Just released - the 2011 Jaguars football schedule

The Jaguars football team will open the 2011 campaign with a home game on September 2 against Section 4A rival Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity. The Jaguars are coming off of a 3-7 season in which they claimed runner-up honors in Section 4A.

Here is the full schedule:
9.2 LP/HT
9.9 @ Holdingford
9.16 HL-W-W
9.23 @ Rockford
9.30 @ Maple lake
10.7 Pierz
10.14 @ EV-W
10.19 Kimball Area

West Central Area pulled out of the Jaguars' schedule after becoming members of the Prairie Conference last year. The Prairie Conference essentially "takes care of their own" by being split into a north and south division. They have six conference games and then the two non-conference games are scheduled against teams from the other division. WCA will be a part of the large school (North) division of the Prairie Conference.

The Jaguars are lucky to have gotten LP/HT on the schedule going forward. Getting non-conference games scheduled are very difficult, and while at first glance a 76-mile one way drive may seem excessive, it beats the heck out of going to Ogilvie. In 2006, the Jaguars made the trip to far eastern Minnesota for their non-conference game after hosting Ogilvie in the 2005 season opener.

Also noteworthy, it's not rare to hear of teams going 100 miles or further for non-conference football games over the past few years.

Not only that, but the stakes are even higher with LP/HT being a section opponent. It's certainly one of the biggest games on the schedule for the Jaguars.