Football season concludes (VIDEO)

A very exciting, thrilling season on the gridiron has concluded after a wild ride full of lows and highs came to a crashing end yesterday in the Section 4A semifinals. The B-B-E Jaguars football team saw the postseason journey end prematurely after they lost 22-6 to Upsala/Swanville Area. The Jaguars had high hopes of major improvement after a subpar performance in a 22-14 win against Long Prairie-Grey Eagle to open the section playoffs last Tuesday. While they certainly played better against a superior opponent, the improvement was not enough to overcome what was a stellar U/SA performance on both sides of the ball.

*Here's a video featuring B-B-E's second offensive series of the game, which took place in the second quarter yesterday; in the first few seconds of this clip, Luke Illies had a key reception on the left sideline to move the chains:


B-B-E's second offensive series started on their own 19-yard line and stalled out at the U/SA 21-yard line with 5:07 left before halftime. The saving grace before halftime was their ability to stop the Patriots from scoring on a third straight series in the closing minutes of the second quarter.

Eye-opening statistic: the Patriots had 68 run plays for the game while amassing 290 rushing yards. This equates to roughly a 4.3 yards-per-carry average on run plays. On their game-opening series, they used 15 plays and over 7 minutes of game clock to cover 62 yards to pay dirt. The first touchdown was earned by Tyson Leners from four yards out with 4:48 on the clock in the first quarter. U/SA's second series started on their 34 with 2:47 left in the opening quarter. The first play resulted in a 7-yard gain by Leners, the first of a 13-play drive that found the end zone with 7:59 left in the second quarter. B-B-E faced a 16-0 deficit at that point, a score that stood up to halftime.

B-B-E's high-octane offense ultimately saw the ball just 6 times in the game, once with only 2 seconds left in the first half and another on their 6th possession that ended with an interception. In the 48-minute game, the Jaguars had the ball for just 10 minutes and 14 seconds. The Jaguars finished 7-3 overall. During the season, they won six games in a row and finished in third place in the MidState, Sub-District III standings. Their 15 wins in 2021 and 2022 ties the school record for most wins in back-to-back campaigns. In 2012, the Jaguars went 6-5 before going 9-2 in 2013. In both of those seasons, the Jaguars finished as runners-up in Section 4A.

Other noteables: from 2010 to 2022, the Jaguars have earned 56 wins on the gridiron with three runner-up trips in Section 4A and one section title with a state trip. Also in this period, the Jaguars have won their playoff opener 8 times. From 1988 through 2009, the program had 47 wins, including 7 winless seasons. From 1988 to 2005, the football program had just 5 total playoff wins. From 2006 to 2009, they were 2-2 in playoff openers and 2-4 overall in the playoffs, which makes for 6 wins in playoff openers from 1988 to 2009. B-B-E missed the playoffs in Class B, Class C or Class 2A postseason formats in 1989, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998 and 1999.

Friday Night Lights X: the dream crashes to an end (VIDEOS*)

A second straight dream season fell short of a grand achievement for the program.

Facing an upstart, inspired, ground-and-pound Upsala/Swanville Area team, the B-B-E Jaguars football team found themselves in an 8-0 hole to start the game after the first quarter. The Jaguars fought valiantly all game but struggled to minimize penalties as the Patriots ran and ran and ran the ball all afternoon.

*Here's a video from the latter part of the first quarter:


The U/SA Patriots burned the game's first seven minutes with their first touchdown drive to take an 8-0 lead. The Jaguars tried to stop the Patriots on a 4th-and-one possession at the B-B-E 18-yard line with 6:30 on the clock. They converted and had 1st-and-10 at the 12-yard line. The next play resulted in a 5-yard gain by Nick Kedrowski, and the next play was a 3-yard gain by Tyson Leners. On 3rd-and-2, Leners scored on a four-yard touchdown carry with 4:38 left. This was the script that played out on U/SA's other two touchdown drives.

At halftime, the Patriots led 16-0. The deficit became 22-0 in the third quarter. B-B-E then scored on an 57-yard touchdown drive that started with 1:02 left in the third quarter. With 10:26 left in the game, the Jaguars broke up the shutout bid to close it to a two-score deficit. Talen Kampsen caught a 12-yard pass from Luke Dingmann up the middle for a touchdown. B-B-E's two-point conversion attempt resulted in a tipped pass, with U/SA's No. 11 providing the defense.

**Here's a glimpse of the final plays in B-B-E's touchdown drive:


Final: U/SA 22, B-B-E 6. The Patriots take a 6-4 record into the section finals. B-B-E finishes an incredible season with a 7-3 final record. 

Some game statistics:
U/SA had a punishing ground game to the tune of 290 yards on the ground on 68 carries. Max Lange, the Patriots quarterback, had just two pass attempts all day and made good on one of those throws (good for 27 yards). Their monster rushing attack converted 12 of 18 third down tries. They were also 4-for-4 on fourth down attempts.

B-B-E tallied 65 rushing yards and 92 passing yards. Luke Dingmann was 7-of-14 in passing, and Braeden Michels was the leading ball carrier with 54 yards on 12 carries. The Jaguars struggled offensively and converted just 2 of 6 third-down attempts. They were 1-of-2 on fourth down tries. The toughest part of the game from my perspective was the 10 penalties for 62 yards. That truly put them behind the 8 ball.

Side bar: when the game was over at about 4 p.m., the temperature was a balmy 68 degrees! We had near full sunshine. That was terrific.

This season was wonderful, even though we lost short of where we really wanted to be. THANK YOU for the memories, guys. You are all rock stars to me and our community!!! Since the program earned its first playoff win in 1988, the Jaguars have won playoff openers in 1993, 1997, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2021 and now 2022. They won section semifinal games in 1997, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2021. 

Also, the team will bring back 43 players from this year's team. This will be one of the highest numbers of returning underclassmen players in school history. That is something very special to build on!

In the other section semifinal game, KMS defeated Browerville 27-26 in overtime.  Game video is uploading. I'm off to an event at the Brooten city park! (It was advertised on page 1 and page 14 of this week's newspaper.) Plus we have the gun blast at the Padua Pub! (Which has been advertised in the last 3 issues of the newspaper.)

If you haven't already, be sure to check out my latest sports show, which I recorded very early this morning before driving to Anoka with the Miss Brooten royalty entourage. In the sports show, I plugged volleyball, the musical and robotics in addition to previewing today's playoff football game.

GAME DAY in Jaguar Country! L'ET'S GO! (VIDEOS)

How about it, Jaguar Country! Let's do this!

LET'S GO!

LET'S GO! 

LET'S GO!!!!!!  

Upsala/Swanville Area and our Jaguars kick off at 2 p.m. We need to pack our stadium with fans!!! This is important! LOUD and PROUD is our motto!!!!

We got this!!!

Here's my Sports Show No. 7 or No. 8...haven't kept track:


Today's game will not be on Glenwood radio.

**Here's a video clip from late in the fourth quarter in the closing minutes as the Jaguars were protecting a 22-14 lead against LP-GE in the playoff opener on Tuesday:


U/SA is arguably 10 times tougher than LP-GE. I expect an incredible game to play out today. The lead may change hands more than once. If one team gets ahead of the other, that does not mean the team that's ahead is out of the woods. It's at least a 48-minute long battle. IT WILL BE WAR. Take-no-prisoners style football!

More to come! I'll be in Anoka of all places before the game. I'll explain another time. GO JAGS!!!!

Game updates to follow as much as I am able to.

*End of quarter one: Patriots 8, Jaguars 0. The second quarter will start at 2:25 p.m. B-B-E struggled offensively in the first quarter. Meanwhile, U/SA scored on the game's first series with about 4:50 on the clock.

*Update: the Patriots have a 16-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Halftime: U/SA 16, B-B-E 0. The Jaguars had a great drive stall out at the Patriots 21 with 5:11 left in the half. Their defense held up and prevented the visitors from putting up a third touchdown. A field goal attempt in the closing seconds was no good from the BBE 7 yard line.

UPDATE: with 1:08 left in the third quarter, the Patriots scored on a 2-yard quarterback sneak by Max Lange. The extra point failed. U/SA now has a 22-0 lead.

More to come in a new blog post.

THANK YOU to Bonanza Valley State Bank for sponsoring this Jaguars Sports playoff update!

Step II: moving on to the 'Ship! B-B-E Jaguars land sub-section finals berth! (VIDEOS!)

They are heading on! Moving on to the 'SHIP! THIS NEVER GETS OLD. NOT FOR ONE SECOND!

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team won in three sets tonight against a scrappy, hustling and determined K-M-S Fighting Saints squad. The sub-section semi border battle featured a near-packed gymnasium with deafening crowd noise at times. It was playoff volleyball at its best on our home court! The Fighting Saints play in the completely stacked, brutally tough Camden Conference and have seen just about everything there is to see on a volleyball court. That showed all night, as they did not back down from B-B-E's relentless attack. The Jaguars had to elevate their level of play all night long, and they did. Terrific performance!

The Fighting Saints finish 12-17 overall. They had eight seniors on the roster.

When and where do they play next? Read further below on this blog post to see that! And how many sub-section championship berths has our volleyball program earned? I'll tell you how many: 20! YES! That's 20. B-B-E's volleyball program now has earned 20 sub-section finals appearances in school history dating back to the first time they achieved that feat in 1994. Of those previous 19 appearances, I was fortunate enough to witness 16 of them! As I said earlier and have said many times before: this never, ever gets old!!!

**Here's footage from the end of game one tonight:


The Fighting Saints were what volleyball technicians would call an "in system" unit as the match got underway. They were firing with a high level of energy and enthusiasm while enjoying a great following of fans. Their passing was crisp, they had outstanding serve-receive and their blockers were meeting what B-B-E's attackers were dishing out. Two early kills put K-M-S ahead 3-2, and they had back-to-back kills for a 5-3 lead. K-M-S later had a kill and then an ace block to go up 7-4. Enter middle hitter Allison Dingmann, who knocked down a kill for a badly-needed side out. Ava Mueller then crushed an attack into a block attempt for a kill, and she hit for a second straight kill to tie it at 7-7. The Jaguars were rolling! The scoring streak reached eight in a row with Kylie Weller rattling off three straight ace serves to put the Jaguars in front 12-7. Coach Molenaar needed a timeout.

Out of that early timeout, K-M-S got an ace block for a side out. Mueller quickly knocked down a kill for a 13-8 lead. K-M-S had back-to-back hitting errors, and a kill by Brooklyn Fischer made it 17-9. Mueller had back-to-back kills to bring game point, and a Fighting Saints hitting error finished the game in favor of the Jaguars by a 25-12 score.

**Here's a video from the middle portion of game two tonight:


That previous video begins with the Jaguars ahead 17-12 after Anna Jaeger earned an ace serve. The video ends with the Jaguars holding a 21-15 lead.

Game scores for the night were 25-12, 25-19, 25-18. The Jaguars had a stellar night at the net with 41 kills on 109 attacks and just eight hitting errors! Wow! That made for a 30.3 percent hitting mark to go with 10 ace serves, 6 solo blocks and 2 block assists. In game three, senior Ava Mueller eclipsed the 1,000 career kills mark. What an achievement for her and the team!

**And the Jaguars take the court tonight!:


NEXT: the Jaguars (23-6) advance to the Sub-Section 6A-South championship, which will be at 7:30 p.m. next Thursday, November 3 at Fergus Falls high school. Their opponent will be No. 2-seeded Brandon-Evansville. The Chargers won 3-0 tonight against No. 3-seeded Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley; game scores were 25-19, 25-22, 28-26. Brandon-Evansville is 17-10 overall. They finished 7-2 in the 10-team Little Eight Conference, which was good for third place alone ahead of Underwood and Parkers Prairie (tied for fourth at 6-3 each).

**And here's a video uploaded late Friday night featuring senior Ava Mueller talking about tonight's win:


Sub-Section 6A-North semifinal volleyball scores on October 28:
Henning 3, New York Mills 0 (5th-seeded Eagles finish a great season 21-7 overall)
No. 3-seeded Breckenridge 3, No. 2-seeded Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 0

Sub-Section 3AA-North volleyball quarterfinals on October 28:
Minnewaska Area 3, Eden Valley-Watkins 1 (big upset win by the Lakers, who are 12-14)
Litchfield 3, West Central Area 1
Paynesville Area 3, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 0
New London-Spicer 3, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 1

In Section 5AA play tonight, Maple Lake won 3-0 against visiting Spectrum in their play-in round match. The Irish (11-13) move on to the Section 5AA quarterfinals. Kimball Area had a No. 4 seed in Section 5AA which earned them a first-round bye. In Section 6AA, No. 10-seeded Holdingford improved to 15-12 overall with an upset 3-0 win at No. 7-seeded Foley in their play-in round match.

Volleyball playoffs round two is coming! (*UPDATES, VIDEO)

It's GAME DAY once again in Jaguar Country! This is an especially busy and crazy time. We are in the thick of volleyball and football playoffs.

Tonight the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team hosts neighboring rival Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg. The Fighting Saints are a much-improved unit since September 19, when they were swept out of town in a non-conference match in our house. We need an ESPECIALLY LARGE hometown crowd tonight! THIS IS IMPORTANT! The Fighting Saints will leave nothing on the court and have it in their mind to pull off a second straight road upset. They are 12-16 overall.

*Here's a video featuring the final points scored in game three against Wheaton/Herman-Norcross in the playoff opener:


More to come. Tonight's volleyball match will not be aired on Glenwood radio. I am unsure about the Benson radio station. **UPDATE: I think Benson radio is here. They are 93.5 FM on the radio dial.

MATCH UPDATES!
The Fighting Saints have shown they mean business and hold an early 7-4 lead in game one.

*UPDATE: the Jaguars used an 8-0 run to forge their first lead of the night at 12-7 in game one.

GAME ONE FINAL: B-B-E 25, K-M-S 12.


Game two is well underway, and both teams are trading punches to the tune of an 11-11 tie. B-B-E had a 10-7 lead at one point. **GAME TWO FINAL: B-B-E 25, K-M-S 19.

*GAME THREE update: the Jaguars have a 9-8 lead, and Ava Mueller is two kills away from her 1,000th career kill!

**Here's a video from late in game three on Wednesday in the playoff opener:


In that game three on Wednesday, the Jaguars trailed by as many as five points at 18-13 before climbing out of the hole. They trailed 20-18 when that video started recording. The Jaguars ultimately won 25-21 after scoring the final six points of the night!

MORE TO COME in a new blog post!

Let's talk football (*UPDATES, VIDEOS)

Here I'll get more posted on the B-B-E Jaguars football team's playoff opener and talk a little about Upsala/Swanville Area. The Patriots rushed for a whopping 400 yards against Benson in Tuesday's playoff opener. Look for this blog post to be updated by Friday *Late morning.

UPDATE added on Friday morning and afternoon:

As I’ve said twice before both online and in print, Upsala/Swanville Area’s football team is loaded for bear. That’s a phrase meaning they are ready to roll over anything in their path. They have no fear of what lies ahead. The Patriots enjoyed the return of star running back and senior Tyson Leners for their playoff opener on Tuesday against Benson. In Week 8 on October 19, Leners played sparingly and had 3 carries for 21 yards. In the quarterfinals this week, Leners led a massive ground game with 13 carries and 123 rushing yards with one touchdown. He’s back and ready to take names. He was sidelined with injury following B-B-E’s win at Swanville on September 30, so he now wants to make the most of whatever games are remaining in his football career.

U/SA won that playoff game 50-28 in a pure shoot out. The massive ground game tallied 400 yards, and U/SA quarterback Max Lange connected six times with the same receiver for a Patriots air game of 6 catches and 45 yards. A total of four U/SA ball carries had 60 or more rushing yards. Braeden Rene had 12 totes for 92 yards with one touchdown and a longest run of 42 yards. Nick Kedrowski had 8 carries with 63 yards, two touchdowns and a longest run of 25 yards. Franky Meaghar had one carry good for a touchdown on a 62-yard carry that got his team to 50 points. Make no mistake: U/SA has an incredible ground game. They are a supremely talented team that will run and run and run with the full capability to put the ball in the air and make noise with their passing game. Saturday's game will be tough as nails. It will be war.

The BOLD vs. B-B-E football game photos from Friday Night Lights VIII have all been uploaded to the newspaper's SmugMug website. You can find the gallery by clicking here: https://bit.ly/3Nb4FMV.

*Here's a video from the Browerville win on October 14:


*Here's a video from late in the second quarter in Tuesday's playoff opener:


**Here's a video from early in the fourth quarter against LP-GE in the playoff opener; the Jaguars were trying to keep the Thunder from converting fourth down and five to go:


I'm also juggling this against working on additional B-B-E fall musical coverage. Busy, busy, busy! The kids who make up our sports teams and our fall musical group are all very important! They are great, hard-working students that we should all be proud of. **I'll get a new volleyball post added on Friday early evening hopefully, before the volleyball match begins. K-M-S will come to town riding high and looking for the upset!

B-B-E Fall Musical Tickets

Cross country update

I still don't have a full set of results in front of me, but the Section 6A cross country meet was held today at Pierz. The B-B-E/Paynesville boys' cross country team competed at sections. Unfortunately, none of the team punched through to state. Senior Brady Schwinghammer was the team's lead runner and took 25th place (18:37.6).

More to come.

STEP I: Jaguars overcome Warriors (VIDEOS*)

*This blog post was updated late Thursday morning; fall musical information is posted at the end.

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team has won their fifth straight playoff opener! They defeated Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 3-0 with a game three final score of 25-21 in the Sub-Section 6A-South quarterfinals. The Warriors finish the season 9-19 overall.

UP NEXT: the Jaguars (22-6) host the sub-section semifinals this week Friday at 7 p.m. against either Parkers Prairie or Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg. (More info to come.) **UPDATE: the No. 5-seeded Fighting Saints earned a 3-2 upset win at the home of the No. 4-seeded Panthers. Parkers Prairie's season is a wrap with an 0-1 playoff mark and a final record of 15-12-1. K-M-S improves to 12-16 overall and will travel to Brooten this Friday! We have a bona fide border battle set for the second round of playoffs! I think that is awesome. It will be a rematch of the non-conference match in Brooten on September 19 that the Jaguars won via sweep.

*UPDATE:: game scores in Parkers Prairie were 21-25, 25-23, 25-23, 19-25, 15-12. The Fighting Saints were led by 15 kills from Taylor Haats.

In B-B-E's playoff opener tonight, the No. 8-seeded Warriors took initial leads of 1-0 and 4-2, but a Brooklyn Fischer kill and a W/HN hit out of bounds tied it at 4-4. Ava Mueller hit back-to-back kills to give the Jaguars a 7-5 lead. After working with a three to four-point lead, the Jaguars surged ahead 16-10 with three straight kills by Fischer. An ace serve by Anna Jaeger made it 18-11. The Warriors did not lay down and were scrapping after numerous shots, but the Jaguars took game one 25-20.

B-B-E had a quick 4-1 lead and then a 9-4 lead early in game two. The Warriors cut it down to 10-8, but after they fell behind 17-11 they called a timeout. Late kills by Mueller, Berge and Fischer iced off a 25-16 win.

*Here's a video from the middle of game one tonight starting with the Jaguars holding a 16-10 lead:


In game two, the Jaguars built a 21-13 lead before both teams went back-and-forth down the stretch. Below is video from that late stretch in game two.

VIDEO:


Both teams traded points to start game three, and Fischer's kill tied it at 3-3. Kills by Adley Hagen and Mueller gave the Jaguars a 6-4 lead. B-B-E hitting errors allowed the Warriors to tie it at 8-8. After it was 9-9, the Warriors had an ace block and an ace tip in succession followed by two B-B-E hitting errors to forge a 13-9 lead. The Warriors again had a kill and block plus a B-B-E net violation to go up 18-12. B-B-E's "Big Two" delivered as the chips were down: Mueller had back-to-back kills, and Fischer's ace serve cut the deficit to 18-15. A kill by Fischer later cut W/HN's lead to 21-20, and the Jaguars were rolling and ultimately scored the last 6 points of the night.

**Here's a post-match interview with junior Anna Jaeger. Thank you! She did a terrific job:


For the night, the Jaguars hit at a 23.5 percent clip with 41 kills on 102 attacks. Kylie Weller had 34 set assists, and Abby Berge led the team in digs (11).

In the other side of Sub-Section 6A-South, No. 3-seeded Brandon-Evansville swept Ortonville. No. 3-seeded Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley defeated Benson 3-0 in their playoff opener.

I see that Henning beat No. 8-seeded Rothsay in their Sub-Section 6A-North opener.

At Willmar high school's "Big Red Gym" the Worthington Trojans earned a crazy surprising 3-2 win over the host No. 2-ranked (Class 3A) Cardinals. Game five went to the visitors from the southwest corner of the state by a 15-9 score. Willmar finishes 24-4 overall with a stunning 0-1 playoff record. They were a team built with the potential of winning a state title. This shows that anything can happen in the playoffs - something we should all understand by now!

In other news! This is exciting!
The B-B-E fall musical is Anastasia, and tickets are now on sale! You can click over to the school's website and order yours today! Come one or more nights for sure! Link: https://www.onthestage.tickets/show/bbe-theatre/635197e7cd9fc10e3b94d52a. You can read more at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website by clicking here: https://bit.ly/3DE3PFf.

GAME DAY - again!

This is life in the fast lane right now in Jaguar Country.

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team hosts Wheaton/Herman-Norcross with first serve at 7 p.m. from the elementary school in Brooten. Tonight's match features the No. 1 seed in Sub-Section 6A-South against the No. 8-seeded Warriors. The match will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood. (Thanks, Brady!)

W/HN finished in sixth place in the Little Eight Conference after they won the last-ever Pheasant Conference title in 2021.

More to come shortly. Updates to follow.

MATCH UPDATES:
In game one, the score is tied 5-5 in the early stages after the Warriors held a 4-2 lead. *FINAL: B-B-E 25, W/HN 20.

In game two, the Jaguars came out with a better start in the early stages and built an initial 14-10 lead. After the lead expanded to 17-11, W/HN called a timeout. The Jaguars kept the pressure on and won by a score of 25-16.

Game three is not going that well, and the Warriors have built a 13-9 lead. More to come in a new blog post.

B-B-E vs. LP-GE battle royale (VIDEO)

The B-B-E football team has lived to fight another day after surviving an upset bid by No. 7-seeded Long Prairie-Grey Eagle. The teams were locked in a 14-14 tie at halftime, and almost 20 scoreless minutes passed in the second half before the Jaguars scored with 4:14 left in the game. The 22-14 win launched the Jaguars into the Section 4A semifinals, which will take place at 2 p.m. this Saturday, October 29. The opponent will be tough-as-nails Upsala/Swanville Area.

*Here's a video featuring the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter last night:


More to come. A full game story from last night was published in this week's edition of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. It's time to start preparing for tonight's volleyball playoff opener!

Hunting season!

A quick side bar from sports...the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper is seeking hunting season photos! Especially youth hunting photos from this fall. Please submit hunting photos to lifeinbonanzavalley@gmail.com and include who the child was hunting with and perhaps what township they were hunting in.

This was something I should have announced weeks ago...but...better late than never.

Friday Night Lights IX: Jaguars live to fight another day (VIDEOS*)

On the drive home from tonight's playoff game, my eight-year old daughter said from my Buick's back seat, "I miss Mr. and Mrs. Gossen."

My quick reply to her was, "Yes, I miss them too, but when good people leave, it just means that everyone else has to get better." (We were referring to former elementary principal Rick Gossen and elementary Title I teacher Shannon Gossen, who now work in southwestern Minnesota.)

What I just described can be mirrored right onto the athletic playing field or court, as sports teams often are faced with the temporary and even the long-term absence of players due to injury or other reasons. I don't disclose personal information like a player's injury on this sports blog - I never have unless specifically directed to do so by a kid's family - but as followers of our football team know, tonight they played without senior wide receiver Jamison Reed. I have only been told that he may play on in the second round of playoffs, and that's all I have on that. The net result of one of your key players missing from the starting lineup is that every other member of the team has to be better. You have to put it in your mind that you will give that extra effort to make the team better and overcome what's missing.

Facing an inspired, focused and determined Long Prairie-Grey Eagle team tonight for the quarterfinal round of the Section 4A playoffs, the B-B-E Jaguars football team found themselves in a position where every player on the team had to improve. This self-improvement in the name of making the team better took place through all 48 minutes of the contest. They were in the fight of their lives tonight. The Jaguars and Thunder traded punches and counterpunches all game long. It wasn't until the fourth quarter when the Jaguars scored the lone touchdown of the second half to break a 14-14 halftime tie. The game winner came on a 28-yard touchdown reception by Luke Illies from Luke Dingmann with 4:22 left in the game. Wyatt Lewis ran in the two-point conversion to give the Jaguars a bona fide one-score lead.

Final score: B-B-E 22, LP-GE 14.

Your whole life in the workforce you work through situations where people move around or switch jobs or change positions or get promotions. Change is constant. How you deal with change and how you deal with adversity generally sets apart the winners and the losers. That's life.

NEXT: AND THIS IS IMPORTANT! The Jaguars move on to the Section 4A semifinals, which will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 29 right back on our home field again. SPREAD THE WORD! We need a huge, HUGE hometown crowd there! The opponent will be loaded-for-bear, take-no-prisoners No. 3-seeded Upsala/Swanville Area. The U/SA Patriots won 50-28 tonight on their home field against visiting Benson to improve to 5-4 on the season. MAKE NO MISTAKE. The U/SA Patriots will lay it all on the field in an attempt to repeat what took place on the same field in the same round back in 2017. I'm not going to delve into what happened that day way back then, but this section semifinal game is going to be a terrific football game. The lead may change hands more than once. It will be a knock down, drag out fight from start to finish. More on that later.

In another Section 4A game tonight, the No. 5-seeded Browerville Tigers traveled to No. 4-seeded Parkers Prairie and won 24-7. The Tigers have their sights set now on top-seeded Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, who had a first-round bye and did not play tonight. Those two teams will square off in Murdock this Saturday in the other semifinal game.

*Here's a video from the first quarter tonight after the Jaguars tied the game at 8-8:


GAME NOTES from tonight's LP-GE game:
B-B-E's defense played inspired ball throughout the game and especially in the second half when it mattered most. For the game, they recorded six tackles for a loss. Three players were in on 9 or more tackles: Maximus Hanson (6 solos, 5 assisted), Hayden Sobiech (5 solos, 4 assisted) and Carson Gilbert (5 solos, 6 assisted). Altogther, a total of 17 Jaguars earned at least one tackle or assisted tackle. After falling behind 22-14, the Thunder started their 12th drive of the game on their own 30 but committed a holding penalty. This created a 1st-and-27 possession. Quarterback Tye Urman carried for 17 yards on first down, and LP-GE got a 5-yard catch on second down. They ran a counter play that yielded zero yards on third down. On 4th-and-5 with the chips down, Urman was flushed and ran far to the left. He had great momentum and appeared as though he would convert. B-B-E's Owen Paulson had other things in mind, as he stopped Urman cold and three yards short of the first down marker. B-B-E ball! The Jaguars took over on downs with 2:17 left in the game. They later punted, however, and LP-GE had 1:52 left on the clock for their 13th possession of the game. First down had an incomplete pass, and second down had Urman losing two yards on Maximus Hanson's tackle for a loss. The Thunder lost 4 yards on third down, and fourth down resulted in another incomplete pass. The resulting turnover on downs came with 1:24 on the clock. The Jaguars were able to take a knee twice and ride out the clock for a back-to-back playoff-opening win.

The Jaguars were held to less than 100 rushing yards for the second game in a row...but just barely. They totaled 97 rushing yards to go with 100 passing yards. LP-GE rushed for 158 yards and had 62 passing yards. Quarterback Tye Urman was 8-for-19 in the game.

*Here's a video from late in the first quarter tonight, when B-B-E scored with 2:06 on the clock to gain the lead:


In Section 5A tonight, top-seeded BOLD won 48-6 against visiting and No. 8-seeded Lac qui Parle Valley. In Section 5AA, Kimball Area ended Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City's season with a 40-0 win. In Section 4AA, Maple Lake finished 0-9 after they lost tonight to St. Agnes (at Concordia-St. Paul) by a 35-0 score.

More to come **on Wednesday afternoon. I need some rest! Volleyball playoffs begin on Wednesday night!!

GAME DAY IN JAGUAR COUNTRY! (playoffs!)

It's game day in Jaguar Country! Kickoff less than an hour away as I type this. **Kickoff is at 6 p.m.!

The No. 2-seeded B-B-E Jaguars football team hosts Long Prairie-Grey Eagle, the No. 7 seed, in the Section 4A quarterfinals. The Thunder are a very solid team who have a 1-7 record and will be a formidable opponent. I am excited to see how the game goes!

Here's the final minute of the first half of last Wednesday's game against BOLD:


I'll get game updates posted as I am able to tonight. I have pep band duties to juggle as well!

GAME UPDATES...

With 4 minutes left in the first quarter, the score is tied 8-8.

**With 8:53 left in the second quarter, the game is tied 14 to 14... the Thunder just scored on a 21-yard touchdown drive that used just one play after they recovered a lost fumble.

Halftime: 14-14. The second half will get started by 7:25 p.m.

End of the third quarter: 14-14 tie, and Thunder ball. Updates and more in a NEW blog post.

THANK YOU to Bonanza Valley State Bank for sponsoring this playoff sports post! We can't do this without tremendous support by our locally-owned businesses like our bank in Brooten.

Volleyball sub-section quarterfinals set

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team has its opponent set for the upcoming Sub-Section 6A-South quarterfinals.

In a play-in around match tonight at Wheaton Area high school, the Wheaton/Herman-Norcross Warriors defeated conference rival Hancock 3-1 to improve to 9-18 overall. The No. 8-seeded Warriors now travel to Brooten on Wednesday this week (October 26) in what will be a rematch of last year's sub-section championship. B-B-E won that meeting by a 3-0 margin on their way to the Section 6A finals.

First serve on Wednesday is set for 7 p.m. in Brooten.

Spooktacular is tonight!

Don't miss out! This has been heavily promoted in the last two newspaper issues. It runs from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. tonight at the high school. Come out and show your support for our music program!

*Update! Update! Update!

What fantastic turnout! BRAVO! The main gymnasium was nearly shoulder-to-shoulder at one point. This was a very exciting night to be a part of. It was wonderful to see the amazing show of support for the B-B-E music programs.

It can get confusing...B-B-E history

It donned on me last week...it was a pretty big mistake by my approach to things in terms of reporting on B-B-E school district history. Leading up to and following B-B-E's Homecoming week, I alluded to it being our "35th B-B-E Homecoming" in school history on a few occasions both online and in print.

In fact, it was B-B-E's 34th Homecoming week in school history dating back to the first one that was held in the fall of 1989. I had that correct, but I didn't count properly from 1989 to 2022. If you did that count, you'd get to 34.

On the athletic playing fields or courts, this is the 35th season that we've cheered for the B-B-E Jaguars across an entire academic year. This year's volleyball and football teams are the 35th edition of the Jaguars. It was in the fall of 1988 that local student-athletes wore the Jaguar uniform for the first time.

Here's the confusing part: this is the 35th year we've had the B-B-E Jaguars, but it's just the 34th year that we've had "B-B-E high school" with all students from Belgrade, Brooten and Elrosa and the small surrounding towns attending high school in the same classrooms. The Belgrade-Elrosa and the Brooten high schools were separate through the 1988-1989 school year. The elementary schools remained separate through the 1993-1994 school year.

Don't you feel a whole lot smarter knowing all that? I'm being somewhat sarcastic there.

Click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice website to take in a video just posted that features worship service at Sunburg Free Lutheran church of Norway Lake Township on Sunday, October 9...just a couple weeks ago. Link: https://bit.ly/3z3WWKr.

Volleyball earns top playoff seed (VIDEO)

The upcoming Sub-Section 6A-South playoffs start next week, and our B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team was just named the top seed out of 10 teams. The Jaguars take a 21-6 record plus a QRF state ranking of No. 7 into the postseason starting with a home game on Wednesday, October 26. That sub-section quarterfinal match starts at 7 p.m. at the elementary gymnasium in Brooten. Brandon-Evansville finished in third place (7-2) in the Little Eight Conference and has a 15-10 overall record, and they earned the No. 2 seed in Sub-Section 6A-South just ahead of No. 3-seeded C-G-B. I am puzzled why B-E has the No. 2 seed when they split with C-G-B but have a lower QRF ranking than the Wolverines. The No. 3 seed costs C-G-B a home playoff game in the sub-section semifinals (if they win on Wednesday night).

For the opening round of the sub-section tournament, the match that matters for B-B-E is the No. 8-seeded Wheaton/Herman-Norcross (8-18) vs. No. 9-seeded Hancock (2-20); those teams square off in the play-in round on Monday, October 24 at Wheaton Area high school. The winner of the W/HN vs. Hancock match will travel to Brooten two nights later (October 26) for the quarterfinals against our Jaguars.

2022 Sub-Section 6A-South volleyball seedings:
1. B-B-E (21-6)
2. Brandon-Evansville (15-10)
3. Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley (16-10)
4. Parkers Prairie (15-11-1)
5. Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (11-16)
6. Benson (4-18)
7. Ortonville (4-15)
8. Wheaton/Herman-Norcross (8-18)
9. Hancock (2-20)
10. Ashby (1-21)


Other playoff dates to keep in mind for the playoffs...and note that these dates DO NOT MATTER if the Jaguars don't continue winning...
Sub-section semifinals: HOME at 7 p.m. on Friday, October 28
Sub-section finals: Thursday, November 3 at 7:30 p.m. Fergus Falls high school
Section 6A finals: Saturday, November 5 at 7 p.m. at Fergus Falls high school

**Let's go back a month now...to the lone night this fall when the Jaguars lost to a conference opponent:


That video is from game one against Eden Valley-Watkins. The Central Minnesota Conference co-champion Eagles (16-9) earned the No. 4 seed in Sub-Section 3AA-North. The top three seeds in their sub-section features No. 1-seeded New London-Spicer (15-11), Paynesville Area (18-5) and Litchfield (15-11). Coming in at No. 5 in that sub-section is West Central Area (18-9).

In Sub-Section 6A-North, Henning (22-5) earned the No. 1 seed ahead of No. 2-seeded Hillcrest Lutheran Academy (20-3) and No. 3-seeded Breckenridge. Breckenridge (21-5, 6-0 Heart O' Lakes Conference) is the defending Sub-Section 6A-North and Section 6AA champion. They won back-to-back five-set marathons over Henning and then our Jaguars to advance to the Class 1A state tournament.

Hillcrest Lutheran Academy finished in a tie for first place in the Little Eight Conference (8-1 each) with Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley, formerly an annual contender in the now-defunct Pheasant Conference. C-G-B is in Sub-Section 6A-South (see below).

More to come. Lots to digest! I have more to add to this blog post on Saturday night after sunset.

Have you gotten outside much today? I wish I could have been outside more, but I spent a good chunk of the afternoon today in The Voice office doing administrative work. I've since shifted to my "backyard" home office where we have full sunshine and 74 degrees just a little after 16-hundred hours. The official high today will go in the book at 74 degrees for Brooten, which was wonderful for those of us who are judicious and adamant about harvesting natural heat from the outside to warm our homes and offices. Our house warmed up from 64 degrees to at least 70 degrees the last I checked simply from opening our windows earlier this afternoon. That is tremendous! Tonight the forecast calls for a low of a mild 52 degrees, and tomorrow we are supposed to reach 75 or 76 degrees!

BBE Football vs. BOLD (VIDEO)

Two nights ago we witnessed one of the wildest games that I've ever been a part of on our home football field. I had no idea what to expect when state-ranked BOLD came to town, but I knew the B-B-E Jaguars football team had at least some chance of winning the game. They had a better chance of making it a close football game. Early in the third quarter, the Jaguars were doing significantly better than "keeping it a close game" and were really taking it to BOLD and putting the Warriors back on their heels.

*Below, video from early in the third quarter on Wednesday:


More to come...a new blog post will include volleyball playoff information.

Throwback to 1953

I have greatly enjoyed digging back in newspaper archives and providing some neat throwback coverage to the 1953 Brooten high school football season. The Brooten Buccaneers won the Crow River Conference title that year in the team's second year as an 8-man football program.

You can see some of what I've dug up from 69 years ago by clicking over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper: https://bit.ly/3Dij0n9.

Also, in case you missed them, I've added a couple videos (one from September and the other from Homecoming night) to the last blog post that outlines the upcoming 2022 football playoffs.

Now it's time to pack up for the short trip to Big Grove Lutheran church for their fall supper and auction! I hope you can make the trip too. Our local churches are a highly valuable and important asset to the Bonanza Valley area. Big Grove Lutheran recently made a donation to the school's Backpack Attack program. Thank you! Now let's return the favor and support their church tonight!

Also! Remember! You can always quickly catch up with local events coming up by looking on page two of each week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper or by visiting the newspaper's website (short link): https://bit.ly/3sfR8d0. Isn't it grand that you can look in one place to see multiple local events taking place?

PLAYOFFS! Section 4A football seedings (VIDEOS)

This has gone official as of 10 a.m. today! The B-B-E Jaguars football team earned the No. 2 seed in the Section 4A playoffs. They will host No. 7-seeded Long Prairie-Grey Eagle next Tuesday, October 25 with a 6 p.m. kickoff in Belgrade. Spread the word!!!

Section 4A football playoff seedings:
1. K-M-S (6-2 record and first-round bye)
2. B-B-E (6-2 record)
3. Upsala/Swanville Area (4-4)
4. Parkers Prairie (3-5)
5. Browerville (3-5)
6. Benson (2-6)
7. Long Prairie-Grey Eagle (1-7)

If the Jaguars defeat the Thunder next Tuesday, they will host a Section 4A semifinal game at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 29 against either Upsala/Swanville Area or Benson. Keep that in the back of your mind and be sure to come out to that game!

**Here's a video featuring B-B-E senior football players and fans soaking up the Homecoming win...that was fun!


More to come. *Don't forget! On Friday this week, Big Grove Lutheran church holds their sandwich supper and fall auction! The supper starts at 5 p.m. (free will donation) and the auction at 7 p.m. Come out and show your support!

*Here's a video from the home opener on September 9 against Maple Lake:


What do you have planned this weekend when we get into the 70s outside? Yes! 70+ degrees is coming! Make sure you get outside and get plenty of sunshine! This is very likely it for a unseasonably warm, sunny weekend this fall. Winter is coming.

Friday Night Lights VIII: all-out war on the gridiron goes to the Warriors (VIDEOS*)

That was nothing less than war on the gridiron.

Facing the No. 5-ranked team in the state, the BOLD Warriors, the B-B-E Jaguars football team battled in a 48-minute slug fest tonight that was all-out, no-holds-barred war.

The Jaguars scored on their first series and led 8-0 with just one minute and four seconds elapsed in the first quarter. YES! That happened.

BOLD's first series gained traction after they started on their own 43-yard line before stalling out on downs at the B-B-E 23-yard line with 7:16 on the clock. The Warriors later scored on their second series of the game later in the first quarter.

*Here's video featuring BOLD's first touchdown of the game:


The Warriors took a 12-8 lead in the second quarter, but the Jaguars mounted a late scoring drive and regained the lead on a nine-yard touchdown reception by Luke Illies with just 1:06 left in the half.

**Here's a lengthy video that features B-B-E's second scoring drive of the game as mentioned above:


As you can see in the video, I had a hard time trying to contain my excitement!!!!

HALFTIME: B-B-E 14, BOLD 12.

The Jaguars scored two additional touchdowns in the first half of the third quarter to go up 28-12 and put BOLD on their heels. With 5:40 on the clock in the third quarter, Owen Paulson scored on a 23-yard catch. The Warriors recovered a lost fumble on the two-point conversion play, and B-B-E led 28-12 at that point.

The dynasty that is the Warriors football program then showed why they are for real by scoring 24 straight points in methodical fashion. With 7:46 left in the game, BOLD led 36-28 after Kaden Fischer scored on a 22-yard carry and Fischer's two-point conversion catch. That 36-28 deficit was difficult to see on the scoreboard at that moment. The Jaguars did not back down, however, not one bit!

Starting on their own 31-yard line after the kickoff, the Jaguars moved down field and had a huge boost by a 31-yard catch by Toby Cebulla to convert 3rd-and-13. Two plays later, Luke Dingmann carried in a one-yard touchdown run with 2:56 left. Unfortunately, the extra-points conversion was stopped near the line of scrimmage to leave BOLD with the two-point lead.

Final score: BOLD 36, B-B-E 34. Next Tuesday, the Jaguars open the Section 4A playoffs at 6 p.m. back on the home gridiron in Belgrade.

**Here's my Friday Night Lights VIII sports show! This video recaps tonight's loss with some of my own color commentary of the game:


I have to tip my hat to not only the BOLD Warriors team in general, but also to their feature running back, sophomore Hudson Vosika. He finished the game with 165 rushing yards on 20 carries. He had one carry good for an 80-yard touchdown, which means his other 19 carries were good for an average of 4.5 yards. He is one tough, speedy, shifty running back. The Jaguars had their hands full all night with him in the backfield. He is the real deal!

More to come. Video is uploading. I had a little delay because I was taking in and enjoying video from the pep band performing. It was wonderful to play with the band! I have to admit, although we were small in numbers, we sounded very, very good!

Week Eight Midstate, Sub-District III football scores on October 19:
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 35, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 8
Kimball Area 32, Upsala/Swanville Area 6
Browerville 37, Maple Lake 26
Parkers Prairie 13, Ottertail Central 7 (An upset win by the Panthers against an OTC team that was ranked No. 20 in the latest QRF state rankings)
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 68, Benson 32 (That is just a crazy number of points scored)

A new blog post on Thursday morning will include seeding and playoff information.

Regular season finale coming on the gridiron! (UPDATES)

The final game of the regular season is tonight for the B-B-E Jaguars football team. The Jaguars have every expectation to stick right with No. 5-ranked BOLD from Olivia when the Warriors come to town for a Week Eight battle of top Sub-District III Midstate District teams. Both teams have identical 6-1 records.

Kickoff is set for 7:05 p.m. following the Parents Night ceremony. That ceremony is set to begin between 6:45 and 6:50 p.m.

**Here's a video with footage from the Browerville YouTube page, featuring action from the final minutes of Friday Night Lights VII last week:


Updates to come. Stay tuned!

Halftime: BBE 14, BOLD 12.

End of 3rd: we are tied at 28 to 28. 

With 7:46 left, BOLD has a 36-28 lead.

More to come in a new blog post dubbed Friday Night Lights VIII.


THANK YOU to Bonanza Valley State Bank of Brooten for sponsoring this Jaguars Sports extended coverage blog post!

Volleyball Jaguars jolted in Royalton, emerge as CMC co-champions! (VIDEO)

*This post was updated on Wednesday with a video dated September 26...see below. *Friday Night Lights VIII updates for Wednesday's football game is forthcoming in a NEW blog post that will go live by 6:30 p.m.****

**BREAKING NEWS! THIS NEVER GETS OLD! Not for one itty bitty second!! Never, ever, ever!! The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team has earned a share of the Central Minnesota Conference title! Spread the word! This is just fabulous!!!!! Read how it all panned out tonight below...


The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team got a wake-up call at Royalton tonight after they lost the opening set 25-23 to the last-place Royals. Royalton, who is 0-6 in the Central Minnesota Conference, has lost every match they've played since September 19 in 3-0 sweeps except one (a 3-1 loss to neighboring Pierz one week ago).

In game two, the Jaguars came out firing and performed like they should perform while winning 25-7.

No word yet out of Paynesville on the third set...stay tuned!

UPDATE! the Bulldogs have completed the sweep over the Eagles with a 25-23 win in the third set. Yes, indeed! The EV-W Eagles finish the schedule with a 6-1 CMC mark, and they will likely be the No. 3 seed in Sub-Section 3AA-North. I don't know how the top two seeds will shake out, but the Bulldogs have a good argument to earn the No. 1 seed. We'll know all of that this weekend.

Now I wait for more scores from Royalton...

UPDATE: the Jaguars won the third set and are ahead 20-7 in the fourth set! They are closing in!

UPDATE: here's the line score with the Jaguars winning 3-1! 23-25, 25-7, 25-16, 25-8. The Jaguars finish as co-champions of the CMC with Eden Valley-Watkins, with both teams finishing 6-1 in the loop. Paynesville Area and Kimball Area finished in a tie for third place with 5-2 marks. FUN FACT!...this is B-B-E's 15th conference title in volleyball since 2000. Overall in 34 years, the volleyball team has won 17 conference titles! They were also champions in the West Central South Conference in 1994 and 1995. Read more on that in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper!!

**Before it gets too old...it's over 3 weeks old already...here's a Parents Night and Seniors Night video from September 26, when the Jaguars honored the seniors on the team and our wonderful parents who help keep our volleyball program running strong!


ANOTHER FUN FACT: senior Allison Dingmann has been on back-to-back volleyball conference champion teams just like her mom, Andrea, who was a key member of B-B-E's 1994 and 1995 volleyball teams that won back-to-back West Central Conference South titles. In 1994, the Jaguars went 14-0 in the WCCS as sole champions. In 1995, the Jaguars finished 13-1 in the WCCS as co-champions with New London-Spicer.

That's all I've got. It's time to put my newspaper to bed and get it off to the printing press! Good night, Jaguar Country!

A big night in volleyball

We've got a big night in store tonight for volleyball. The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team looks to head into playoffs with a two-match winning streak as they travel to Royalton to conclude the Central Minnesota Conference schedule.

Eyes will also be on the Eden Valley-Watkins at Paynesville Area match tonight. While the Bulldogs have fallen out of the CMC title race, they have huge motivation to win, as it is essentially a battle for the No. 1 or No. 2 playoff seed in Sub-Section 3AA-North. The defending sub-section champion Bulldogs have a shot at the No. 1 seed. The top three seeds will shake out (not in any particular order) with Paynesville, New London-Spicer and EV-W in the mix. For B-B-E, the Jaguars need Paynesville to win tonight in order to give our team a share of the CMC title.

More to come later **updates to follow from Paynesville!!

**Paynesville's volleyball team has won the first set 25-12 against visiting Eden Valley-Watkins! More updates to follow.

GAME TWO final score: Paynesville Area 25, EV-W 21.

Hard freeze takes out the garden

I spent about two hours last night clearing out the last of what I could from the family garden plots. The exception is a couple hills of potatoes plus some carrots that are still in the ground. We had what farmers call a "killing frost" in the Bonanza Valley area with temperatures dropping into the low 20s. It dipped below 32 degrees between 9 and 10 p.m. last night. Noteworthy: an Indian summer is coming!

What this means for my newspaper-related work is that I'm "behind the 8 ball" and have to catch up from work I would have normally done on Sunday night. Look for just a 12-page newspaper this week. I hope to catch my breath before the big sports playoff push begins next week. Life will get very, very crazy.

Tonight we have the school board meeting at the high school media center at 7 p.m. It is open to the public. The Belgrade city council also meets tonight at 7 p.m. at city hall. A third group meets tonight at 7 p.m., the Belgrade Lions, who will meet at the meeting room at Coop's Corner.

You can see a summary of items on the Belgrade city council agenda at my editor's blog: http://lifeinbonanzavalley.blogspot.com. Yes, I have a "news" blog as well as this sports blog to maintain and operate in addition to the newspaper's regular website!

'Amazing Grace' at Sunburg Free Lutheran (VIDEO)

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of attending worship at Sunburg Free Lutheran church in Norway Lake Township. Below is a short video clip from that morning. Their pastor is 1958 Brooten high school graduate Pastor Ron Knutson, who grew up not far from where I grew up in southeast Norway Lake Township.

*'Amazing Grace' at Sunburg Free Lutheran:


Where are you worshiping today?

**Fast forward to Sunday night...and I'm getting back to uploading Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper Color FUND Run photos that are now over 10 days beyond the event. There's over 300 of them! Yikes. **Update: there are 380 pictures uploaded, which encompasses basically all photos taken from that event. They are in two albums, one with 327 that features pictures of the race and the color burst. The second album has 53 pictures from the awards and prizes ceremony that followed inside the stadium. You can find the album by clicking here: https://bonanzavalley.smugmug.com/2022-B-B-EBonanza-Valley-area-events.

And B-B-E Homecoming Powder Puff football! We can't forget that either. That Bonanza Valley Voice photo gallery is now fully uploaded as of tonight! You can find the 180-plus photos by clicking on this short link: https://bit.ly/3T8xb3E.

Homecoming halftime entertainment (VIDEO)

Members of the senior class performed a marvelous dance at halftime a week ago at Homecoming. They're shown in a video below getting jazzed up to some Bon Jovi prior to taking the field at halftime.

VIDEO:


I've got more blogging to get to later tonight. **In the Friday Night Lights VII post, a second video was added tonight featuring Toby Cebulla's touchdown catch late in the second quarter at Browerville.

Looking ahead to next week...it's a big week with much taking place across three days. On Monday night we have the school board meeting at the high school library at 7 p.m. On Tuesday the junior high football team hosts their final game of the fall season with Browerville coming to the high school for a 4:30 p.m. game. On Tuesday night, the volleyball team travels to Royalton to conclude the regular season. On Wednesday night, the football team hosts BOLD for Parents Night and their last game of the regular season.

Noteworthy: I saw in the box scores and stat lines that K-M-S had just 39 yards of rushing offense against Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City last night. They still won handily by a 29-6 score to improve to 5-2 on the season.

Friday Night Lights VII! Jaguars take it to Browerville...again (VIDEOS*)

On a very cold but calm Friday night in Browerville, the B-B-E Jaguars football team earned their oats and then some by winning their sixth straight game over the Tigers. Final score: B-B-E 36, Browerville 20. Once the game concluded, the temperature in Browerville was 35 degrees. This is B-B-E's third straight win over Browerville after they lost all meetings in 2018, 2019 and 2020. (They met twice in 2020.) Never mind that the Jaguars posted 36 points...the name of this game was once again defense just as it was last week! B-B-E's defense held Browerville to punts on their first four possessions. The Tigers gained just two first downs in the game's first 22 minutes. Browerville's fifth drive of the first half ended with an interception just as they neared the red zone. Their first five possessions yielded just 81 net yards, their offensive total at halftime. They would not score until their seventh possession of the game.

The Jaguars (6-1) now have a head of steam as they prepare for the short week, Week Eight, which will be a home game next Wednesday against No. 1-ranked BOLD. The Warriors will be stinging from their first loss of the season, as state-ranked (No. 7 in Class 2A) Kimball Area won 24-14 at the Warriors self-described "Dog Pound" in Olivia. The Cubs led 16-8 at halftime.

Browerville falls to 2-5 overall with their third straight loss, but I expect them to win at Maple Lake next week and hover in that No. 4 or No. 5 playoff seed. We'll see how the QRF rankings shake out after Week Eight!

The dog fight that I predicted this game would be played out for much of the first half. Neither team could find the endzone in the first quarter. B-B-E posted two touchdowns in the second quarter and led 14-0 at halftime. Braeden Michels scored on a one-yard run with 4:11 left, and Toby Cebulla later caught a 20-yard pass for the second touchdown with 1:24 left.

*Here's video featuring a catch by Owen Paulson on B-B-E's first scoring drive in the 2nd quarter, courtesy of the Browerville school YouTube page:


**Here's a video featuring Toby Cebulla's touchdown late in the 2nd quarter:


By the middle of the third quarter, the Jaguars held a 22-6 lead after Luke Dingmann scored a touchdown. Browerville had previously scored on a 55-yard quarterback run by sophomore Ryan Reidel on a one-play, nine-second drive to make it a 14-6 score with 7:34 left in the third quarter.

Game statistics...the Jaguars piled up a whopping 462 yards of offense compared to 278 yards for the Tigers. B-B-E ran a season-high 72 plays from scrimmage while earning 22 first downs. Michels was the leading ball carrier with 110 yards on 20 totes. Dingmann ran for 55 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns, and Cebulla had six runs for 26 yards. Dingmann's quarterback line was 14-28-271 with one touchdown (a catch by Cebulla in the second quarter).

Cebulla and Harley Weber each had three solo tackles to lead the defense.

Hurting Browerville tonight were two turnovers: one lost fumble and one interception. The Jaguars continued their string of games without a turnover. I'll have to look and see exactly how long that streak is!

Week seven MidState District, Sub-District III football scores on October 14:
Upsala/Swanville Area 23, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 8 (afternoon game at Upsala)
Kimball Area 24, BOLD 14 (Cubs win at Olivia)
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 29, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 6 (at Grove City)
Benson 44, Maple Lake 6 (at Maple Lake)

Parkers Prairie, most recently the No. 4-ranked team in Section 4A, lost 32-18 tonight at state-ranked New York Mills. The Panthers (2-5) host a very good Ottertail Central Bulldogs team next week to close out the regular season.

More to come after 10 p.m. Lots to digest!! I've got some game video, but that won't be posted here until Saturday morning.

Friday Night Lights game UDPATES! (VIDEO)

Here's where I hope to get a few game updates posted during tonight's huge battle at Browerville. The B-B-E Jaguars football team is gunning for their sixth straight win of the season. They will face a Tigers team on their Parents Night that is reeling from back-to-back losses, including a very tough 15-14 loss last week on their home field to Upsala/Swanville Area. The Tigers were held to 150 total yards in that game in which they led 14-0 in the second quarter. The Patriots scored nine unanswered points going into halftime before earning the game-winner in the fourth quarter. You can read all about that game in the previous blog post here (below).

The Jaguars will have to win without me tonight. I'm on a getaway this weekend with my wife. It is good to be married, and it's even better to stay married! Without my wife, I don't know how I'd pull this all off.

I don't know if the game will be live streamed in Browerville tonight, but here's the link to the Tigers YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFN8fNRPn27acarQVNgWXSw.

Here's the link to view what I've got posted so far for Fall 2022 sports galleries, hosted at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's SmugMug gallery: https://bonanzavalley.smugmug.com/BBE-Fall-2022-sports.

*Here's my sports show previewing the game:


Here's the first final score we have from today's area games...at the Upsala field, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle lost 23-8 to Upsala/Swanville Area. The Patriots improved to 4-3 with the win.

More to come! GO JAGS!


UPDATES: after the first quarter of action, the Jaguars and Tigers are in a scoreless tie. Crazy.

**Now into the second quarter, and the Jaguars have first-and-10 at the Browerville 26-yard line. They were unable to score and turned the ball over on downs after a failed fourth-and-15 play. Tigers ball.

On Browerville's possession that followed, they went three-and-out and punted. The Jaguars moved into Browerville territory and have gained goal-to-go at the one-yard line! Updates to come... 

AND THE JAGUARS have scored! They scored the game's first touchdown late in the second quarter. Current score: B-B-E 8, Browerville 0 with four minutes on the clock before halftime.

AND THE JAGUARS have scored again! With 1:24 left before halftime, Toby Cebulla scored. The extra point was missed, so the Jaguars are ahead 14-0.

THIRD quarter update: the Jaguars now hold a 22-6 lead midway into the third quarter. B-B-E's Luke Dingmann scored the touchdown, and the Jaguars converted the two-point conversion.

Later in the third quarter, Browerville scored a touchdown and converted the extra points play to narrow the lead to 22-14. Yikes! The dog fight continues.

*END OF THIRD QUARTER: B-B-E 30, Browerville 14.

INTO the fourth quarter... With just over nine minutes left in the game, the Tigers had a third-and-nine play at their own 44-yard line. The pass play was incomplete, and they lined up in shot gun on the fourth down play. The fourth down pass was incomplete, but the Jaguars committed a roughing-the-passer penalty to give Browerville first down with a 15-yard penalty. Browerville ball at the B-B-E 41-yard line with 9:04 on the clock.

Browerville converted third-and-three at the B-B-E 30-yard line with 7:34 left in the game. The Tigers then came up with a big pass play to get to the B-B-E six-yard line with just over seven minutes to go. Browerville scored with 6:34 left in the game, but Jamison Reed intercepted the extra-points pass play. B-B-E 30, Browerville 20.

With 6:28 left in the game, the Jaguars set up their next series on their own 15-yard line after a deep kickoff by Browerville was fielded at the B-B-E five. Braeden Michels had a huge gain with a seven-yard run on the first play. He was tackled with a push out of bounds, though, which stopped the clock with just seven seconds elapsed.

Luke Dingmann scrambled out of the pocket on the next play and converted to earn first down at their own 25-yard line. Then on second-and-12 with the clock passing the five-minute mark, Michels ran left for a huge 14-yard gain to the 37-yard line.

Cebulla carried for three tough yards on first down to get the clock inside four minutes. Reed then caught a short pass in heavy traffic and made a scramble with a four-yard gain. On third-and-three with the clock approaching three minutes, the Jaguars ran a draw play, with Michels running up the middle for the conversion to gain first down at the B-B-E 47-yard line with 2:50 left and the clock running.

B-B-E continued running the ball, and Michels later gained first down at the Browerville 39-yard line with under 100 seconds left. The win is within reach! Final score and more in a new blog post!


THANK YOU to Bonanza Valley State Bank for their HUGE huge help on paying for color ink in the last FOUR newspaper issues of The Voice! Your help is greatly appreciated!