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| Brian Goodwin completed this screen pass to Tommy Cebulla for a huge third-down conversion late in the game. |
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| Austin Kollman and Brendon Loch (78) teamed up to bring down Pierz's leading ball carrier for a short gain in the second quarter. That Pioneer running back had 222 yards against Rockford last week but was held in check today (for the most part). |
After tying the game 13-13 with 4:55 left, the Jaguars got a huge pick on Pierz's next drive. Brian Goodwin had the interception and returned it to the Pierz 13-yard line with 4:06 on the clock. It took quite a bit of effort, but finally the Jaguars gained the lead for the first time in the game with 99 seconds remaining on a one-yard plunge by Tommy Cebulla. With the PAT it was 20-13 Jaguars.
A HUGE fumble recovery by B-B-E's Alex Schumann with (roughly) 1:25 on the clock was all she wrote for Pierz, who slipped to 4-3 overall and 3-3 in the Central Minnesota Conference.
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| A glimpse of the post-game huddle today. The Jaguars hung tough and played as a team!! |
I doubt many fans in the stadium had any idea how huge this game was. I was absolutely dreading the thought of losing today. That would almost guarantee that the Jaguars would have to travel to A-C-GC (Grove City) for the Section 4A semifinal game on October 26. I would much rather have the Falcons drive up to our house that night!
Another thought: just to get a chance at playing A-C-GC could be a tough match up. I don't think there's any easy "out" at the bottom of the section. K-M-S, Kimball and Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart all play in very tough conferences. At least we can be assured that playoff opener will be at home on October 22.
Interesting fact: at no time in B-B-E school history has the football team hosted two straight playoff openers. That'll happen this year, though!
Now 6-1, the Jaguars will certainly maintain their hold on the #2 seed in Section 4A. They need to live up to expectations and pick up a big win at Eden Valley-Watkins four days from now. Let me tell you, the road to the state tournament is going to be incredibly difficult, even with a #2 seed. I am not totally sure how the seeding will play out, but I really believe any of the top 5 teams in the section can win it. Certainly I hope the Jaguars come out on top on November 1 at O'Gara Stadium in Sauk Centre - but we have a LONG way to go before that could become a reality.
One interesting bit of numbers: coming into the game, Pierz's starting quarterback was only 18-for-36 in passing through the first six games of the season. It's no secret that the Pioneers are a run-oriented team, and that played out today. They completed one pass play during their first touchdown drive in the first quarter (good for about 8 yards)...otherwise their passing game wasn't a big part of the game.
Austin Kollman finished with 73 yards rushing. Goodwin scored the team's second touchdown. Cebulla had the game's final score. Trey Heinsius had...a lot of receiving yards. He grabbed a 14-yard touchdown catch with 10:07 left in the game to bust up the shut out that Pierz had going. If you want to know more grab a copy of a paper next week!
That's all until some time after 11pm tonight.
Correction: I mis-reported that the 7th grade volleyball team suffered their first loss of the season to Osakis recently. In fact, they beat Osakis 4-1 on September 30. It was a clear example of reading a message way too fast! The one set that they lost was by a 27-25 score. The 7th/8th graders finish their season with home matches on Monday (Benson) and Tuesday (Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City). As far as I know, they both have not lost a match all year long.
Here's a downer: the busy fall schedule kept me from watching a single bit of the 5th/6th grade Youth Tackle team except their inter-squad scrimmage during halftime of Homecoming on September 27. Their season was to finish up this morning against Melrose at home, but I am pretty certain the bad weather prevented that game from being held. If anyone was wondering, here's the main sports I cover during the fall: B-B-E girls' tennis, B-B-E volleyball, B-B-E football, Sauk Centre girls' tennis, Sauk Centre cross country, Sauk Centre girls' swimming and diving. So if I happen to miss an event, chances are I was taking in one of the teams that I just mentioned (plus Sauk Centre school board and Sauk Centre city council meetings).
