Friday Night Lights Part VIII - Jaguars whip the Cubs 26-6

Kyle Rosengren and Connor Goodwin (#61) bring the heat on the Kimball quarterback in the third quarter, after the Jaguars took a 7-0 lead to start the second half of play tonight.

In a must-win situation to end the regular season, the Jaguars football team overcame a sluggish, error-prone first half to defeat the host Kimball Area Cubs 26-6. The win puts the Jaguars at 2-6 overall heading into the playoffs. Below is a Section 4A update and the playoff schedule.

The first half of play was very ugly on both sides of the ball, as the score stood at 0-0 at halftime. The Jaguars' first nice drive almost ended in a touchdown, but the ball was fumbled right on the goal line. That set the tone for the first two quarters.

The Jaguars came out firing in the second half and lit up the scoreboard on their way to a 26-0 lead.

The Jaguars celebrate the win after a post-game huddle with the coaches. It was good to finally get a win after six losses in a row.


Results in games involving Section 4A teams:
Minnewaska Area 31, A-C-GC 22 (Falcons blow a 22-6 halftime lead)
Providence Academy/Heritage 49, Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity 6
St.Agnes 34, West Lutheran 14

Here is the Section 4A standings heading into playoffs...this is the seeding:
1st - ACGC
2nd - LP/HT
3rd - B-B-E
4th - St.Agnes
5th - West Lutheran

Section 4A round one next Tuesday will involve West Lutheran traveling to St.Agnes for the quarterfinal round (their third meeting of the season).

Section 4A round two will involved the Jaguars traveling to Lester Prairie on Saturday, October 30 for one of the semi-final games. The other semi-final game will involve the St.Agnes/West Lutheran winner traveling to #1-seed A-C-GC in Grove City.

The two winners will meet in the Section 4A championship at the highest seed remaining. That game will be held on Saturday, November 5 at 7:00pm.

• A few notes on Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity... the LP/HT Bulldogs have been in a precarious situation, with their athletic conference (MN Christian Athletic Association) dropping football programs in grand fashion this year, now down to a total of five. They have had to play some of their conference opponents twice this year, plus schedule Minneota in Week Seven, just to fill out the schedule.

Their losses have been to quality teams. (Much like the Jaguars' losses to Pierz, EV-W, etc.) Against Providence Academy/Heritage, they trailed 7-0 halfways through the fourth quarter in a 20-0 loss in Lester Prairie on Sept. 24. PA/H soundly thrashed LP/HT tonight in a 49-6 outcome, which makes you wonder if LP/HT is in a tailspin or if PA/H is simply that much more improved since Week Four.

Also, another team that blanked LP/HT was New Life Academy, who is 5-1 going into tomorrow's game. NLA barely beat Kimball Area in Week One, defeating the visiting Cubs 7-6.

Then last week, LP/HT was thrashed by defending Class A champion Minneota 62-0.

I'll have more notes on LP/HT going into next week. It's a whole week and a half until the Jaguars will face the Bulldogs in the Section 4A semi-finals.

Central Minnesota Conference results in Week Eight:
Pierz 14, Holdingford 8 (a battle at Pierz)
Eden Valley-Watkins 45, Rockford 19
Maple Lake 20, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 13 (a battle in Maple Lake)

Area football scores in Week Eight:
Albany 35, St.Cloud Cathedral 0
New London-Spicer 44, Foley 22
Yellow Medicine East 32, Paynesville Area 6 (Bulldogs finish 2-6)
BOLD 31, Montevideo 6
Morris Area 62, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 14
Milaca 40, Sauk Centre 22 (Streeters finish 1-7 and miss the 6AAA playoffs)
Willmar 49, Fergus Falls 14
Browerville 20, Osakis 6
Royalton 42, Parkers Prairie 7
Upsala/Swanville Area 47, United North Central 12
Benson 7, Lac qui Parle Valley 6
Melrose Area 23, Mora 12
Wheaton 77, Ashby 16 (ouch!)
Minneota 65, Ortonville 7
Glencoe-Silver Lake 37, Hutchinson 7 (a rough border battle for the Tigers)

Some random football notes after the regular season is completed... Paynesville Area finished a rough 2-6 season, with their highlight being a 34-22 win over Class 3A Montevideo in Week 5 on their home field. They will open Section 5AA playoffs by driving 10 miles down Highway 55 to Eden Valley, where the Eagles will soundly whip them.

Hutchinson has had 38 seasons in a row where they have finished either 5-5 or better. This is only the second time in the past 38 seasons where they have finished 4-4 in the regular season. They are a sophomore-dominated lineup and will certainly be a force next season. The Tigers, who were beat up on by their neighboring rivals (G-SL) in a 37-7 loss tonight, open the Section 2AAAA playoffs at Willmar (5-3) next Tuesday night.

Benson played the spoiler tonight, tearing out the hearts of Lac qui Parle Valley Eagles football fans, as they won on their home Brock Field tonight by a 7-6 score. The Eagles had to settle for a second-place tie in the West Central South Conference at 5-2 (with BOLD). They could have tied Morris Area (6-1 WCCS, 6-2) for the title with a win over the Braves tonight. Benson finishes 3-5 going into the Section 5AA playoffs, which also includes Morris Area and LQPV.

Did you know?...the following Class A teams could actually qualify for 9-man action in the playoffs, due to "free and reduced lunch" students lowering their athletic enrollment classification: Minneota, Rushford Peterson, Randolph, Sleepy Eye, Parkers Prairie, Dawson-Boyd, Fulda, Sleepy Eye St. Mary's, and Wabasso. For a variety of reasons, all of them have chosen to "opt up" to Class 1A.


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