17th season of B-B-E football had passed, and in six of those 17 seasons, the Jaguars were winless. The biggest reason turnout had fallen so much.

In the first season of previous head coach Mike Richards' tenure, the turnout had a sharp jump into the high 40s. It was a step in the right direction. After looking back in my archives, pre-season turnout for football in 2005 and 2006 stood at 47. It climbed as high as 54 last season in Richards' final year as head coach.

This year, with turnout in the high 50s, the Jaguars are poised to take the next step and win more games than they lose.



Above, Coach Moscho running some pre-game drills during his time as assistant coach for the Jaguars.

Scouting information on the West Central Area Knights will be posted on Thursday. Stay tuned.

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