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
