Friday Night Lights IV: statement win on the road!

Tonight was statement night for the B-B-E Jaguars football team! On the road at Browerville, the Jaguars completely dominated the Tigers while pitching a shut out in the third and fourth quarters. After having a slim 22-20 halftime lead, the Jaguars were in top form on their way to a 42-20 win.

Browerville was a state entrant and Class 1A state semifinalist in 2016 after winning the Section 6A title. They beat Mahnomen 40-28 in the state quarterfinals and finished 9-4 overall after losing to eventual state champion Rushford-Peterson 49-0 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. While not knowing what they lost for seniors to graduation, I have a hunch that the 2017 graduation hit them hard. Still, Browerville lists 11 seniors on their 33-man roster, which also has 13 juniors.

Browerville also competed at state in 2015, going 8-0 in the regular season, winning the Section 6A title and then falling to Minneota in the state quarterfinals. They made it to state in 2012 after an 0-2 start. Browerville was a section finalist in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013.

Also noteworthy: this is B-B-E's first win over Browerville since 1993, when the No. 7-seeded Jaguars shocked the heavily-favored and No. 2-seeded Tigers in the Section 5C quarterfinals with a 22-20 win. Tonight's win was also B-B-E's widest margin of victory since a 26-point win at K-M-S on Sept. 25, 2015 by a 34-8 score.

Both teams scored on their first possessions for an 8-8 tie in the first quarter. The Jaguars struck first when Ryan Illies passed to Adam Jaeger for a 30-yard touchdown. Browerville answered with a 60-yard touchdown run by senior running back Dalton Butler with a successful two-point conversion. On the following kickoff, Jaeger took it to the house with an 82-yard touchdown return that helped the Jaguars go up 16-8. Late in the first quarter, Browerville was threatening and drove deep into B-B-E territory. They finished off the drive early in the second quarter with a 15-yard touchdown pass and narrowed B-B-E's lead to 16-14 with a failed two-point conversion.

B-B-E then scored again on a two-yard carry by Illies to go up 22-14, and the Tigers responded with a 10-yard touchdown catch before halftime. At the half, B-B-E led 22-20.

The Jaguars then played perhaps their best quarter of football in years when they outscored the Tigers 20-0 in the third quarter. Jaeger electrified the B-B-E faithful with a 78-yard punt return to open up the third-quarter scoring. Kyle Felling then tacked on touchdown runs of 7 and 17 yards for a 42-20 lead.

I was very pleased that the J.V. Jaguars took over in the fourth quarter to finish the game. Classy. Winning with class and losing with class are both important in any sport - especially at the high school level when many lessons are taught to our youth. Great job, B-B-E! The J.V. squad played very well even though they did not score. They kept the ball on the ground with no turnovers and kept the game clock running.

Ryan Illies finished with 4-of-10 passing marks for 50 yards, with 30 of those 50 yards coming on the touchdown pass to Jaeger.

Overall, Browerville outgained B-B-E 245 yards to 214, with two special teams touchdowns helping make the difference for the Jaguars. The Tigers rushed for 187 yards to 164 by B-B-E, with nearly one-third of their rushing yards coming on one play, the 60-yard touchdown run. Browerville's Butler finished with 78 yards rushing on seven carries, so six of his carries yielded 18 yards.

The Jaguars converted just one of nine third-down tries, but they made good on two of three fourth-down conversions. Felling had B-B-E's longest carry with a 37-yard run, while Isaiah Gilbert was their leading rusher with 62 yards on nine carries. Jaeger had 30 yards on three carries, Ryan Schwinghammer had 30 yards on four carries (long of 18 yards), Tyler Bents had 17 yards on two carries, Illies had 12 yards on five carries, Andrew Weller had one carry that lost four yards, and Jackson Peter (second-string quarterback) lost 17 yards on four carries.

Browerville's starting quarterback, junior Brady Emery, had nine passing attempts and made good on three of them for a total of 30 yards with a 15-yard touchdown pass. Butler had a successful halfback pass for 28 yards, so both teams each finished with four succcessful pass completions on 10 tries each.

Browerville (1-3) was hurt by two lost fumbles, the only turnovers of the game. Jaden Pastian had one fumble recovery.

Now 3-1 overall, the Jaguars host Parkers Prairie (2-2) and their 45-man roster with 12 seniors next Friday for Homecoming. It will be another big game for the Jaguars, as they look to build on the successes of the first half of the season. Tonight, Parkers Prairie hosted 11th-ranked (Class 1A) and undefeated Upsala/Swanville Area, and the outcome of that game will tell quite a bit about each of those teams.

*Update: the bartender in Urbank heard that Parkers Prairie lost tonight. The score he heard was 30-18, but I have not confirmed that from another source. That's all I have so far for intel.

*Update after midnight: indeed, Upsala/Swanville Area did win by a 30-18 score at Parkers Prairie tonight, but just like B-B-E, they had their hands full in the first half. The unranked Panthers caught fire in the first quarter and built an 18-8 second-quarter lead over the state-ranked Patriots. USA had an 8-6 lead before the Patriots got an interception by junior Travis Yohnke at the USA 25-yard line. Yohnke soon scored on a six-yard plunge to put the host Panthers ahead 12-8. Earlier, Parkers Prairie's senior running back Austin Koep scored on a 42-yard run to get his team out to a 6-0 lead. Koep scored again in the second quarter to make it 18-8. USA's Lawrence Mettler scored a touchdown run with five seconds left in the first half to narrow the deficit to 18-16.

USA then owned the second half as injuries took their toll on Parkers Prairie along with the visitors' stifling defense.

Parkers Prairie head coach was quoted in the Echo Press saying, "It was pressure on the quarterback and no sustained drives. And then we just got tired. The USA team runs, runs, runs. They don’t huddle. And if you’re not in shape, boy, you get tired quick."

I finally have a long list of area football scores. See below.

Midstate, Sub-District 3 football scores in Week Four on September 22:
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 32, Kimball Area 20 (at Kimball)
#11 Upsala/Swanville Area 30, Parkers Prairie 18 (USA and B-B-E remain on top of the sub-district with 3-0 records)
B-B-E 42, Browerville 20
Royalton 40, New York Mills 0

Area football scores on September 22:
Brandon/Evansville 27, Bertha-Hewitt 20 (B-E Chargers hand B-H Bears their first loss)
Verndale 49, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 6
Rocori 30, Alexandria 16
West Central Area/Ashby 28, Wadena-Deer Creek 20
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 14, Osakis 0 (A-C-GC improves to 3-1 by dominating the ground game with 302 rushing yards on 42 carries compared to Osakis's 136 rushing yards on 44 carries; the Falcons scored on their first possession, and they tacked on another touchdown in the fourth quarter at Grove City)
Willmar 38, Big Lake 6
Hawley 48, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0
BOLD 23, Minnewaska Area 7 (BOLD took an early 10-0 lead, and at halftime the 6th-ranked Class 1A Warriors led 10-7 over the 7th ranked Class 2A Lakers at Minnewaska; BOLD then flexed its muscle by pitching a shut out in the second half to win the battle of unbeatens)
Red Rock Central 62, MACCRAY 6 (at Lamberton, No. 8-ranked nine-man RRC improves to 4-0; the Wolverines are 0-4)
Canby 27, Lakeview 13
Eden Valley-Watkins 27, Rockford Area 0
Maple Lake 7, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 0
Paynesville Area 48, Holdingford 27
Rothsay 52, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 13
Hancock 34, Underwood 6
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 35, Benson 16 (winless Benson led 8-7 early in the second quarter before fading and trailing 28-8 at halftime on their home field; they have just 23 players on their 9th-12th grade roster, including 7 seniors; MA/CA finished with 354 rushing yards on 34 carries)
New London-Spicer 38, Foley 7
Renville County West 34, Fulda 12
Sauk Centre 31, Montevideo 14
#3 Pierz 17, Melrose Area 0
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 30, Ortonville 13
Mayer Lutheran 42, Medford 8
Minneota 39, Yellow Medicine East 0
Glencoe-Silver Lake 21, Albany 14