Blast from the past: 1978

Here's a clipping from the October 26, 1978 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice. In the photo, Mark Remer is running the football during a sweep to the right at the Swanville high school football field.

37 years ago!!!

In 1978, for the second-to-last game of the regular season, the Brooten Buccaneers football team traveled to Swanville for an afternoon game against the undefeated (7-0) Swans. After being dominated in the first half and trailing 16-0 at halftime, the Buccaneers came out swinging and scored two unanswered touchdowns. They missed both extra-point attempts, though, and ultimately lost 16-12 to fall out of contention for a share of the Prairie Conference championship.

Here's part of the game recap from the Oct. 26, 1978 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice:

Swanville dominated the first half of a Prairie Conference battle between conference contenders while posting a 16-12 win over Brooten. The Swans are now 8-0 overall (6-0 Prairie) and guaranteed a share of the conference title, while the Buccaneers fell to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in the Prairie Conference.

Mark Remer scored late in the third quarter from nine yards out to make it 16-6. Later in the fourth quarter, Eric Fauskee at quarterback passed a 31-yard touchdown reception to Tim Orton. Again, the extra point was missed making it 16-12.

The Buccaneers were in scoring position earlier in the fourth quarter, but they failed to convert fourth-and-one.

Bill Spellman had a blocked punt, while Jim Hofmann had 13 tackles, Duane Fettig had 14 tackles, Mark Walz had three solo tackles and seven assists, and Dale Thompson had two solo tackles and six assists.

Parents’ Night closes out the regular season this week with Grey Eagle (0-6 Prairie) coming to town for an 8 p.m. game.

Brooten's football team finished 7-2 overall in 1978 with their second-best ever season on the gridiron in the history of the school. They went 5-2 in the Prairie Conference to take second place alone. Swanville finished the season 9-0 overall with a perfect 7-0 mark in the Prairie Conference.

Tomorrow, the B-B-E Jaguars football team (3-3) travels to play on that same football field in Swanville. This time they'll be facing a state-ranked Upsala/Swanville Area Patriots team that's 5-1 overall and in the race for a share of the Mid-State District, Sub-District 3 championship. It will be just the second time in school history that B-B-E and USA have played one another in football. The first meeting was in 2004 in the Section 5A opener, when USA beat the Jaguars 27-20 in Swanville.

In 1988, in the first year of the B-B-E Jaguars athletic pairing, the Jaguars football team played Swanville-Grey Eagle at Grey Eagle in a game of Prairie Lakes Conference contenders. S-GE was 2-1 in the conference, while B-B-E was 3-0. The Jaguars won a hard-fought defensive battle by a 14-7 score to win the Prairie Lakes Conference title outright with a 4-0 mark. It's the only time the Jaguars have won a football conference championship.

In 2013, the Jaguars finished in second place in the Central Minnesota Conference. Besides 1988 and 2013, they've never finished higher than third place on a conference schedule.

If B-B-E wins tomorrow night, they would pull into a tie for second place in their sub-district of the Mid-State District at 4-2. USA is currently 4-1 and in second place alone. Browerville/Eagle Valley is the leader at 5-0. B-B-E and West Central Area/Ashby are tied for third place with 3-2 marks.