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| Tyler Bents (10) shows his excitement after the Jaguars recovered a lost fumble at Kimball Area during the first half of their Week Two match up with the Cubs. |
Kimball Area will be the first-round opponent for our B-B-E Jaguars football team. The Section 4A seedings are official! B-B-E is the No. 1 seed for the first time in school history!
The B-B-E Jaguars (7-1) will host Kimball Area (2-6) in the Section 4A quarterfinals on Tuesday, October 24 at 7 p.m. at the high school football stadium. Spread the word!!! They have earned a special place in the fall of 2017 in Jaguar Country with the memorable regular season now behind us. It's our duty now to come out and support them as they venture into one of the toughest section fields in Class 1A football. The section is loaded with state contenders. One game at a time!! That begins with the opening round!
*Added Thursday night...here's video from the final 104 seconds or so of the second quarter last night:
The updated Section 4A rankings were released earlier this morning. The Jaguars earned the No. 1 seed by defeating Upsala/Swanville Area 14-6 last night. USA was ranked No. 15 in the latest QRF calculations, while the Jaguars were ranked No. 9.
With the Week Eight results in, the Jaguars climbed to the No. 5 spot. Mayer Lutheran sits at No. 12 and is the No. 2 seed in Section 4A.
These are the other two Section 4A playoff dates: Saturday, October 28 and Saturday, November 4.
By the way, I somehow forgot that the 2013 football team (led by the likes of Brian Goodwin, James Kuefler, Billy Borgerding, Trey Heinsius along with a long list of terrific wrestlers) was seeded No. 2 for the playoffs. For some reason I forgot about Minneapolis North. B-B-E was highly ranked on the QRF that year, in the Top 10 for playoffs, but North was No. 1 on that list. North ended up being upset by LP/HT in the semifinals, so the Jaguars never faced North that year. (They would two years later, in the semifinals at Minneapolis)
Other strong teams for B-B-E were not ranked higher than No. 2 = in 1988, when the Jaguars went 7-1 against mostly Class C opponents, they were seeded No. 3 in Section 4B. They went 1-1 in the playoffs to finish 8-2 overall. Nine years later, in 1997, the Jaguars went 5-3 in the regular season and got the No. 2 seed in Section 5AA. They came oh-so-close to earning a state berth - the closest any team at B-B-E has gotten - losing 14-12 at Eden Valley-Watkins in the finals to finish 7-4 overall.
Fast forward to 2006, and a 2-6 regular season actually landed the Jaguars a No. 4 seed in what was a very weak Section 5A that year. The Jaguars blasted Ortonville 53-19 in the playoff opener before losing a tough one at the Murdock Skydome to K-M-S by a 14-7 score. Final record that year: 3-7.
In 2008, a high-octane, Jackson Illies-at-quarterback led Jaguars team went 4-4 in the regular season and earned a No. 4 seed for the playoffs. They again went 1-1 in the postseason, getting a tough win over Lakeview in the opener before getting drilled by a 55-6 final score in a season-ending, afternoon section semifinal game at Minneota. Final record that year: 5-5.
The Jaguars made memorable playoff pushes starting in 2010 under new head coach Chris Moscho. In 2010 they were seeded No. 3 and went 1-1 in the playoffs with a first-round bye to finish as Section 4A runners-up. I forget what their seed was in 2011, when Brian Goodwin and Co. were sophomores. They went 1-1 that year and lost a section semifinal heartbreaker that I'll never forget at Lester Prairie by a 22-21 score.
The 2012 squad went 4-4, earned the No. 3 seed in the playoffs and then finished as Section 4A runners-up with a 6-0 loss at SCSU to Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. They upset fifth-ranked (state polls) and No. 2-seeded LP/HT by a 15-3 score at Lester Prairie in the section semifinals. Another game I will never forget!! Final record that year: 6-5.
The 2015 squad, with much of the team made up of guys who are seniors this year, was seeded No. 4 and finished 5-5 overall.
My predictions held true. Here are the 2017 Section 4A playoff seedings with each team's overall record:
1. B-B-E (7-1)
2. Mayer Lutheran (7-1)
3. Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity (5-3)
4. Upsala/Swanville Area (5-3)
5. Parkers Prairie (4-4)
6. Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (4-4)
7. Browerville (3-5)
8. Kimball Area (2-6)
The first round pairings are interesting, top to bottom! Look at the No. 3 vs. No. 6 game, for example...you have a brawny K-M-S team that is stinging from a 35-0 defeat at Royalton and ranked sixth traveling to Lester Prairie to take on a very talented LP/HT Bulldogs squad. That one is not in the bag for the Bulldogs by any means. The USA vs. Parkers Prairie game will be very intriguing. USA went to Parkers Prairie and won 30-18 in Week Four, and today I rate their playoff meeting as a near-toss up with a slight edge to USA with the home field advantage in Swanville.
Mayer Lutheran will have a fired-up Browerville team to deal with. I rate the Crusaders' chances as "good" with the home field advantage, but the Tigers will definitely put up a fight.
That leaves me with B-B-E's match up with long-time rival Kimball Area. Interestingly enough, the Jaguars and Cubs have met on the gridiron every year since the fall of 1989. For years it was the season opener, a non-conference game, with Kimball usually having the advantage. From memory, I believe the Jaguars beat Kimball just one time in the season opener: a 15-7 win in Week One in the 1997 season. They later hosted Kimball in the Section 5AA playoff opener and won 41-0. In 1999, the Jaguars joined the Central Minnesota Conference, and they've met every year in that capacity, with the last three years coming in Sub-District III play.
I don't have to say too much about how tough Tuesday night's game will be. Kimball Area has nothing to lose and will give the Jaguars a real battle. I hope to get scouting information posted over this weekend. Stay tuned!
*Update: Rambow, Inc. of New London will have a clothing store posted on Friday at their website for Jaguar football District Champion apparel! Stay tuned for details.
