Friday Night Lights V: a tough loss to swallow

After posting a 13-0 lead with over 11 minutes left in the second quarter, the B-B-E Jaguars football team couldn't keep West Central Area/Ashby from coming back to tie the game 13-13 before halftime in Week Five of the regular season. Final score: WCA/A 33, B-B-E 27.

Read a game story and see video and more photos at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's website: http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com.

Next is Homecoming on Friday, October 7 against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg.

Around the Mid-State District, Sub-District 3 for Week Five on September 30:
Upsala/Swanville Area beat Kimball Area in Swanville 17-7. Royalton crushed Browerville/Eagle Valley 30 to 8. And in Murdock, Parkers Prairie survived an upset bid by Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 14 to 12.

Area football scores on September 30:
Willmar 21, St. Cloud Apollo 7
Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 46, Renville County West 16
Hancock 26, MACCRAY 20 (OT)
Eden Valley-Watkins 26, Paynesville Area 12     
Minnewaska Area 20, Sauk Centre 16 (Minnewaska Area gets first win of the season)
Melrose Area 21, Maple Lake 14
Dawson-Boyd 31, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 8
Rockford Area 27, Holdingford 14
Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity 20, Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 14
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 28, Benson 19
BOLD 29, Montevideo 0
New London-Spicer 26, Little Falls 13
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 36, Yellow Medicine East 13
Pierz 39, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 28

Halftime draw

At halftime we have a 13 to 13 tie in Barrett. The B-B-E Jaguars football team blew a 13-0 lead. Time to step it up for the second half! B-B-E will start the third quarter on offense.

We are going to overtime! 27 to 27 tie after four quarters of play.

Final: WCA/A 33, B-B-E 27 OT. This game was an emotional roller coaster. The loss will be tough to swallow. They have to regroup fast in order to prepare for the Homecoming game next Friday, October 7. The opponent will be Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, who is 2-3 on the season.

Upsala/Swanville Area beat Kimball Area in Swanville 17-7. Royalton crushed Browerville/Eagle Valley 30 to 8. And in Murdock, Parkers Prairie survived an upset bid by Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 14 to 12.

More to come on Saturday.

Game day

It's GAME DAY for the B-B-E Jaguars football team! They travel 55 miles to the northwest on Highway 55 to face the West Central Area/Ashby Knights in a Mid-State District contest. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at the WCA high school football stadium.

After missing the first two road contests of the season, I can finally make the trip with the football team to cover tonight's game. I look forward to it.

Oh, by the way, this is Homecoming week at WCA. Veterans are invited to attend the game, get in for free, and also gather together at halftime in a special ceremony on the football field to honor their service.

Volleyball vs. the Irish

Number one-ranked (Class 2A) Maple Lake won 3-1 tonight over the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team in their third Central Minnesota Conference match of the season. The home crowd was revved up just like the Jaguars were, and the B-B-E pep band did an awesome job for their 2016-17 season debut. Game scores were 19-25, 14-25, 26-24, 23-25.

The Irish improve to 17-1 overall and 3-0 in the CMC. No doubt about it, they are a machine and have taken apart most of their opponents so far. For example, in the CMC opener, they won at Pierz 25-9, 25-12, 25-17. Head coach Marty Kiebel has one of his best teams ever this year, and they are one of the top contenders to win the Section 6AA title. So far, 15 of their 16 wins have been by sweep.

Here's video from the end of game three:


...and here's a post-match interview after the Jaguars beat Pierz a couple weeks ago that features senior Tessa Halvorson:


Next for the Jaguars (8-9, 1-2) is a home match next Thursday against Holdingford (8-8, 1-3).

Central Minnesota Conference volleyball scores on Sept. 29:
Paynesville Area 3, Eden Valley-Watkins 1
Kimball Area 3, Holdingford 0 (the Cubs stay perfect in the CMC, tied at 4-0 with Maple Lake)
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 3, Pierz 0

Area volleyball scores on September 29:
MACCRAY 3, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 0 (MACCRAY is 16-2 overall)
Sauk Centre 3, Montevideo 0
West Central Area 3, Ortonville 0
Central MN Christian 3, Renville County West 1
Swanville 3, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0
Yellow Medicine East 3, Lac qui Parle Valley 0
Melrose Area 3, Minnewaska Area 1
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 3, Benson 0
Osakis 3, Browerville/Eagle Valley 0
BOLD 3, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 2

Been busy...!

Just a bit!

As readers of the Bonanza Valley Voice will see when they get the latest issue, I threw a great deal of energy at the feature story on Herman and Delores Kampsen for this week's paper (Sept. 29). And what a story it was! I managed to fit in three pictures with the story (two in color), one photo having none other than Johnny Cash in it. (Yes, THE Johnny Cash)

If you haven't subscribed to the newspaper, you are missing out. You are really cheating yourself out of something that I believe is really, really great! If you live near Brooten or Belgrade you can get a copy for 75 cents at RJ's Mini-Mart, Mike's Market and Rooster's Bottle Shop (all in Brooten) or at Micki's C-Store or L & L Family Foods (both in Belgrade).

The link to sign up for the printed newspaper is: http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/cgi-bin/htmlos.cgi/0019.1.2819830346310565692/subscribe.

To the 920 subscribers to the newspaper and the 60 to 70 folks who grab it on a newsstand, THANK YOU! You are all GREAT!

On the radar this week is tonight's home volleyball match with Maple Lake and tomorrow's road game at West Central Area high school in Barrett.

Volleyball in Willmar

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team had a strong showing at the Willmar Cardinal Classic tournament today. In pool play they started out the morning with an exciting 2-1 win over the neighboring rival New London-Spicer Wildcats. They swept Lakeview in the second round and then won 2-1 over Central Minnesota Christian-Prinsburg.

In the playoff semifinals, the Jaguars lost to Albany to finish the day with a 3-1 record. They are now 8-8 overall on the season.

Next: perhaps one of the biggest matches of the season on Thursday, September 29, when the state-ranked Maple Lake Irish visit our home gymnasium for a Central Minnesota Conference battle. Maple Lake is ranked no less than number one in Class 2A. They are 15-1 overall and were just tagged with their first loss of the season today when Kenyon-Wanamingo defeated them in the Class 2A Showcase tournament championship in Burnsville. The K-Y Knights are ranked No. 3 in the latest Class 2A polls and are 21-1 overall.

Currently Maple Lake and Kimball Area (10-7 overall) are the last undefeated teams in the CMC.

Needless to say, Thursday night's home match is HUGE!

Friday Night Lights IV: flying high in Ottertail County!

The B-B-E Jaguars football team just shocked the 10th-ranked and previously-undefeated Parkers Prairie Panthers on the road by a 27-20 score. They led 21-0 at halftime and withstood many challenges in the second half before pulling out the most exciting regular-season wins since the 2013 season. It's the first regular-season win for B-B-E over a state-ranked team since they beat Class 3A Pierz 20-13 on October 12 in the 2013 season in what I recall as the "Mud Bowl" on our home field.

Junior back Isaiah Gilbert, who ran for two of B-B-E's four touchdowns in the game, had a truly breakout night with 203 rushing yards on 26 carries. The Jaguars had a punishing ground game with 273 rushing yards to go with 17 passing yards. They had a terrific 50-percent efficiency mark on third downs (5-of-10) which will win a lot of high school football games. Parkers Prairie wasn't far off the mark either, as they converted four of 10 third down plays for first downs. Each team had one lost fumble, and the Panthers also gave up an interception that set up B-B-E's third touchdown of the game late in the second quarter.

The Panthers narrowed the 21-0 halftime deficit to 21-14 in the third quarter, but the Jaguars tacked on another touchdown midway through the fourth quarter when Ryan Illies ran it in from one yard out for a 27-14 lead.

Read all about the exciting win and see the full bevy of statistics in the next issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. The Section 4A standings will also be published - right now the Jaguars sit in sixth place out of seven teams.

Next for Week Four: the Jaguars travel up Highway 55 to West Central Area high school to face the WCA/A Knights. They lost tonight in Murdock by a 12-9 score and are very talented but have no wins to show for it. I still rate them a very quality team that will be tough to beat.

Mid-State, Sub-District 3 football scores in Week Four on Sept. 23:
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 12, West Central Area/Ashby 9 (the game, played in Murdock, was tied 6-6 at halftime)
Royalton 30, Kimball Area 0

Upsala/Swanville Area 21, Browerville/Eagle Valley 14

Area football scores on September 23:

Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 34, MACCRAY 12

Rothsay 36, Underwood 20

New London-Spicer 32, St. Cloud Cathedral 6

Alexandria 56, Willmar 12

Hancock 26, Renville County West 8

Brandon/Evansville 45, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 8

Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 24, Montevideo 0

Paynesville Aera 30, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 16 (Bulldogs get in the win column)

Holdingford 26, Maple Lake 22 (the Huskers trailed 22-6 at halftime, but by the start of the fourth quarter that deficit shrunk to 22-19)

Minneota 34, Dawson-Boyd 28 OT! (game played at Minneota)

Melrose Area 35, Rockford Area 14

Yellow Medicine East 16, Sauk Centre 7

Sibley East 53, Mayer Lutheran 30

Pierz 35, Eden Valley-Watkins 20

Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 34, Minnewaska Area 14

Albany 19, Little Falls 0

Ottertail Central 42, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0

Osakis 46, Wadena-Deer Creek 6

BOLD 26, Benson 0

Battle in Ottertail County

The B-B-E Jaguars football team is ahead in the second quarter at Parkers Prairie. At halftime the Jaguars are leading the Panthers 21-0. Isaiah Gilbert ran in the first two touchdowns, and in the final minute of the half Ryan Illies scored from three yards out.

They need to keep it rolling in the second half!!!!

***Late in the fourth quarter, here's the score! 27 to 14 Jaguars!

Area scores:
Melrose Area 35, Rockford Area 14 (final)
YME 16, Sauk Centre 7 (final)

Color FUND Run!

Click to enlarge.

The second annual B-B-E Color FUND Run is Wednesday, October 5 during Homecoming week. It takes place at the B-B-E high school. The fun begins shortly before 1 p.m. when students, staff and community members gather on the property on the north side of the football stadium. Grades 7-12 and community members will run at 1 p.m.; at 1:30 p.m. grades 3-6 and parents will run; and at 1:40 p.m. the preschool students through second grade with accompanying parents will run.

*NOTE: if you register for the run before the end of the day, Friday, September 23, you can ensure getting a t-shirt. Anyone can register and/or donate online at http://bbejaguars.org. Remember that a donation does not equal registration.

Click to view this at the best size...this was on page two of the Sept. 10, 2015 Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper issue. It explained the "nuts and bolts" of the first Color FUND run.

My July 7, 2016 issue (printed right before BVD) had a story on page 10 that gave a preview of the 2016 Color FUND run. It explained a great deal of information on the "why are we doing this?" question - not only can students participate in the fundraising, but it gives any private party (person, family, business) the chance to donate directly to a fund that is divided out to multiple student groups benefitting multiple age levels in the school district in both buildings.

It is imperative that members of the public in the Bonanza Valley area - even those who don't have students in the local school system - subscribe to the Bonanza Valley Voice. This is the most inexpensive (just $18 a year) way you can stay informed on what is happening on the local level. Here's the link to do just that =
http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/cgi-bin/htmlos.cgi/0087.1.2983948707221156749/subscribe

Let me phrase it a different way: for less than 5 cents a day, you can stay up to date on what is happening across the multiple towns across the Bonanza Valley area - including, but not limited to, what is going on with the happenings of the B-B-E school district.

Here's a glimpse of last year's event, during the prize giveaway near the end of the event:


Here's a link where you can see some online coverage (and a large photo gallery) from the 2015 Color FUND Run at B-B-E: http://bbejaguars.blogspot.com/2015/10/photo-gallery-bbes-color-fund-run.html
. The October 15, 2015 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice had a full page of color photos from the event.
Thank you for supporting B-B-E schools!

Smooth Magic 107 FM

Brady is in Osakis tonight calling the volleyball match. The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team won an exciting game one 25-23, but Osakis has a 19-12 lead in game two. Final: B-B-E 3, Osakis 1. The Jaguars are 5-7 overall and have a tough day ahead of them on Saturday in Willmar. They begin the Willmar tournament at 9 a.m. against New London-Spicer.

Osakis entered the match with a 5-0 record in the Prairie Conference; they fall to 8-7 overall.

Area volleyball scores on September 22:
New London-Spicer 3, Dassel-Cokato 2
Willmar 3, Brainerd 1
Yellow Medicine East 3, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 1 (YME entered the match 1-11 overall; this is K-M-S's fourth loss in a row after an 8-1 start to their season)
Pierz 3, Eden Valley-Watkins 0
Paynesville Area 3, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 2 (@ Howard Lake)
Maple Lake 3, Holdingford 0
Hancock 3, Ashby 0
Melrose Area 3, Benson 1
MACCRAY 3, Lakeview 0 (MACCRAY is 14-2 overall, best start to their volleyball season in quite awhile)
Kimball Area 3, Royalton 0
Sauk Centre 3, Minnewaska Area 0
Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 3, West Central Area 1
Verndale 3, Menagha 0
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 3, Montevideo 2
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 3, BOLD 0

Another win

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team defeated Albany 3-1 on Monday night for their third straight win.

Also on Monday, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team lost 6-1 to Annandale. The Cardinals, coming from the rugged Wright County Conference, are 9-6 overall on the season.

Now buried neck deep in producing the Sept. 22 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice.

Friday Night Lights III: costly mistakes

Too many lost fumbles cost the B-B-E Jaguars football team a chance at beating the state-ranked Browerville/Eagle Valley Tigers on Friday night in the second home game of the season.

Below is video from the end of the first half:

Next is a game against state-ranked Parkers Prairie (3-0) at Parkers Prairie on September 23. The Panthers beat state-ranked (No. 7) Upsala/Swanville Area 32-21 in Week Three.

Volleyball

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball JV team went undefeated today at the Eden Valley-Watkins tournament for first place. In the same tournament, the Jaguars C-squad volleyball team made it to the finals before losing to Litchfield to take second.

Very awesome!

Football updates

After a scoreless first quarter, the Browerville/Eagle Valley Tigers are ahead 16-0 at halftime.

Final: B/EV 30, B-B-E 6.

Holdingford had a 21-14 lead at Paynesville last I heard. The final score was Holdingford 35, Paynesville 14.

I also just heard that Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg defeated Kimball Area by an 8-7 score in a game between two winless teams. The Cubs (0-3) led 7-0 at halftime. The Fighting Saints, who had 94 rushing yards and 95 passing yards in the game, scored a touchdown in the third quarter and got a two-point conversion catch by Weston Gjerde for the win. K-M-S was +1 in the turnover department with one interception and one lost fumble; the Cubs gave up two interceptions and had one lost fumble.

I don't know when I will get to my usual Friday Night Lights (now it's Friday Night Lights III) update this weekend. I have always done that on Friday night after football games, but a lot is going on right now - good, bad and ugly - which is consuming much of my free time and energy. My apologies.

Bullying...more thoughts

This story just tore me i n half...nine-year old boy ended his own life because of bullying. He was living with his sister and his grandmother. The grandma was also their guardian.

http://www.wvva.com/story/33075605/2016/09/12/family-claims-9-year-old-boy-bullied-to-death

I get really worked up over this issue. Last week (September 8 issue) I printed a front-page column in the Bonanza Valley Voice talking about bullying. I spoke about bullying that has happened at B-B-E (and not all of it takes place in the school, on school property, or at school functions) and basically pleaded with parents to address the issue with their son/daughter/children.

I missed one part, though, and it is important. I've never caught wind or heard the slightest whisper or hint or anything that says that B-B-E doesn't take bullying seriously and does not address it. They clearly do. I want to be very clear on this point. The police have conversations about the issue with students on a constant basis.

Anyway, take a moment and read that above-referenced story. It's heartbreaking.

On a brighter note! Here's a technology-driven way to combat bullying. I think this is very awesome!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/teen-creates-app-sit-with-us-open-welcoming-tables-lunch-bullying_us_57c5802ee4b09cd22d926463

Snuffing out bullying starts with ALL of us.

Volleyball takes on Pierz

High fives for Ally Gruber, who had an ace serve for a 5-2 lead early in game five tonight. 

What an incredible night of volleyball! The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team got in the win column in the Central Minnesota Conference by defeating visiting Pierz in an epic five-game match.

Down 25-24 in game one, the Jaguars scored the final three points to get a leg up on the Pioneers in the early stages. The Jaguars led 17-16 in a very tight game two before Pierz won 25-21. Game three also went back-and-forth, with Pierz ahead 9-8 before the Jaguars put the pedal to the metal in a 25-15 win. The Pioneers had the upper hand for a large part of game four, leading 12-6 and 18-12 in a 25-22 win. (The Jaguars clawed back from the big deficits to trail 23-22 at the end.)

The same script played out in game five as game one. The Jaguars trailed 15-14 but dug deep and rallied for the last three points to win 17-15! That was amazing!

Pierz, who has won two early-season tournaments, falls to 10-4 overall and 0-2 in the CMC. They lost 3-0 to Maple Lake in their CMC opener last week (25-9, 25-12, 25-17).

Here's video from the end of game one...Ally Gruber nailed two straight kills to put the Jaguars ahead 26-25.


Next for the Jaguars (3-7 overall) is a home match on Monday against Albany (4-6, 2-1 Granite Ridge Conference); the Huskies were co-champions of their conference last year and also a sub-section finalist. Now it's time to scour the Minnesota scoreboard and check out other volleyball results!

Central Minnesota Conference volleyball scores on September 15:
Paynesville Area 3, Holdingford 2 (the Bulldogs are 10-4 overall; they are having a terrific season so far...game five had a score of 15-9)
Kimball Area 3, Eden Valley-Watkins 0
Maple Lake 3, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 0

Area volleyball scores on September 15:
MACCRAY 3, Central Minnesota Christian-Prinsburg 0 (this was the first loss of the season for the Bluejays, who entered the match 3-0 in the Camden North Conference standings; the Wolverines improve to 8-1 overall)
Annandale 3, New London-Spicer 0
Albany 3, Foley 0
Sauk Centre 3, BOLD 0
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 3, Minnewaska Area 0
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 3, West Central Area 0
Osakis 3, Upsala 0
Montevideo 3, Melrose Area 1
Royalton 3, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0
Browerville/Eagle Valley 3, Swanville 2
Canby 3, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 2
Benson 3, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 2
Wadena-Deer Creek 3, Verndale 1

(Video) Volleyball vs. Wildcats, and tennis change

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team had their home match against Annandale today rained out. That match is moved to next Monday, September 19.

Below is more volleyball video from Tuesday's exciting win over New London-Spicer!


Come out tonight and cheer on the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team as they host Pierz in the second Central Minnesota Conference match of the season.

Border Battle!

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team is ahead 2-1 in sets against visiting New London-Spicer for the home opener.

And the Jaguars won game four 25-15! Read more about the exciting win in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

Here's video from the end of game two:


Next for the Jaguars is a home match on Thursday against Pierz (10-3 overall, 0-1 CMC).

Tennis vs. MACCRAY

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team beat MACCRAY by a 6-1 score on Monday.

Below, Coach Kienitz talks about the win, the second of the season for her team.


Next for the Jaguars is another home match on Thursday against Section 5A rival Annandale.

Tip of the hat to Upsala

Nice job, Upsala...this is a great move on their part. Note: this change in policy at Upsala aligns them with how B-B-E operates in terms of cafeteria/lunch policy.

http://mcrecord.com/2016/08/26/uas-lunch-policy-favors-students/

Saturday in Marshall

Quick updates from Marshall...
The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team lost 2-0 against Northfield in their first match of the day.

They lost 2-0 to Eastview and Kasson-Mantorville to finish out the tournament in 16th place out of 32 teams.

Next is the home opener against New London-Spicer (3-4) on Tuesday.

Friday Night Lights II: from bad to worse

It's hard to type this out here....in the middle of the second quarter the Royalton Royals football team is pounding the B-B-E Jaguars into the ground at Royalton. The score is 44-0.

I don't even know what to think right now.

Final: Royalton 59, B-B-E 0. Next week the Jaguars host state-ranked Browerville/Eagle Valley (2-0), who beat West Central Area/Ashby 29-22 in Browerville tonight. B/EV was ranked No. 5 in the latest Class 1A state rankings.

Going back in the archives for comparison, tonight's 59-0 loss was the most lopsided loss in football since the 2010 season. The last time the Jaguars lost by at least 54 points was in the 2009 season....see below.
October 15, 2010 - the EV-W Eagles won 49-0 at B-B-E.
October 9, 2009 - the EV-W Eagles beat B-B-E 54-0 at Eden Valley, a week after Pierz won 50-0 at B-B-E.
Sept 28, 2007 - EV-W won 54-0 at Eden Valley
Sept. 16, 2005 - Pierz won 64-0 at B-B-E (the Jaguars got inside the 10-yard line just once in that game)

...in other games...Parkers Prairie is ahead 22-14 at Kimball tonight with about eight minutes to go in the game. The Cubs drove as far as the seven-yard line in the fourth quarter but turned the ball over on downs. Definitely a great game for Kimball, who has not won a football game since the 2012 playoffs.

Final: Parkers Prairie 30, Kimball Area 14.

*Next week we'll learn quite a bit about the other two 0-2 teams in Mid-State, Sub-District 3 when Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg travels to Kimball Area. The Fighting Saints showed some grit in the first half at Swanville tonight. USA scored first and led 7-0 in the first quarter, but K-M-S countered right away with a touchdown on their next drive. The Patriots coasted from that point on, shutting out K-M-S in the second, third and fourth quarters. Both teams had two turnovers each, but USA dominated K-M-S in time of possession, running 62 plays compared to just 34 by K-M-S.

At Sauk Centre, BOLD is demolishing the Mainstreeters and has a 38-14 lead after three quarters.

At Becker, an incredible game played out between the host Bulldogs and New London-Spicer. The Wildcats had a 34-27 lead in the middle of the fourth quarter. Becker then scored with 2:21 on the clock and kicked a PAT to tie it at 34-all. The game went to overtime! I don't have a final score right now. I know that Becker scored on their first play of overtime and kicked the PAT (barely making it)..
Final! What a game! NL-S 42, Becker 41 in overtime. What an incredible win for head coach Dan Essler and his Wildcats. NL-S scored a touchdown in overtime, and then Coach Essler bet the farm and had his 'Cats go for the win on the extra-point conversion. They scored the two-point conversion on a deep pass to the end zone, where the receiver (Blake Shuck) leaped to catch the pass from Brandon Adelman. NL-S gained seven yards on their first play in overtime, but then were held to fourth down and one to go. Jackson Ness carried the ball in for a touchdown on that fourth-down play. This was easily one of the most exciting wins in NL-S football history, as Becker is the two-time Class 4A defending state champion. (NL-S is a Class 3A school)

From the West Central Tribune about the extra-point conversion that won the game, "After initially sending his kicking team onto the field, Coach Dan Essler changed his mind, calling a timeout before giving his offense the chance to finish off the game."

Mid-State District, Sub-District 3 scores in Week Two (Sept. 9):
Upsala/Swanville Area 35, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 6
Parkers Prairie 30, Kimball Area 14
Browerville/Eagle Valley 29, West Central Area/Ashby 22 (Tigers led 29-14 in the 4th quarter, and the Knights scored late in the 4th quarter)

Area football scores in Week Two:
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 30, Renville County West 7
New Richland-H-E-G 39, Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity 31
Verndale 18, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 0
Rocori 41, Willmar 21
Brandon/Evansville 33, Hancock 8
BOLD 38, Sauk Centre 14 (the score was 0-0 after the first quarter, but it was all BOLD after that)
New London-Spicer 42, Becker 41 (OT)
Melrose Area 18, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 14 (the game was tied 6-6 after the third quarter)
Eden Valley-Watkins 41, Holdingford 21
Dawson-Boyd 14, Canby 7
Minneota 59, Ortonville 12
Hutchinson 28, Glencoe-Silver Lake 14
MACCRAY 26, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 12 (BLHS had at least eight turnovers)
Wadena-Deer Creek 26, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 14
Browerville/Eagle Valley 29, West Central Area/Ashby 22
Osakis 23, Ottertail Central 12
Albany 21, St. Cloud Cathedral 20
Alexandria 36, Moorhead 14
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 33, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 13
Rockford Area 21, Paynesville Area 20 (the Bulldogs led 14-0 in the second quarter, but it was all Rockford from there; the Rockets won it with a successful PAT kick; the Bulldogs had 363 total yards of offense (284 rushing) with two lost fumbles; the Rockets had 214 total yards of offense (75 rushing) but just one lost fumble)
Maple Lake 20, @ Pierz 6 (this is Pierz's first loss since the 2014 Class 3A state semifinals)
Benson 28, Yellow Medicine East 26 (3 OT!, played at Granite Falls)
Minneapolis North 38, Brooklyn Center 0

First win!

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team beat Owatonna (a Class 3A school) by a 2-0 margin to open play at the Marshall tournament.

They face Marshall in the second match of Friday night. Stay tuned for updates.

**Update....against perennial Class 2A state contender Marshall Area, the Jaguars won game one before falling in game two. Game three was a battle, but the Tigers won 15-10.

Later tonight I'll post schedule updates for B-B-E's Saturday matches in Marshall.

**Update: the Jaguars (1-4) begin Saturday with a 9:30 a.m. match against Northfield, who is an excellent Class 3A team with a 5-1 record. Northfield swept Hutchinson 2-0 in the first match last night in Marshall, and in their second match they lost to Lakeville South 2-1.

B-B-E plays again at 12 p.m. and at 2:30 p.m. to finish out the day.

Other teams besides B-B-E in the 9th-16th place bracket are Eastview, East Ridge, Kasson-Mantorville and Chaska. I saw that Kasson-Mantorville beat Minneota 2-1 in their first match last night; the Ko-Mets lost 3-1 to Stewartville (third place at state last year) in their Sub-Section, Section 1AA playoffs last year. Eastview is a Class 3A school. East Ridge is a Class 3A school; they lost in the first match of last year's tournament in Marshall 26-24, 25-23 to our Jaguars. Chaska is a Class 3A school.

Disbelief

For the first time since 2001, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team has lost to Howard-Lake-Waverly Winsted. The Lakers won the Central Minnesota Conference opener tonight 3-2 with a 16-14 game five win.

The Jaguars (0-3) are in Marshall for the next two days. It has been a long, long time since a B-B-E volleyball team has started the season 0-3.

15 minutes

It's 15 minutes long...take a look if you have the time.


Parents...have you had a talk with your son or daughter about bullying yet?

FCA

A reminder that the Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter at B-B-E high school kicks off the new school year tomorrow morning at Grace Lutheran Church in Belgrade at 7:30 p.m.

Snuff out the bullying

Mr. Vos: we still miss you very much in Jaguar Country!

On the eve of the opening day of school at B-B-E for the 2016-17 year, I'd be thrilled if every parent had a conversation with their children about bullying - whether it's in the classroom, the hallways, the bus rides, the locker rooms, the phy. ed. class or any off-school setting for that matter.

While I wouldn't stand behind this statement: "Bullying is a serious problem at B-B-E" I would stand behind this comment = "Bullying is a problem at B-B-E."

I've already had personal conversations in recent days with two families whose children have experienced bullying during last school year at B-B-E. I have heard of two other situations of bullying with two other families, but that was all second-hand.

Bullying is UNACCEPTABLE behavior! 

We all need to be vigilant at rooting out this type of behavior and work daily towards making B-B-E a bullying-free school. If you are a parent of a student who is not a victim of bullying, it is WAY TOO EASY to become complacent and ignore the issue. Remind your children that they need to either step in and become involved in ending the bullying, or they need to quickly report it to a staff member at the school. (Janitor, para, teacher, principal, cook, etc.!) In today's age, where all 5th-12th graders have a school-issued computer in their hands, it's very simple to compose an e-mail and shoot it off to a staff member and report improper behavior!!!!!

Look at it another way: do you want your son or daughter to be in the center of a bullying incident, one that likely would involve the cops? One of the above-mentioned bullying stories involved cyber-bullying and social media AND the police. It took place this summer. Do you want that in your family's life?

I would say our schools are in a tough spot in the Internet age. The cyber-bullying appears like a runaway train in this country. These things often happen outside school time, yet often schools have to deal with it front and center. I have personally seen how staff at Sauk Centre and also B-B-E preach and preach until they're blue in the face pleading with kids to keep their online behavior in check. It's a constant battle.

• The photo above is a throw-back to the fall of 2012, when the late Mr. Vos (math teacher and wrestling coach) was killed in an accident. Vos was very proactive about helping students with their problems, and in many cases helped kids through difficult situations they had with other students. Let's continue honoring the memory of that great man who once blessed our hallways at B-B-E with his presence by taking steps to eliminate bullying at our school.

And parents of teenage drivers at B-B-E...while you're at it, could you talk to your son/daughter about distracted driving and/or texting while driving?

What I have below was printed on page one of the September 1 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper:

A few friendly reminders as school is set to restart in the Bonanza Valley area:

1.  Talk to your children about bullying and what to do if it happens to them or to others around them. BE PROACTIVE! Bullying should never be tolerated or condoned!

2. Talk to your children about the importance of being friendly, warm & welcoming to new students at B-B-E. Whether they’ve moved here or are open-enrolled in, their presence is vital to the health of B-B-E schools!

3. At home during the week, stress to your children the importance of “taking a break” from screen time! They get plenty of it during school.

4. Encourage your children to respect all staff members at school all day, every day! It’s just  common sense!

State baseball

In a thoroughly entertaining game tonight at Dassel, the Elrosa Saints amateur team lost 5-2 to heavily-favored Plato. They finish an outstanding season with a final record of 19-15 overall. The Bluejays are the defending Class C state champions. They play on Sunday in the Elite 8 round of state at 1:30 p.m. in Hutchinson against Hutchinson.

Don't ask me how Hutchinson, a town with over 13,000 people, is a Class C amateur baseball team!! Are you kidding me?

Game day at state!

It's game day for the Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team as they head into the third round of the Class C state tournament. They face the defending state champions in the Sweet 16 round with a 5 p.m. start tonight (September 3) at Dassel's baseball park.

In Plato's second game at state last weekend, they beat Fergus Falls 12-1 in seven innings. In their first game at state, they beat Springfield 11-1 in seven innings. Plato was the runner-up team out of Region 7C, losing to Waconia in the championship series.

Just saw this while digging for info on Plato: the Bluejay's Matt Odegaard won the Crow River Valley League batting title with an average of .493 in 69 at bats. He also had the CRVL's most triples (three) and doubles (eight). Plato's Chris Odegaard had the most pitching wins in the CRVL with seven wins. Another pitching stat: Plato's Cody Hallahan had the CRVL's third-best pitching ERA (minimum of 25 innings pitched) with an ERA of 1.0 (27 innings of pitching).

Plato took a 22-3 overall record into the Region 7C tournament. In the CRVL, they finished 17-1.

**Game update: Plato 2, Elrosa 0 with three innings complete.

Friday Night Lights I

The Jaguars huddle up after scoring on the game-opening kickoff.

The B-B-E Jaguars football team is winning 13-6 after one quarter of play in game one of the 2016 season.

Halftime: ACGC 28, B-B-E 21.

Final score: ACGC 31, B-B-E 28. The Jaguars played valiantly in the second half, but in the end it was too little, too late, just barely...the Falcons also played a heck of a game and won on a 22-yard field goal with one second to go. This was a typical rivalry battle when these two teams meet, and tonight was no exception!

Below is video from the closing seconds of the first half...


Here's a game recap article (with HD video you won't want to miss) at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's website: http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/story/2016/08/25/sports/stung-at-the-last-second/350.html

Area football scores in Week One on September 2:
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 29, West Central Area/Ashby 7
Glencoe-Silver Lake 27, New London-Spicer 21 OT
Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity 14, Windom 7
Renville County West 13, Underwood 6
Dawson-Boyd 28, Sleepy Eye St. Mary's 14
Hutchinson 37, Becker 34
Bertha-Hewitt 28, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 20
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 52, Hancock 42
Lac qui Parle Valley 20, Canby 12
Parkers Prairie 48, Wadena-Deer Creek 14
Osakis 62, Pelican Rapids 14
Browerville/Eagle Valley 33, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 8
BOLD 25, Paynesville Area 18
Holdingford 38, Minnewaska Area 0
Pierz 26, Annandale 6
Rockford Area 14, Watertown-Mayer 6
Buffalo 47, Willmar 20
MACCRAY 52, Park Christian 12 (played in Maynard, not Moorhead)
Maple Lake 56, Kimball Area 12
Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 32, Rothsay 28
Verndale 34, Brandon/Evansville 20
Fergus Falls 25, Albany 0 (a tough start for an Albany team that played in the Class 3A state quarterfinals last season)
Eden Valley-Watkins 49, Benson 0 (Benson, a Class 2A school, has just 40 players on its 9-12th grade roster)
Yellow Medicine East 14, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 0
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 40, Montevideo 8
Upsala/Swanville Area 42, Lake Park-Audubon 10
Melrose Area 40, Sauk Centre 20 (the Dutchmen owned the Mainstreeters in the second half)
Minneapolis North 22, Minneapolis Washburn 15

Home cooking

The B-B-E Jaguars football team hosts Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City tonight at 7 p.m. in the season opener. This week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper had a season preview article that you should take a look at.

Volleyball

Today at MACCRAY, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team was swept by the Wolverines. It was not pretty! They have a week to figure it out before they start defense of their Central Minnesota Conference title from a year ago. Next Thursday they travel to Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted (3-3).

Tennis

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team earned a conference win agains St. John's Prep on Tuesday this week.