Friday Night Lights V: Jaguars are overcomers in giant takedown of Top 10 Patriots (VIDEOS!)

My Fall Sports Show No. 2 will be added here late Saturday afternoon.

Let it be known! The B-B-E Jaguars football team is the real deal. We got a glimpse of it last week against Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, a team that has the capability to run the table going into playoffs, but tonight it was on full display. The Jaguars came to play and overcame numerous mistakes to dominate No. 9-ranked Upsala/Swanville Area in a 14-6 win. Such a game of overcoming! The adversity, which was self-inflicted at numerous junctures of the game, never really let up until the game was winding down in the final minutes. The game was called with 1:22 left on the clock as a storm approached Swanville from the south. Officials ruled it a complete game and directed the teams to exit the stadium after handshakes.

**Here's my Fall Sports Show No. 2...


This was such an outstanding game to be a part of. It was a classic battle between two football rivals who respect one another while also wanting to defeat one another!

B-B-E's win sets up a key game next Friday, when U/SA hosts Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg at the Upsala field with a 2 p.m. kickoff. That is a game that I plan on watching remotely!! I may be shooting pictures at B-B-E's Homecoming Pep Fest while having that game pulled up on my cell phone.

The total offensive statistics were eye-popping: B-B-E had 385 offensive yards compared to 142 for U/SA. A big factor in the win was up front in the trenches, where most football games are won. The Jaguars had 231 rushing yards compared to just 24 for the Patriots. That is crazy! Just how dominating was B-B-E's defense? Here's the big picture: U/SA scored their lone touchdown early in the second quarter on a 47-yard, two-play drive coming off of a turnover (a miffed punt return). That was the only possession of the game that U/SA scored, and it was a possession that lasted just 22 seconds. What that means is that for the grand sum of the rest of the game, outside of those 22 seconds, U/SA's offensive plays yielded zero points.

I combed over my full set of first half notes, and what I found was that the offensive statistics were eerily similar between the Jaguars and Patriots. B-B-E had 130 yards of offense on just four drives and 30 plays with a time of possession of 11 minutes, 31 seconds. U/SA had 113 total yards in the first half on five series with 26 plays and a time of possession of 11 minutes, 46 seconds.

After falling behind 6-0 early in the second quarter, the Jaguars battled the rest of the way to halftime. U/SA drove inside the 10-yard line midway through the second quarter and had first down, goal-to-go, on B-B-E's seven-yard line. It looked bleak at that point, but the Jaguars got a huge boost when Owen Paulson tackled U/SA's quarterback after he faked a handoff and ran to the right. The play resulted in a three-yard loss. The Patriots had a five-yard catch on third down, but on fourth-and-five, Brett DeRoo batted down a pass at the five-yard line to give his team possession on their own five-yard line with 5:53 left.

Here's a 12-minute long video from the middle of the second quarter:


On the first play shown in the video, Owen Paulson had one of the biggest plays of the entire game with one of his three tackles for a loss, in this case with a tackle of U/SA's quarterback during that colossal goal line stand.

With a proper regrouping at halftime, the Jaguars rallied with two touchdowns in the third quarter. The fourth quarter was a shut out for both defenses. B-B-E broke up U/SA's shut out on their first series of the third quarter, when they mounted a 65-yard scoring drive capped by Jack Lundberg's 36-yard touchdown with 9:13 left. Owen Paulson ran off left tackle for the two-point conversion that put the Jaguars ahead 8-6. They added to that lead with Paulson's four-yard touchdown carry with 1:48 left in the third.

B-B-E's defense was simply "lights out" in the second half as they held the Patriots to less than 40 yards of offense in the third and fourth quarters. I've got more detailed notes on the second half to add here on Saturday morning following a visit to RD Offutt potato field days and a trip to Sunburg for a church fall bazaar.

As one of the coaches said last week to the team, "You are learning what it feels like to be hunted. Accept the challenge and make the most of it!" This is how the last three games of the regular season will go. They will get their opponents' best shot every night.

B-B-E football faced an enormous challenge taking on the No. 9-ranked team in the state on their home turf. The final score did not tell the full story of the topsy-turvy game. It is going to be another fun weekend breaking down this game just like it was for Friday Night Lights IV.

Luke Dingmann went 15-of-23 for 154 yards passing while also earning 63 rushing yards on 8 carries. Four receivers had 29 or more yards each, and Jack Lundberg led the ground game with 122 yards on 18 carries with one touchdown.

NEXT: the Jaguars (5-0) host the tough-as-nails Browerville Tigers (3-2) next Friday, October 6 for Homecoming night. It is going to be a great game. We had an AWESOME crowd tonight in Swanville, and we need to pack our stadium with Blue and Silver next Friday for Homecoming. This is a MUST! It is a non-negotiable deal we need to follow through on. This is a special football team who deserves large, loud, vocal crowds the rest of the season and into playoffs!

Shortly after 11 o'clock and video is uploading. It was a rather non-eventful trip home with a pit stop at Casey's in Melrose. I am grateful for this night!

*Here's video featuring the game's opening kickoff and the first offensive series:
 

That video had a great ending! I've got a second video uploading just shy of midnight, and I also will soon be recording my Fall Winter Sports Show No. 2. **Technical difficulties have delayed the posting of my sports show. I will get posted here on Saturday afternoon after I return from Hope Lutheran church's fall bazaar in Sunburg!!!!

Here's a video where the Jaguars stopped U/SA in the first quarter and then were hampered by an interception on their second series of the game:


I'll be scanning for more area football scores. Our sub-district's scores from tonight are posted below.

Mid-Northwest District Gopher Gold football scores in Week V on September 29:
Browerville 20, Benson 14
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 42, West Central Area 14 (Falcons put the hurt on the Knights in Barrett)
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 37, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 6 (LP-GE scores for the first time since the season opener after the Fighting Saints led 37-0 at halftime in Long Prairie)

Area football scores on September 29:
Hancock 36, Rothsay 14
Border West 26, Underwood 20
BOLD 69, Dawson-Boyd 0
Canby 15, Lac qui Parle Valley 12
Rockford Area 34, Minnewaska Area 7 (Lakers lose their Homecoming game)
Detroit Lakes 41, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 6
Pierz 33, Melrose Area 0
Kimball 40, Maple Lake 0
Hills-Beaver Creek 45, Renville County West 14
Eden Valley 42, Royalton 6
Osakis 34, Holdingford 22

It's GAME NIGHT! In Morrison County! (VIDEOS!)

We have an incredible night ahead of us! This is HUGE! A giant, colossal football game is tonight at Swanville's football stadium. Did I mention that this is HUGE!

With district championship and postseason seeding implications on the line, the B-B-E Jaguars football team is set to do battle with No. 9-ranked Upsala/Swanville Area tonight with a 7 p.m. kickoff in Swanville. If you can't make it to the game, Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood will be broadcasting on their radio station (107.1 FM) and on their website: https://www.kmgk1071.com. THANKS, BRADY! B-B-E will be facing their biggest test of the season so far this year, and U/SA may be the top team currently in our district. Another top team is Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, now a Class 2A school, who the Jaguars will host for Friday Night Lights VIII (Week 8)...and I wish it was easy to remember how to say our football team's regular season district and sub-district!

Another community note...the Belgrade Fire Department is hosting an event for the public on Saturday, October 7...read more here at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://rb.gy/7qkvb.

Here's senior Jordan Herickhoff after last Friday's win:


That video interview is also posted at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website plus other light coverage from Friday Night Lights IV: https://tinyurl.com/4m4t2f8b.

*Here's a third quarter video from last week when Owen Paulson ran in a two-point conversion that gave the Jaguars a 44-22 lead over A-C-GC:


U/SA is currently ranked No. 9 in the latest Class 1A state rankings, and they are 4-0 after defeating Browerville 36-14 last week. The Patriots racked up 232 rushing yards on the night with 141 yards on 16 carries coming from Carter Natvig. Their defense held the Tigers to 173 total yards, 151 on the ground and 22 in the air. U/SA's Jack Primus earned two interceptions. U/SA totaled 370 yards of offense with quarterback Frankie Meagher going 6-of-16 for 138 yards with two touchdowns. Primus was his top target with 4 catches for 127 yards.

GAME UPDATES to follow here after 7 p.m...

At the end of the first quarter, we have a scoreless tie.

*The Patriots scored with 10:52 left in the second quarter to take a 6-0 lead.

Halftime: U/SA 6, B-B-E 0. It was a truly crazy first half to take in.

After the third quarter was complete, the Jaguars are ahead 14-6. There is a threat of a storm rolling in and ending the game prematurely. We'll see how this goes. Check back in a NEW blog post to read how this game turns out!

THIS blog post is sponsored by the proud support of these locally-owned businesses:

Volleyball remains perfect in CMC play (UPDATES, VIDEOS!**)

It wasn't all pretty, but the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team came out on top in a 3-1 match at Eden Valley-Watkins tonight to stay undefeated in the Central Minnesota Conference. The Jaguars and Eagles are defending co-champions of the CMC. Last year, EV-W gave B-B-E our lone loss of the season by a 3-1 score in Brooten this same week, with both teams going 6-1 in the loop. Currently, EV-W falls to 3-15 overall and 0-4 in the CMC; they are really struggling this year and have won just 10 sets overall against 39 losses.

At EV-W tonight, the Jaguars hit at 18 and 25 percent across the first and second games. That figure dropped to just 8 percent in the third set loss. Overall, the Jaguars had a 20.6 percent hitting figure and were led by Brooklyn Fischer's career-high 28 kills.

NEXT: the Jaguars (14-4) host Hancock (5-12) in a sub-section match-up next Tuesday, October 3 as part of Homecoming week. The Homecoming royal court will be introduced prior to the varsity match.

In a rather stunning upset, Royalton lost by a 3-0 score tonight to Kimball Area to create a three-way tie for second place. The Royals (13-8, 3-1) are tied for second in the CMC with Paynesville Area (15-3) and Kimball Area (12-7). This puts our Jaguars in the driver's seat of the conference as they are now 4-0 in the loop.

And a scheduling note...the Homecoming coronation next week is at 7 p.m. at Olson Auditorium, not 7:30 p.m.

Another community note...the Belgrade Fire Department is hosting an event for the public on Saturday, October 7...read more here at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://rb.gy/7qkvb.

In their Cancer Night match and final regular season contest, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team fell 7-0 to MACCRAY tonight in Belgrade. They now gear up for the Section 6A playoffs, which opens with the quarterfinal round next Thursday, October 5 at the high seeds. I predict that the Jaguars will earn the No. 6 seed and travel to New London-Spicer for the opening round.

**Here's a video from the end of game two at K-M-S on September 18:


Central Minnesota Conference volleyball scores on September 28:
Kimball Area 3, Royalton 0 (Cubs have lost just one match since September 14, when our Jaguars won 3-1 at Kimball)
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 3, Maple Lake 1
Paynesville Area 3, Holdingford 0

About Friday's game at Swanville...bring a rain jacket! Or umbrella, or both! It may start raining right at halftime. Also, Brady with Smooth Magic 107 FM will be broadcasting the game!! Spread the word! I'll get a football post added around 5 p.m. before departing for Morrison County. The radio station also streams on their website: https://www.kmgk1071.com. THANKS, BRADY!

**Here's a post-game interview with senior Jordan Herickhoff after last Friday's football game:


That video interview is also posted at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://tinyurl.com/4m4t2f8b.

Area volleyball scores on September 28:
Browerville 3, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0
BOLD 3, Minnewewaska Area 1
Willmar 3, Fergus Falls 0
Melrose Area 3, Benson 0
Annandale 3, New London-Spicer 1
Yellow Medicine East 3, Ortonville 2
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 3, Ashby 0
Swanville 3, Upsala 0
Hancock 3, Rothsay 0
Underwood 3, Brandon-Evansville 2
Battle Lake 3, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 1
Minneota 3, Canby 1
Breckenridge 3, Barnesville 0
Renville County West 3, Lac qui Parle Valley 0
Sebeka 3, Verndale 1
Wadena-Deer Creek 3, Henning 0
West Central Area 3, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 1
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 3, Central MN Christian 1

Girls' tennis cancer night (VIDEOS)

Today we have a big event on deck with the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team hosting MACCRAY on cancer night. The team lineup will be introduced at about 3:45 p.m. All of us in Jaguar Country are rallying behind B-B-E Class of 2006 graduate Tiffany Breitbach, who is undergoing breast cancer treatments. She has coached volleyball at various levels as well as junior high fastpitch softball.

And an update later in the evening...MACCRAY is the alma mater for girls' tennis head coach Katie Hanna. It was truly, truly wonderful to see the MACCRAY tennis players wearing the same Cancer Night tshirts that Jaguar fans and players were wearing. Through Coach Hanna's connections at MACCRAY, they also ordered the same shirts. That was a really, really terrific gesture by MACCRAY. Such outstanding sportsmanship of the highest level.

Let's start praying for good weather for sure next Wednesday, October 4!!! The forecast does not look good right now for the B-B-E Color Fund Run. Currently the forecast calls for a high of 63 degrees with 50 percent chance of rain and wind between 10 and 20 miles an hour.

Here's Presley Detloff battling in one of her Prairie Conference tournament matches held one week ago in Osakis:


Presley Detloff is the lone senior on this year's tennis team. She is a remarkably dedicated three-sport student athlete at B-B-E. You can read more about her in this week's newspaper, where the Bonanza Valley Voice has the first Jaguar Spotlight of the 2023-2024 school year.

Also tonight...the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team gets back into Central Minnesota Conference play with a road trip to Eden Valley-Watkins. All three varsity-level squads (A, B, C teams) attended the tennis team's cancer night in a show of solidarity along with all grades 9-12 football players. It was one of the most impressive sights I have seen in over 20 years of sports reporting. I could not be prouder.

Here's a video from last Friday night in the third quarter of Friday Night Lights IV!


B-B-E's second half defense that night is what they will need across all four quarters of tomorrow night's game in Swanville. U/SA is currently ranked No. 9 in the latest Class 1A state rankings, and they are 4-0 after defeating Browerville 36-14 last week. The Patriots racked up 232 rushing yards on the night with 141 yards on 16 carries coming from Carter Natvig. Their defense held the Tigers to 173 total yards, 151 on the ground and 22 in the air. U/SA's Jack Primus earned two interceptions. U/SA totaled 370 yards of offense with quarterback Frankie Meagher going 6-of-16 for 138 yards with two touchdowns. Primus was his top target with 4 catches for 127 yards.

I'll get more posted on this blog post and also a new blog post to follow after the volleyball match has concluded at EV-W high school. I've been getting a few more fall sports albums added to the Bonanza Valley Voice SmugMug photo gallery. You can find that by clicking here: https://bonanzavalley.smugmug.com/B-B-E-Fall-Sports-2023.

This blog post is a wrap shortly after 9 o'clock tonight. What you see is what you get. A new post is coming that features more tennis notes plus volleyball.

Getting caught up...in the garden

As I move the newspaper operations out of triage and crisis mode back towards a more normal pace, I'm bogged down tonight in the garden. We're reaping what we sowed, and that means we have a lot of fruits and vegetables to harvest! Life is good.

Here's a glimpse of an evening getaway my wife and I had a little over a month ago. It seems so long ago...this was recorded at The Ledge Amphitheater in Waite Park on August 16.

VIDEO


Progress with fall harvest! We froze about 10 pounds of tomatoes/green peppers tonight. In minivan news...our 2013 Chrysler minivan was delivered to Hofmann Transmission earlier today. It will now be in the perfectly skilled hands of Scott Voss and his staff. I look forward to getting it back on the road!!! Our fingers are crossed that it will be available once November playoffs are heating up for volleyball and football...time will tell!

Church dinner day...and football notes

Today there's a big change of pace ahead with two church dinners on deck...the first begins at 10:30 a.m. at First Lutheran Church of Norway Lake, where they'll be serving a meatball dinner. The other is a turkey dinner at Chippewa Falls Lutheran that begins at 11 a.m. in beautiful Terrace. I won't be able to get down to Norway Lake, but I am going to Terrace. My morning has been occupied by going to church worship and still combing over my Friday Night Lights IV game notes.

Take this in: B-B-E's first three drives encompassed 10 plays for a total of 210 yards that put them ahead 20-6 with just under 2 minutes remaining in the first quarter. For A-C-GC, their first scoring drive on their third overall possession covered 90 yards before they scored on Jevon Williams' 7-yard run with 2:11 left in the opening quarter. That drive used 6 plays, its biggest coming on a 44-yard run by tight end Isaiah Renne that put the Falcons at the 7-yard line.

Overall in the first half, the Jaguars totaled 268 yards of offense on 19 total plays across 6 drives to score 28 offensive points. Of the 268 yards, 127 yards came on 11 carries, and 141 yards came on 8 catches. Although they trailed 36-22 at halftime, the Falcons totaled 270 yards of offense on 31 plays to score 22 offensive points.

After a full review of my notes and Hudl game tape, my totals show the Jaguar gaining 424 yards of offense, while A-C-GC had 404 yards of offense. The Jaguars had 35 plays to 58 by the Falcons. For B-B-E's offense, the yardage was a total split with 212 yards on the ground and 212 in the air. Crazy. In the second half, A-C-GC had 140 yards of offense...but no points scored.

UPDATE on Sunday night...I will not be blogging for at least a couple days. Likely not until Wednesday night. My plate just got beyond full, and I have to micromanage my time going into this week. I'm still determining exactly what went wrong, but it appears that our family's 2013 Chrysler minivan has a completely hatched transmission. This is after its undercarriage was "roughed up" by a softball-size rock. The rock was driven over at highway speed on a county road north of Paynesville on Friday. I think it caused a slow leak of transmission fluid which was not discovered until today...when it was too late. The damage was done. Somehow the transmission lost a ton of fluid this weekend. This minivan's transmission has a capacity of about 9 quarts, and by my estimation it was at least 3 quarts low. Our family is now facing a true hardship. This has been difficult to wrap my head around. It was a freak accident to have this rock damage the transmission, and I have to simply be glad that it didn't cause an actual car accident. Tomorrow I'll be getting a tow truck on the road and also making a visit with Scott Voss at Hofmann Transmission. Looks like he's got more business lined up! I am thankful he's in our Brooten community.

Sports update...
**The volleyball team won 25-16, 25-22, 26-24 at Parkers Prairie tonight. They're now 13-4 overall. Next on the schedule for the Jaguars is a trip to Eden Valley-Watkins this Thursday for a Central Minnesota Conference match. The two teams shared the CMC title last year.

Friday Night Lights IV: Jaguars overcome adversity, improve to 4-0! (VIDEOS)

This blog was lightly updated on Saturday over the noon hour...additional updates to come after 3 o'clock once some badly-needed newspaper office work is completed. Another video was added late Saturday afternoon before heading to Turkey Fest in Swift Falls (see below)...

Friday Night Lights IV! It was a doozy! Tonight was a completely different game than the first three games of the season. Getting to 3-0 was exciting and a huge achievement, but tonight showed that our team is for real, with much to work on!

Against the physical and disciplined Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City Falcons, the B-B-E Jaguars football team won 50-22 to improve to 4-0 as the first undefeated team in school history through four games. As the wins keep coming, the record will continue being broken! Even better than the 4-0 start is that we came out of the game relatively healthy...a little banged up, but that's to be expected against A-C-GC's ability to take you out of your game.

The Jaguars outscored the Falcons 14-0 in the second half. It was a display to take in! I'm quite anxious to start getting scores from around our district. Tonight had numerous hyped-up games that will tell us a great deal about where things stand halfway through the regular season.

And we have a sports show! Yes, here it is...the first one of the fall sports season:


Were it not for my severely sore legs and the need to be active and productive this weekend, I could have put more into that sports show. I have to get many, many tasks done between now and Monday afternoon. It's a start, and hopefully the first of more sports shows to come between now and the month of November! I also have to keep in mind - and you should, too! - that B-B-E's Homecoming is on the horizon. It's still over a week away, but I will need to be at 110 percent on a daily basis that entire week! I am terribly excited for it.

I forgot to mention my sports show sponsor...something I want to incorporate this fall. That is Brink's Beer Joint of Swift Falls. Their Turkey Fest is tomorrow (Saturday)! Click on the following link to read all about it: https://tinyurl.com/485e3cz3. Fun fact: Harold and Harriet Jacobson, great-grandparents of B-B-E "QB 1" Luke Dingmann, are well-known in the Swift Falls area and farmed north of Swift Falls throughout their adult life. I saw them regularly at Turkey Fest year after year once I became the owner of the Bonanza Valley Voice. Harold and Harriet are now fully retired from farm life and enjoying their golden years in Brooten. We love them dearly and wish all the best to them!!

*Here's a video from the final minute of the first quarter...


Brett DeRoo earned a touchdown on a 25-yard interception return with 44 seconds on the clock. Owen Paulson's two-point conversion carry made it a 28-6 lead.

Here's a video from the second quarter tonight:


If you get through the full clip, you'll see that I got really fired up at the point where a personal foul was called on A-C-GC for a late hit. In all fairness, yes, it was a late hit, but from what I saw in the video, the whistle hadn't blown yet either. It's a reminder that football is a super physical game. After the penalty was applied, B-B-E set up their fifth possession of the game at the A-C-GC 33-yard line with 5:52 on the clock. The Falcons defense was cranked up, and they pushed the Jaguars back 3 yards on first down. On 2nd-and-13, Luke Dingmann ran for 19 yards around the left side. Then on 1st-and-10 at the 17, the Jaguars coughed up possession with a lost fumble. This gave A-C-GC the ball at their own 25-yard line with 5:10 to go.

The Jaguars led 28-6 after the first quarter. They were riding high, but the Falcons shifted the momentum to their side with back-to-back touchdowns in the second quarter.

After their 7th drive of the game, the Falcons trailed just 28-22 with 47 seconds left before halftime. That scoring drive, which started after B-B-E's lost fumble, covered 75 yards and 4 minutes, 27 seconds of game clock. B-B-E responded with a 50-yard drive where they needed just 24 seconds to score. Hayden Sobiech's 20-yard touchdown catch in the end zone came with 18 seconds to go. Owen Paulson ran in the two-point conversion to give the Jaguars some breathing room and a 36-22 halftime lead.

**Here's an exciting reel with the Jaguars scoring in the final seconds of the second quarter with 18 seconds left:


To start the third quarter, A-C-GC earned an interception on B-B-E's first play. Starting on their 17-yard line, the Falcons moved into B-B-E territory but punted on the 11th play; on the final play of the drive, A-C-GC punted, and B-B-E then scored on a 55-yard drive capped by Brett DeRoo's 31-yard touchdown grab. Paulson's two-point carry made it 44-22 with 2:11 left.

When the dust settled, the Jaguars had faced a very, very good team that had a record of 1-2, and they overcame it. It was adversity, and in spite of that they still won by a score of 50-22. It is a win to be proud of.

NEXT: the Jaguars will learn if they are contenders or not with a trip to Swanville next Friday, September 29. They will take on Upsala/Swanville Area. More to come on that. Keep in mind that U/SA went to A-G-CG last week and put the hurt on the Falcons by a 36-0 final score. The Patriots are the real deal. I still haven't heard the final score from Browerville tonight. Stay tuned.

For the first time this season, the Jaguars were outgained on offense, but if you win 50-22 that lessens the sting of that by a mile. B-B-E racked up 435 yards of offense compared to 439 for A-C-GC. I haven't combed over my drive totals, but it will be fascinating to see where things stood at halftime. I'm telling you: the second half shut out was something to be proud of.

A-C-GC's running game battered the Jaguar defense at times, but the Jaguars still outgained them on the ground by a margin of 220 yards to 197 yards. The Jaguars were outgained through the air by a 242 to 215-yard margin. Luke Dingmann was 13-for-18 for 215 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. Brett DeRoo had one interception, and Owen Paulson had one fumble recovery.

A-C-GC's Jevon Williams had 28 carries for 136 yards.

To put this game into perspective with what's coming against No. 9-ranked U/SA, last week in Grove City...the Patriots held A-C-GC to just 85 total yards in a 36-0 win after leading 24-0 at halftime. They limited the Falcons to a net negative one yard of rushing for the game. On offense, their leading receiver was Jack Primus, who caught 5 passes for 124 yards. Through U/SA's first three games, they outscored their opponents 149-14.

Tonight I entered the stadium awfully fired up and basically on edge. I arrived "just in time" to join the pep band for the playing of the National Anthem. I had hours to prepare for the game, and wouldn't you know it...at the last minute, I could not find my ankle compresses. I had everything else ready to go, including all my camera equipment. My wife was out of town tonight, which created more adversity on the home front. It was a wicked disaster I had going!! My saving grace was that I had practiced the National Anthem a few times this week, including earlier today. Practice pays off!!! Remember that. This makes it four games that I just haven't been quite perfect in my preparation. I came close to being fully prepared for the trip to Barrett...just one small detail: my camera chip wasn't properly cleared for the video camera. Such a huge let down for the WCA game!! I had about 5 minutes' worth of memory on my video camera and had to rely mostly on my cell phone to get video from the WCA game. I hope Week 5 is different, because it includes a generally treacherous drive to Swanville. Overall, I'm feeling remarkably good on a 13,000-step day. Tonight's football game only had approximately 4,000 steps compared to 6,000 last week.

This week was exhausting! A drive to K-M-S on Monday, the Osakis drive yesterday for tennis...and then tonight's football game. I'm truly grateful that it was a home game. I am running out of steam and glad it was a short drive home afterwards. This may be the first night after a B-B-E Jaguar football game since the 2000s when I won't push past midnight breaking down the game and looking at area scores. Crazy. I have enough gas in the tank to make my first "Sports Show" recording of the 2023-2024 school year. This is something I hoped to do 2 weeks ago. Update: lo and behold! I got a second wind and got a show recorded about an hour past midnight. Life is good.

UPDATE: No. 9 Upsala/Swanville Area is 4-0 after defeating Browerville 36-14 in Browerville tonight. The Patriots scored on the second play of the game on Carter Natvig's 62-yard run to cap a 35-second, 64-yard touchdown drive. The Tigers stuffed the two-point conversion. The final score does not tell the full story of the game. U/SA led 20-14 with about 8 minutes left side in the fourth quarter. With 6:58 left in the game, Jack Primus caught a pass on the left and ran in a 49-yard touchdown. A successful two-point conversion pass expanded U/SA's lead to 28-14. Around the 5-minute mark, both teams subbed down to their JV, and the Patriots added another score for the final margin on freshman Carson Primus's 10-yard run with 2:57 left in the game.

Mid-Northwest Gopher Gold District Week 4 scores on September 23:
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 34, West Central Area 6
Benson 33, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0 (LP-GE has been shut out for three straight games)
Upsala/Swanville Area 36, Browerville 14

The top of the Gopher Gold District standings features three teams with 3-0 records: Upsala/Swanville Area, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg and B-B-E.

Area football scores on September 22:
MACCRAY 41, Lakeview 33
Eden Valley-Watkins 50, Paynesville Area 0
Osakis 36, St. Cloud Cathedral 8
Kimball Area 14, Royalton 8
Albany 26, Pierz 14
Litchfield 48, New London-Spicer 21
Rockford Area 27, Montevideo 12
No. 1-ranked Minneota 28, Canby 6
Minnewaska Area 18, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 12 (Lakers win for the first time since October 15, 2021; on that night, they beat HL-W-W during a 1-8 season; they were 3-4 during the COVID season, so this was their 5th win this decade)
Rocori 11, Hutchinson 0
Sauk Centre 44, Melrose Area 6
BOLD 66, Lac qui Parle Valley 27
Holdingford 62, Maple Lake 16
Brandon-Evansville/Ashby 6, Hancock 0

Tomorrow we have Turkey Fest coming in Swift Falls! This is an exciting event. I have always greatly enjoyed attending Turkey Fest. Their parade is at 5:30 p.m., while the chili cook-off runs from 3 to 5 p.m. All the details have been published in the last two weeks of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. Click on the following short link to watch the 2021 Turkey Fest parade: https://tinyurl.com/485e3cz3. To help support The Voice operations this fall in a time of extremely high energy/fuel costs, numerous businesses such as Brink's Beer Joint of Swift Falls have stepped up with extra advertising. We are grateful for this support to keep us going.

Going back 50 years! Fifty years ago this week...the Brooten Buccaneers football team defeated Osakis on Homecoming night by a 39-0 score. This win improved the Buccaneers to 4-0. I have a full review of the 1973 Brooten football season that I hope to publish next week. There's much more to write about regarding that team.

It's GAME DAY in Jaguar Country! Bring on the Falcons!

Tonight is another big game for our B-B-E Jaguars football team!! The Jaguars will take on the Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City Falcons in their second straight home game and fourth overall this season. Kickoff is at 7 p.m., and I am not aware of any radio coverage tonight. This is the first time ever that a Jaguar football team will take a 3-0 record into game night! It is terribly exciting!!!

A-C-GC sits in fourth place in the Section 4A standings with a 1-2 overall record. They average 18 points per game and give up an average of 24.7 points per game. Jevon Williams is once again their feature ball carrier.

*Here's a video from the second quarter last week...


More to come. Time to pack up the Buick!

GAME UPDATES...to come!
With 2 minutes to go in the first quarter, the Jaguars have a 12 to 6 lead.

*Late in the second quarter, the Jaguars are ahead 28 to 22.

SECOND HALF...
At the end of the 3rd quarter, the Jaguars have a 44 to 22 lead.

Hit refresh on the blog to see a new blog post for Friday Night Lights IV!

Volleyball Jaguars maintain first in CMC, tennis shines at Osakis

Playing at a much better pace tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team came home with a 3-0 sweep from Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. Game scores were 25-19, 25-10, 25-17. This win, coupled with Paynesville Area's loss at Royalton tonight, keeps the Jaguars in first place in what is now a two-way tie for first place with Royalton at 3-0 each. The Bulldogs are 2-1 in the CMC in third place and tied with Kimball Area. Paynesville Area (11-3 overall) fell behind 2-0 in sets before evening it up at two apiece. The Royals (12-7 overall) cruised to a 15-8 win in game five.

The Bulldogs have a big sub-section match next Monday at home against bordering rival New London-Spicer.

Tonight at A-C-GC, the Jaguars hit at a 32 percent clip and were led by 22 kills (39 percent) from senior Brooklyn Fischer and 12 (30 percent) by sophomore Kacey Fischer. Overall, the Jaguars hammered out 113 attacks and had just 11 hitting errors. At the service line, they missed just 3 of 73 serves while racking up 6 ace serves.

Next: the Jaguars (12-4 overall) travel to Parkers Prairie for a tough sub-section battle with the Panthers next Monday, September 26. Parkers Prairie just lost 3-0 to Underwood tonight against one of the top teams in Sub-Section 6A-North. B-B-E's trip to Parkers Prairie next Monday will likely be their toughest best-of-five match during this lengthy road swing. They will have gone from September 7 through October 3 without a home match. So far, so good! A-C-GC falls to 4-11 overall.

Breaking news! The No. 3 doubles team of Arlee Tensen and Grace Berndt took second place at the Prairie Conference tournament today in Osakis. Great job!

Prairie Conference girls' tennis results at Osakis on September 21:
No. 1 doubles: Andrea Douvier and Ellan Fischer, third place.
No. 2 doubles: Jocelyn Commerford and Skylar Knight-Deweerd, third place
No. 3 doubles: Arlee Tensen and Grace Berndt, second place
No. 1 singles: Presley Detloff, third place
No. 3 singles: Izzy Graham, third place

Central Minnesota Conference volleyball scores on September 21:
Royalton 3, Paynesville Area 2 (Bulldogs fall to third place in the CMC)
Maple Lake 3, Holdingford 0
Kimball Area 3, Eden Valley-Watkins 1

Area volleyball scores on September 21:
Minnewaska Area 3, Benson 0
BOLD 3, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 0
Melrose Area 3, Montevideo 0
Watertown-Mayer 3, New London-Spicer 2 (Wildcats lose game five by a 15-12 score)
Minneota 3, Renville County West 0
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 3, Yellow Medicine East 0
Dawson-Boyd 3, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 1
Canby 3, Lac qui Parle Valley 0

Here's a video from Jerry VanderBeek's funeral last Saturday in Glenwood:


Jerry VanderBeek, a farmer in Bangor Township west of Brooten, was a dear friend to me. He and his family are wonderful people. His obituary was published in the September 14 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice. I will repost that video again either on this blog or on the newspaper's website.

More to come late Friday afternoon with a new blog post that gets us pointed towards the football game! I hope you can attend in person!!

Today is an interesting day! And...tennis (VIDEO)

Today is a very intriguing day in the Bonanza Valley area. We are very likely experiencing our last day above 80 degrees until next spring! It could be May of 2024 before we get as warm as we will today. The high is predicted to top out at about 83 degrees. Tomorrow they backed off the high from 79 degrees down to 76 degrees. Then it appears the heat really backs off as the fall becomes much more fall-like.

Thursday morning...I made the short trek north to Osakis high school. It is brutal to drive on $4 a gallon gas...absolutely brutal. This economy is absolutely terrible right now, but I have to keep my hopes up. I am excited to cover part of the Prairie Conference girls' tennis tournament. Stay tuned for updates!

Update from Osakis: B-B-E's No. 3 doubles team of Arlee Tensen and Grace Berndt will play for a Prairie Conference title this afternoon. They won their semifinal match 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) against a dubs team from Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala-Swanville Area. Overall, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team performed well throughout the morning.

Here's video from No. 3 doubles today in Osakis:


The No. 3 doubles squad of Arlee Tensen and Grace Berndt trailed 3-2 in the second set before winning two straight points to go up 4-3. They fell into a 6-6 tie to force a set tiebreaker, which they won by a 7-2 score to advance to their bracket's championship match. A more complete set of results will be posted in a new blog post tonight that will also feature volleyball results from Grove City.

Later today I am quite excited for the Brooten Farmer's Market! If you haven't stopped by there yet this season, please do so! It lasts from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Brooten city park. Come one, come all!

Harvesting solar energy...and updates (VIDEOS)

Today we continue harvesting some tremendous solar energy across the Bonanza Valley area and beyond. That's basically tying up all my free time right now. In our family garden, we are very busy pruning tomatoes and tending to a few other vegetables that are still going strong. The heat units are plentiful, which is something we are grateful for.

We are expecting a high of 85 degrees today!!! At Weather-Dot-Com, it says are at 82 degrees now in the middle of the afternoon in Brooten.

So! Go outside and enjoy that sunshine!!!

Tomorrow the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team competes in the Prairie Conference tournament. If memory serves me correct, this is an event that is being brought back after it was pulled during the 2020 COVID season. This is great news!! It is a tourament that I feel the Jaguars can shine in. Action begins at 9 a.m. at Osakis high school with five teams, including the host school, B-B-E, St. John's Prep, Parkers Prairie and Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala-Swanville Area. I am hopeful that The Voice will cover it in person.

Videos added late Wednesday night...

Here's a video featuring B-B-E's fourth touchdown of the game against Benson in the home opener last Friday:


The Jaguars led 28-3 after that touchdown on Luke Illies's reception in the end zone from Luke Dingmann.

Here's a video from late in the second quarter against Benson:


Time to get to practicing my trumpet for our pep band's second performance of the fall! It's less than 48 hours away!!!

Border battle sweep by the Jaguars (VIDEOS)

It goes in the book as a 3-0 sweep! Just barely, though...

Facing an inspired Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg squad on their home floor, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team continued their road warrior tour with a three-set victory over the Fighting Saints. It was anything but easy or pretty.

Game one at K-M-S...
After the Jaguars got a kill from Brooklyn Fischer for the first point scored in game one, the Fighting Saints came alive and scored four straight. Brooklyn Fischer had another kill, and an ace serve by Kylie Weller later cut the deficit to 5-4. K-M-S then rattled off a 7-1 run to take a 12-5 lead. The Jaguars scored three straight with a kill by Kadynce Haider earning a badly-needed side out. Haider's second kill of the set cut it to a 12-8 score, and the Jaguars stuck with the home team to a 16-12 score. Kenna Lieser then had back-to-back kills, and the Jaguars trailed 17-15 before Brooklyn Fischer's ace serve tied it at 18-18.

*Here's a long video that starts with K-M-S holding a 12-6 lead in game one...


The Jaguars later held a 23-21 lead in game one before the Fighting Saints scored 4 of the next 5 points to take a 25-24 lead and serve with game point. B-B-E ultimately took the cliffhanger set by a 29-27 score with Adley Hagen's kill good for the 29th point.

See the end of the wild game one play out in the video below...


Game two at K-M-S...
After game two featured a tie at 5-5, the Jaguars surged in front 13-7 before Coach Molenaar called a timeout. They pushed the lead up to 18-11, but they inexplicably took their foot off the gas. K-M-S seized the momentum and tied it at 19-19 before going in front 21-20. Kacey Fischer's kill tied it, but the Fighting Saints later took a 23-21 lead. Back-to-back kills by Kacey Fischer and Brooklyn Fischer tied it at 23-23. Out of Coach Molenaar's timeout, the Fighting Saints had a net violation to bring game point. Kenna Lieser provided the finisher in game two with a kill for an exciting 25-23 win.

Game three at K-M-S...
The Jaguars were in control right away with a hot start and an early 4-0 lead. They expanded that to 19-11 and later 24-14 on their way to the sweep.

For the match: game scores were 29-27, 25-23, 25-17. A mild 14.4 hitting percentage was a large factor in the team's subpar play, and their inability to mount an effective block also allowed K-M-S to stick with them in the first two games.

Five Jaguars had four or more kills, and they were led by Brooklyn Fischer's 16 kills on 50 attacks with 16 percent hitting.

NEXT: the Jaguars (11-4 overall) travel to Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City for a Central Minnesota Conference match on Thursday. The road tour continues all the way into October, as B-B-E's next home match is not until Tuesday, October 3 against Hancock.

And for the record! K-M-S will not be a playoff opponent...they have been moved to Class 2A and will compete in the Sub-Section 3AA-North playoffs in late October. I was incorrect by thinking they are still in Sub-Section 6A-South. After tonight's loss, the Fighting Saints are 2-7 overall, which is a very deceiving record. They are going to surprise a few teams as the season progresses.

Tuesday (tomorrow) is an exciting day with the Belgrade Co-op hosting a field / career day at their test plot west of Belgrade. This will include high school students from Sauk Centre and B-B-E high schools. Agriculture still reigns supreme in our local economy!

Area volleyball scores on September 18:
New London-Spicer 3, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 0
Dawson-Boyd 3, Hancock 0
Ortonville 3, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 2
Browerville 3, Pillager 0
New York Mills 3, Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal 2

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More football coverage...and a song (VIDEOS)

The B-B-E Jaguars football team won the home opener in their Week 3 match up with the Benson Braves. The final score was 58-17 after the Jaguars led 42-10 at halftime as they forged the program's first 3-0 start to a season.

Here's a video from prior to the kickoff:


Against Benson, the Jaguars ran 22 plays in the first half and piled up 283 yards. It was a sight!

Here's the starter introductions before the Jaguars faced Benson:


Also at this blog post, I'll add the full varsity schedule for the upcoming week. That will come on Monday morning. Stay tuned!

This week's varsity schedule:
Monday, September 18: Volleyball at K-M-S; C and JV-squad matches start at 6 p.m.
Tuesday: cross country is at Melrose.
Thursday: tennis competes at the Prairie Conference tournament in Osakis starting at 10 a.m.; volleyball is at Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City; cross country is at the Kimball golf course.
Friday: the football team hosts A-C-GC.

I attended the funeral for Jerry VanderBeek, a farmer from Bangor Township who passed away unexpectedly on September 9. He was the father of one of my classmates, Chris, who now lives in Rosemount. Below is a video that I recorded as guests sang 'How Great Thou Art' early in the service.

VIDEO from First Baptist Church in Glenwood:


Some may recognize the woman up front leading everyone in song. That would be the one and only Linda Wharton, a graduate of Brooten high school who was an infant caretaker/teacher at the Jaguar Kids Connection day care from 2006 until her retirement on May 26, 2023. She is the best!!! The very best. Such a wonderful person. We hope she is enjoying the retired life. She has earned it.

I won't get a new blog post added until after the K-M-S match tonight. I will be traveling there to cover it live, so the road time will delay blogging most likely until after 10 p.m.

Update...
At KMS, the volleyball team won 3-0. More to come in a new blog post!

Volleyball takes the title at Crosby-Ironton (VIDEO, updates*)

We have our first 'Ship of the fall sports season! First of many, I hope!

At Crosby-Ironton today in a 14-team invitational, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team swept their way through four opponents to claim the title. Defeated by the Jaguars in order today were Barnum, Deer River, Verndale and Pine River-Backus. The Jaguars are now 10-4 overall heading into a non-conference sub-section border battle at Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg on Monday.

Verndale entered the tournament with an 8-1 overall record. PR-B, a state entrant last year after they won the Section 5A title, was 5-3 overall coming in with one of the three losses happening in the season opener against our Jaguars in five sets. The Tigers also lost to Verndale by a 3-2 margin at home on September 12.

Today's tournament has certainly raised my excitement for this team! There's a long road from now to the postseason, but this was a big day for the team that will put them on more radars as the season moves along.

Here's a video from the last day of August...it seems so long ago now...


The Jaguars held a 23-21 lead when the video starts at MACCRAY high school. The Jaguars later served game point with a 24-22 lead. Both teams then slugged it out for a full 20 seconds!! MACCRAY had a net violation to end the game with the Jaguars winning 25-22. They ultimately won 3-1 for a 2-0 start to the season.

Don't forget! Sunday, September 17 is a really, really big day in Jaguar Country! Two big, big events! The first starts at 9 a.m. down in Burbank Township and about 3 miles south of Georgeville. (Google it if you aren't sure where Georgeville is.) The fourth annual Rustic Flower Farms Harvest Festival, which is owned and operated by 1995 B-B-E graduate Mary (Walsh) Solbreken, lasts from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. This has been advertised in the last three Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper issues.

The other big, big event is the annual St. Donatus Catholic church fall ham and turkey dinner. This will be hosted at the Padua Pub and runs from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Padua Pub reception hall. This has also been advertised in the last three newspaper issues.

It's taken some time, but I'm getting this album caught up...the fall sports photo galleries albums. My Summer 2023 sports photos albums are just about completed. The fall album can be found here: https://bonanzavalley.smugmug.com/B-B-E-Fall-Sports-2023.

If you haven't seen it yet, check out the progress made in downtown Brooten last week by clicking here (short link): https://tinyurl.com/4etc7zcs. It's also terribly exciting to see the progress made at the Lucky Shots Bowling Alley, formerly known as the Brooten Lanes. They have installed new pin droppers, and the bowling alley will be up and running next week!

Friday Night Lights III: first 3-0 start ever for Jaguar football! (VIDEOS)

The B-B-E Jaguars football team is 3-0 for the first time ever.

Tonight against Benson, the Jaguars raced out to a commanding 42-10 halftime lead while they kept Benson's first team offense out of the end zone without a touchdown the entire night. Benson later scored against B-B-E's JV defense with 6:30 left in the fourth quarter. By that point, all the damage was done, and the Jaguars had a 58-17 lead which stood to the final horn.

B-B-E led 14-0 after the first quarter, with Toby Cebulla scoring with 4:54 on the clock on a four-yard carry for the 14-0 lead. The Jaguars scored their first touchdown on a 49-yard run by Luke Dingmann on what was a one play drive with 8:51 on the clock.

An interception by Josh Walstrom ended Benson's first drive of the game, which set up the Jaguars at midfield just prior to Dingmann's touchdown.

Here's a video from the first quarter tonight:


With 9:38 left in the second quarter, Benson got on the scoreboard with a 26-yard field goal to make the score 14-3. Below is a video showing the Jaguars holding Benson to the fourth-down play and field goal after the Braves mounted a sustained drive that started on their own 27-yard line.

Second quarter video:


B-B-E's third offensive series of the game was set up by a terrific 15-plus hard kickoff return by Ethan Mueller, who got the Jaguars to Benson's 42-yard line. Later on fourth down and two, Dingmann converted with a four-yard run up the middle. Owen Paulson then had a 12-yard carry, and Luke Illies caught a 17-yard pass two plays later to get goal to go. Paulson then finished the 8-play drive with a one-yard plunge for a touchdown with 6:43 left before halftime. Harley Weber's two-point carry made it 22-3.

At halftime, the Jaguars held a 42-10 lead after they outscored Benson 28-7 in the second quarter. Not exaggerating: that was one of the wildest quarters of football I've ever witnessed at the high school level. The last three touchdowns scored by B-B-E were through the air, the last coming on a 53-yard strike from Dingmann to Sobiech with 1:18 left. Paulson again ran the two-point conversion to make the score 42-10.

After they fell behind 34-3, the Braves scored their first touchdown of the season on an 85-yard kickoff return with about 90 seconds left in the second quarter.

B-B-E scored two touchdowns in the third quarter. The first was on a 9-yard carry by Dingmann, and the last was on a 10-yard carry by Jack Lundberg. On the last touchdown, Luke Illies caught a two-point conversion pass to give the Jaguars a 58-10 lead with 2:37 left in the third.

Benson capped the game's scoring with a one-yard touchdown run with 6:30 left. They had a successful PAT kick to make it 58-17.

I was impressed by Benson's fight that they showed all night. They are clearly struggling this season. It's a rebuilding year. We wish them the best. Benson is a team that will only get better game by game. They made some nice plays defensively that challenged the Jaguars. That is a good thing. The schedule just gets tougher from here.

For the game, the Jaguars piled up 389 yards of offense compared to 173 yards for Benson. Luke Dingmann had an outstanding night with 12-of-15 passing marks for 228 yards and three touchdowns. His leading receiver tonight was junior Hayden Sobiech, who is back from injury and caught 3 passes for 79 yards with one touchdown. Dingmann ran for 72 yards, with the one carry for 49 yards and a touchdown and three other carries for 23 yards.

NEXT: the Jaguars continue the two-game homestand next Friday, September 22 in Belgrade. The opponent will be a tough Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City Falcons squad. We need a big crowd next week! Tonight's was a TERRIFIC crowd, but let's make it even bigger and louder for Week Four!!! The Falcons are 1-2 overall after getting shut out by visiting Upsala/Swanville Area, who won 36-0 at Grove City to improve to 3-0.

More to come. Video is uploading, and game notes are being reviewed! I also have a pulled left hamstring to deal with. That honestly happened late in the fourth quarter or even after the game...I don't know for sure. I think it happened on my dash from the pep band to the team's postgame huddle...that 60-yard sprint did me in. Oh boy. I was unable to get any post-game interviews recorded. I had my hands full getting my equipment gathered and getting to the car without hurting my left leg even more. For the record: tonight's game was good for almost 6,000 steps! I had my watch firmly duct-taped to my wrist so it wouldn't fall off while I was sprinting around the stadium. Ice, compress, elevate! Thanks for the help, Trish!

I'm spending this extra time I have tonight laying on a couch icing my hamstring by sweeping around for college volleyball news. I am aware of numerous former B-B-E Jaguar volleyball players who have become part of very successful college programs. The two I am keenly aware of are 2019 graduate Emily Knight (a middle blocker at Colorado School of Mines) plus 2022 graduate Emily Kern (a libero at St. Cloud State University)...both are in outstanding Division II programs. I have to get some coverage on fall college sports in the newspaper. This is something I never got around to in the fall of 2022. I saw that Emily Knight was a starter for all 30 matches for her team a year ago as a junior, when she finished No. 1 on the team in blocks and No. 2 for kills with incredible 27.6 percent hitting. That's outstanding! Her team went 22-8 in 2022. The Orediggers earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, where they went 1-1 with a tough 3-2 loss to No. 9-ranked West Texas A and M. The ending of their season was brutal with a 15-13 loss in game five. Heartbreaking.

Emily Kern's SCSU Huskies are 8-2 after earning a 3-0 sweep tonight over Minot State in North Dakota.

Mid-Northwest Gopher Gold Sub-District Week III football scores on September 15:
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 21, Browerville 6 (Fighting Saints rack up 238 yards on the ground while remaining undefeated with this win in Murdock)
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 36, Upsala/Swanville Area 0
West Central Area 60, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0

Area football scores in Week III on September 15:
Yellow Medicine East 24, Lac qui Parle Valley 13
Minneota 42, BOLD 28
Pierz 35, Minnewaska Area 0
Springfield 48, Russel-Tyler-Ruthton 22
Polk County West 39, Bagley 18
Kimball Area 34, Paynesville Area 0
Montevideo 33, Melrose Area 7
Canby 28, MACCRAY 20
Alexandria 37, St. Cloud Tech 14
Dawson-Boyd 33, Lakeview 0
Holdingford 46, St. Cloud Cathedral 7
Albany 66, Sauk Centre 20

It's GAME DAY in Jaguar Country! (VIDEOS)

Today is a big day in Jaguar Country! We've had home cooking in tennis and volleyball this fall, but now it's time for the B-B-E Jaguars football team to put themselves at center stage on their own territory as they host Benson tonight in a sub-district game.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at the B-B-E high school in Belgrade. The game will also be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood if you live too far away to make cheering in person a practical matter. I'll get their website link added shortly. Here's the link to their website, which will stream the game: https://www.kmgk1071.com. Pregame coverage starts at 6:45 p.m. Thanks, Brady!

Here's a video recorded late in the third quarter last Friday in Barrett:


*Here's a post-game video interview with senior Ryan Jensen last week standing outside West Central Area high school:


Ryan Jensen is one of 12 seniors on this year's football team. They are a huge reason why the team has a 2-0 start so far this fall. The excitement is sky high for the potential of this team!

More to come. Game updates will be added to this blog post tonight.

GAME UPDATES...
**After the first quarter, the Jaguars are ahead 14 to 0.
Halftime: BBE 42, Benson 10.
More to come in a new blog post.

Make sure to support our local business sponsors! This blog post is sponsored by Bucky's Bar of Elrosa and Coop's Corner of Belgrade.

Volleyball defeats Cubs, rainfall halts tennis action (Updates, Video*)

After getting out to a 2-0 lead in sets tonight at Kimball Area, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team stumbled in game three before finishing strong in a 25-16 win in game four to defeat the host Cubs. Game scores were 25-20, 25-19, 16-25, 25-16.

Coach Hunter attempted to stretch out the depth of the team and had reserves Bree Thieschafer, Faith Radermacher, Kamie Fischer and Mariah Koenig all play in one set each. Overall, 12 players saw action in the varsity match. Five players had 3 or more kills, and the Jaguars were led by Brooklyn Fischer's 15 kills on 42 attacks. Seven Jaguars served in the match, and Kenna Lieser racked up three ace serves with a perfect 23-for-23 mark at the service line.

Now 2-0 in the Central Minnesota Conference and 6-4 overall, the Jaguars will have a one-day layoff before getting on an early bus ride for about a 102-mile trip to Crosby-Ironton for a tournament on Saturday. Kimball Area falls to 6-6 overall and 1-1 in the CMC; they beat A-C-GC 3-1 in their conference opener a week ago.

Here's a video from game two of the home opener against New London-Spicer a little over a week ago:


Ironically, I spoke about not wanting to jinx the lead, as the Jaguars held a 9-4 lead when I started recording. They had a lead as wide as 17-9 later in the game before NL-S stormed back to win that and game three for the sweep.

For the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team, their conference match in Belgrade against LPGE/USA was halted due to oncoming rain and a possible thunderstorm. When they stopped action at about 6 p.m., the Jaguars and Thunder were sitting in a 2-2 tie. Yikes!! The stakes are high there for conference standings, so I will find out when that match will be completed.

A programming note...Friday night's home football game will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood, who also streams online for convenient listing anywhere on earth! More on the home football opener will be added in a blog post coming on Friday afternoon.

Central Minnesota Conference volleyball scores on September 14:
Paynesville Area 3, Eden Valley-Watkins 0
Royalton 3, Maple Lake 0 (Royals are off to a great start this season with a 9-4 overall record)
Holdingford 3, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 1

Area volleyball scores on September 14:
Rocori 3, Willmar 2 (Spartans stay perfect at 10-0 overall; Willmar put up a battle but fell to 4-7 overall)
Sartell-St. Stephen 3, Alexandria 2
New London-Spicer 3, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 0
Lakeview 3, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 0
Brandon-Evansville 3, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 1
Swanville 3, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0
Battle Lake 3, Hancock 2
Minneota 3, Lac qui Parle Valley 0
Parkers Prairie 3, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 1
Browerville 3, Osakis 0
Underwood 3, Rothsay 0
Bertha-Hewitt 3, Henning 1
Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 3, Springfield 1
Melrose Area 3, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 0
Verndale 3, New York Mills 1
BOLD 3, West Central Area 0
Renville County West 3, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 0

Volleyball, cross country, tennis in action tonight

Taylor Nelson and Taylor Pieper are both in action tonight in a cross country meet with the B-B-E/Paynesville squad at the Little Crow Golf Course near New London.

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team is at Kimball Area. The match is streamed online on a subscription fee with the NFHS Network. I briefly looked into it, and it's not a terrible fee at $80 a year. Their subscription is good for multiple schools throughout Minnesota.

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team hosts Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala-Swanville Area at 4 p.m. in a Prairie Conference match.

Mark Weller and Deb Breitbach and others hosted another terrific Farmers Market tonight at the city park in Brooten. The response was strong for the first hour or so, but then it clouded up and started to rain. I was there with family selling tomatoes, zucchini, green peppers and squash. This is a really, really fun event to be part of!! My family had the honor of being set up next to Dave and Terri Weller, who were selling the most amazing homegrown apples! Delicious!! By 6 o'clock, we had to pull the plug and close up camp due to an ongoing steady drizzle. The rain was needed, even if it didn't turn out to much.

If you want to get caught up on what's happening locally in the coming weeks, I'm updating the newspaper's online community calendar shortly. You can find that by clicking here: B-B-E Community Calendar.

Volleyball updates and more to come later in a new blog post.

Second win for tennis! (VIDEOS added)

Fueled by a sweep at doubles play, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team picked up their second win of the season today on the home courts against St. John's Prep. The final score was 5-2, a great win for the team and program on what was also Parents and Senior night. The team's only senior, Presley Detloff, was honored by Coach Hanna during pre-game starter introductions.

Here's a video from right after the end of the No. 3 doubles match:


The Jaguars held a 3-2 lead in team points with No. 3 doubles and No. 3 singles still in play. The win was still up for grabs with Izzy Graham battling at singles and Arlee Tensen and Grace Berndt zeroing in on a win at doubles play. Tensen and Berndt took their match in straight sets, winning the second set by a 6-3 score, to hand B-B-E their second win of the season.

*Here's a video from the post-match huddle with Coach Hanna:


NEXT: the Jaguars host their second straight Prairie Conference match with Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala-Swanville Area coming to town this Thursday (4:30 p.m.).

THURSDAY update...
Videos and more will be added to this blog post on Thursday. Tuesday night and Wednesday were jammed up with newspaper-related work! I am thrilled to have learned from Brad Danielson that turnout was outstanding at the third annual Monson Lake Grand Opry music festival on Saturday in Hayes Township, rural Sunburg. That event was heavily promoted in the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper in the weeks leading up to the event. I never made it out there...the $4 a gallon gas is biting down hard on newspaper operations. Having a light sports week this week has helped our sports department's budget, plus a home football game is coming tomorrow (Friday)...Also! Don't forget about the Farmers Market in Brooten runs from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the city park on Thursday.


Also Thursday night: the volleyball team competes at Kimball Area. The match might be streamed on YouTube. I will look for that and get a new blog post added.

Volleyball battling at Marshall (UPDATES*)

Updates were added here on Monday morning regarding this week's upcoming varsity events...

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team won their opening match today by defeating Yellow Medicine East in straight sets this morning at the Southwest Minnesota Challenge in Marshall.

In the second match today, the Jaguars faced a high school team from River Falls, Wisconsin and lost a real battle in a three-set match to the Wildcats. River Falls entered the tournament with a 9-3 record against Wisconsin schools. Last night at Southwest MN State University, the Jaguars (4-4 overall currently) opened the tournament with a tough 2-1 loss to Maple Grove before they were swept by Eastview. Both of those teams are in Class 4A.

The Jaguars will conclude the tournament with a match against Tracy-Milroy-Balaton, who was 1-4 overall through last night.

*Here's a video from game two of the Holdingford match on Thursday:


UPDATE: the Jaguars finished the tournament with a 2-0 sweep over T-M-B to raise their overall record to 5-4. They are in action again next Thursday, September 14 at Kimball Area.

Click here to read about the Monson Lake Opry Festival that takes place TODAY in Hayes Township, rural Sunburg! Link: https://tinyurl.com/mppfc7p4. This event has been heavily advertised and promoted in the last month's worth of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

COMING UP this week in Jaguar Country:
Monday: the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team continues a homestand with Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd coming to town for a Monday match at 4 p.m.
Tuesday: the girls' tennis team hosts St. John's Prep for Parents and Senior night starting at 4:30 p.m. Thursday: the cross country team, which includes B-B-E's Taylor Nelson and Taylor Pieper, runs at New London-Spicer at the Little Crow Golf Course at 4:30 p.m.; also, the girls' tennis team hosts Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala-Swanville Area at 4:30 p.m. in a Prairie Conference dual; and the volleyball team travels to Kimball Area for a conference match.
Friday: the B-B-E Jaguars football team hosts Benson for their home opener.

Added Monday night...click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website to see additional coverage of the football team's win on Friday in Barrett. It includes a video of the Jaguar defense at work in the first quarter. Short link: https://tinyurl.com/4jfxuz3b. This is all I really can manage now for blogging. I have a fair amount of energy tied up right now with creating an Elrosa Saints sponsor page to give a big salute to their team from local businesses. They had one of their best summers in town history!