Friday Night Lights X: B-B-E Jaguars are section-final bound!!!

Although they stalled out and punted near midfield with under 2 minutes to go, the Jaguars managed to burn an incredible amount of clock with the game in the balance with a handful of first downs to limit ACGC's chances in the 4th quarter. I have to double-check my notes, but I believe the Jaguars started their final offensive series from their own 12-yard line with just over 7 minutes remaining. They burned over 5 minutes off of the clock by grounding-and-pounding the ball to get to where they are shown in the above photo.

The whole game was on the line in the final minute, when A-C-GC took over after a punt and had a fair distance left to go (60+ yards) in order to overcome the Jaguars. Fortunately, they did not!!!!

EVERY Jaguar who stepped on the field tonight played their hearts out. (The JV was great too cheering on the sidelines!) Shown are two Jaguars who were outstanding tonight. Jared Steffensen had a monster quarterback sack on the game's final play. Tommy Cebulla had some incredible rushes for key yardage throughout the game and especially in the 4th quarter. What a win!!! I am so proud of this team.

The 6th-ranked Jaguars football team had the biggest second-half of play for the entire season and came up with an incredible 26-22 win over 12th-ranked Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City tonight. They faced the toughest front-line of the entire season. The Falcons (7-3) were so completely dominant on the line of scrimmage that they out-gained B-B-E in rushing yards by a 278 to 67 margin in the first half. Who was ahead at the end of the game, though? (Us!) One thing that has me grinning ear to ear about is the thought posted quite a bit at Minnesota-Scores.net that "B-B-E doesn't have much offense after Kollman"...Oh really! That is precious! I hope that folks keep thinking that. It is fine by me. I've been monitoring the chatter at that website's online football forum, and the naysayers are silent. Go figure.

If you want to get an idea of what damage the Jaguars can do, go to their next game.

Now 9-1 overall, the Jaguars will play in a section championship in the sport of football for just the 4th time in school history (1997, 2010, 2012, 2013)...that's four section final games in 26 seasons. That is absolutely mind-boggling considering that from 1989 to 2009, the Jaguars won only six playoff games. Six playoff wins in 21 seasons!! Not only that, but in 8 of those 21 seasons, they had such poor records they failed to make it to the playoffs. For the 13 seasons where they did make it to the playoffs from 1989 to 2009, the Jaguars went 6-13.

From 2010 to 2013, the Jaguars are 6-3 in the playoffs. In 1988, the first year of B-B-E Jaguar football, they went 1-1 in the Section 4B playoffs (13-8 win over Atwater-Grove City in Belgrade and then a 40-8 loss to Morris Area in Morris). Do the quick math and see this: the first 22 Jaguar football teams went 7-14 in playoff games. Now they have a shot at the program's 14th playoff win next Friday night.

That playoff history should give you an idea of why I have been hollering and yelling on this blog about tonight being a huge, huge game. It really means a lot to see the hard work of both the players and coaches result in them becoming a very good football team. It is immensely rewarding to see their hard work pay off with regular season and playoff wins. Only time will tell how good they are and how deep they can stretch out this playoff run.

With a new school record for wins under their belt, the Jaguars face Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity for the Section 4A championship. That HUGE HUGE game is next Friday at O'Gara Field in Sauk Centre (on the turf!). Kickoff is at 7:00pm, Friday, November 1. The Bulldogs are 7-3 overall and are playing lights-out football. Read further below on this blog to learn about their game earlier today at Minneapolis North.

I will be up for HOURS tonight writing about this game. This is incredible for our school, community and our team!!! The game ended a half hour ago and the adrenaline is STILL banging away. Our Jaguars just defeated a stacked, loaded and fabulously talented football team. It's amazing.

One quick note: the Jaguars had a KEY stop in the middle of the 4th quarter. The Falcons got as far as the 12-yard line after they turned over the ball on downs. Also, the fact that it was a home game wouldn't have been possible if our high school field wasn't in the great condition it is. It is a very well-built football field. Other schools (Minnewaska) haven't been as lucky during the wet, cold October we've endured.

Random: A-C-GC scored first on a 31-yard field goal attempt with 6:11 left in the first quarter. They stopped the Jaguars on the game's opening drive with 10:09 on the clock.

These parts of the first half were fun: Trey Heinsius had an 82-yard touchdown reception with 3:04 left in the 2nd quarter. B-B-E was trailing 9-6 at that point, but his TD and the following PAT kick put the Jaguars ahead 13-9. B-B-E scored earlier in the 2nd quarter (9:50 left) on a running play by Tommy Cebulla. So after A-C-GC went up 9-0, the Jaguars scored 13 unanswered points. The Falcons regained the lead at 16-13, but the Jaguars scored one more time in the 2nd quarter on a 52-yard catch by Trey Heinsius to go up 19-16 at halftime.

**Here's a short video clip from that sequence...7:25 left in the game, the Falcons had 4th down and 8 to go on the B-B-E 12-yard line...here's what happened:


What a day for the Central Minnesota Conference! Pierz came up with a HUGE upset win by taking down host Foley 23-12 tonight. The Falcons were the #1 seed. Holdingford won 48-18 against an over-matched Pelican Rapids team in Section 6AA; they led 28-10 at halftime. As I posted this afternoon, both Maple Lake and Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted won Section 4AA semifinals. Those two teams will meet for the section championship. That is incredible!!!

Paynesville Area ripped Sauk Centre 46-8 on their home field to advance to the Section 5AA championship game. I knew the Mainstreeters were underdogs, but I honestly did not see that coming since Sauk Centre played incredibly well in their playoff opener. Melrose Area lost 42-26 to favored Annandale, but the Dutchmen had their best football season since 2004. Back in 2004, the Dutchmen went 7-3 overall and 1-1 in the Section 6AAA playoffs. Going 2005 to 2012 without a playoff win has been tough on their program, but they are definitely on the rebound.

I'll be getting video posted starting at 10:15...photos and other game notes to follow after 11:00. I am a little
buzzed on adrenaline even an hour and 20 minutes after the game was over. The final horn went off at 21:12.

Here's the Sauk Centre Herald photo album from last night's volleyball win with 105 photos:
http://saukherald.smugmug.com/2013SPORTS/B-B-E-fall-varsity-sports/Step-I-BBE-volleyball-3-EVW-0

While I'm still on my "looking back" kick, I added up the number of wins and losses B-B-E football teams have had since the Jaguar athletic program was formed in August 1988. That cumulative record is 69-171. (Tonight was the 69th football win at B-B-E.) Their playoff record is 13-17, while they've missed making the playoffs in 8 of the school's 26 seasons.