B-B-E Jaguar Sports extended coverage: Friday Night Lights IX! A complete-game, blowout win

This blog post won't be fully updated until after 10 p.m. tonight with additional game notes and video. I am heading to the Padua Pub now for the Bonanza Valley Royal Strutters gun blast!

ROW THAT BOAT! We head to another 'Ship!!! BOOM! Keep on grinding! We now have two fall varsity teams who will play in championship games next week!!!! Is this GREAT or what!!! You cannot beat it.

After what was their most complete start-to-finish performance in a playoff game in school history, the B-B-E Jaguars football team is heading to the Section 4A championship for the fifth time since 2010. The Jaguars have suffered heartache and bitter defeats in section semifinal games going back as far as 1993. In 1993, a senior-dominated Jaguar squad (12 seniors) went head to head with Osakis in Osakis in the Region 5C semifinals before suffering a devastating 28-20 loss. A win in that game would have brought them to the FargoDome. Other difficult (close) semifinal losses came in 2006, 2017 and 2022, and I vividly remember each one of them. Today was not going to be one of those tough second-round defeats, as B-B-E demolished the Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City Falcons in a 60-8 semifinal win. The Jaguars completely dominated the line of scrimmage and had the upper hand on nearly every one of the game's 114 plays. Other major factors in the win included four fumble recoveries, two punts that put A-C-GC inside the 20, six receivers earning 2 or more catches and no turnovers. The Jaguars had a business-like approach to the game and knew full well that A-C-GC had the talent and ability to make it a tough game. What played out was lopsided football that landed B-B-E in the program's sixth appearance in a section championship (1997, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2021 and now 2023).

The Jaguars struck right away in the game's opening series with a 64-yard scoring drive that used 8 plays and concluded with Luke Dingmann's one-yard touchdown carry with 9:28 on the clock. They expanded that 6-0 lead with a second touchdown on their third series of the game that covered just 12 yards and needed just one play.

Prior to that second touchdown, the Jaguars held A-C-GC on their first series with a three-and-out stop ending with a punt with 7:01 left.

*Here's video of A-C-GC's first offensive series today:

On A-C-GC's second series of the game, Hayden Sobiech recovered a lost fumble at the 12-yard line with 4:11 to go. Sobiech then caught a 12-yard pass from Dingmann to make it 12-0 with 4:11 left. Harley Weber plowed his way in on the two-point carry for a 14-0 lead.

*Here's a video featuring the last 6 plays of B-B-E's first touchdown drive today against A-C-GC:

A-C-GC's third series of the game gained just 5 yards on 3 plays before they punted with 2:17 left. The series started way back on their 6-yard line after a major miscue on B-B-E's touchdown kickoff. B-B-E's fourth offensive series then started on A-C-GC's 39-yard line. A-C-GC showed some defensive resolve, but they were no match as the Jaguars used 10 plays to punch in a third touchdown. With 9:41 on the clock, Dingmann carried into the end zone from 3 yards out, and Braeden Michels added the extra-points run to give the Jaguars a 22-0 lead.

The Jaguars had no let up whatsoever as the second quarter developed. The lead expanded to 30-0 with 4:23 left after Luke Illies caught a six-yard touchdown pass from Luke Dingmann. That score stood until halftime after the Jaguars made a big stop on A-C-GC's sixth series of the game. The Falcons started on B-B-E's 24-yard line with 50 seconds remaining after a punt did not go as planned on B-B-E's sixth series.

**Video added on Sunday afternoon...here's the final series of the first half with A-C-GC fighing to put points on the scoreboard:

The Jaguars made a defensive stop on that series to get the ball back with 23 seconds left before halftime. With a 30-0 lead, Dingmann took a knee to finish out the clock.

SECOND HALF...more of the same!
To open the third quarter, A-C-GC started on their 28-yard line and used 7 plays to advance to the B-B-E 46-yard line. On their next play, A-C-GC coughed up the ball, and Ethan Mueller recovered it with 9:02 left. The Jaguars needed just 2 plays to score on a 69-yard drive as Jack Lundberg hauled in a 60-yard pass to the end zone with 8:16 to go. The Falcons made a stop on the extra-points conversion to leave the score at 36-0.

Later with 5:55 left in the third quarter, Brett DeRoo's 20-yard touchdown catch finished off a 5 play, 36-yard series. Owen Paulson's two-point carry made the score 44-0.

**Here's a video from later in the 3rd quarter as A-C-GC was threatening on their 9th series of the game:

On their 9th series of the game, A-C-GC started on their own 20-yard line after the Jaguars had scored to take a 44-0 lead in the third quarter. Luke Dingmann's kickoff resulted in a touchback with 5:46 on the clock. They gained some momentum and used four plays to advance to B-B-E's 32-yard line. At that point, they got just 2 yards on 4 plays before the turnover on downs that is shown at the beginning of the video clip above.

Dingmann's 8-yard touchdown carry with 2:13 left in the third quarter expanded the lead to 50-0. Maximus Hanson carried in the two-point conversion for a 52-0 lead.

Just shy of one minute later, Hanson ran in a 5-yard touchdown with 1:17 left. Odin Jensen's two-point carry made it a 60-0 lead.

Isaiah Renne's 79-yard touchdown catch with 11:47 remaining in the game broke up the shut out. The talented 6'3" senior wide receiver caught a pass at his fingertips just over the middle and ran the distance to pay dirt.

When the dust settled on the game, the Jaguars had racked up 425 yards of offense split between 175 yards on the ground and 250 through the air. A-C-GC finished with 177 yards, although a bulk of them were earned on one play with Renne's touchdown catch. The Falcons got the extra points carry as well to make the score 60-8.

The Falcons (6-4 final record) earned just 2 successful conversions on 13 third-down tries. They were 1-for-5 on fourth down conversions. Against a team that racked up 233 rushing yards in the quarterfinals, the Jaguars limited the Falcons to 18 rushing yards on 20 carries.

For B-B-E's offense, they did not have to attempt a fourth down conversion in the game. They made good on 5 of 9 third-down conversions, although they generally did what was needed on their first and second down tries.

Dingmann finished with 20 pass completions on 25 throws; four of those 20 completed passes were good for touchdowns.

NEXT: the Jaguars travel to the FargoDome next Friday, November 3 for the Section 4A championship. Kickoff in Fargo is at 10 a.m. for the team's second trip to Fargo in three seasons! Please spread the word and make plans to be there! In the other semifinal game of Section 4A, I heard earlier that Upsala/Swanville Area had an 18-14 lead against Browerville in the second half. FINAL: U/SA 24, Browerville 14. That's that!! The No. 5-ranked Jaguars (9-0) and No. 8-ranked Patriots (8-1) will play for the state tournament.

B-B-E's nine straight wins have set a new school record for consecutive wins in the same season. The Jaguars won 8 straight games in both the 2013 and 2017 seasons.

While preparing to do an oil change on the family Suburban tonight at Chris Jensen Auto Repair, I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with Greg Evenson, a former "QB1" for B-B-E, who graduated in 2000. He served as QB1 in the first half of the 1998 season when he was a junior. That was the final season that B-B-E played in the West Central South Conference during a fall where I saw just one B-B-E football game (their game at Coombe Field in Morris). The Jaguars played in the Central Minnesota Conference from 1999 through 2014. Evenson, son of former Belgrade Redmen and B-B-E Jaguar coach Julius Evenson, is one of countless former Jaguars who still follow the team. They are all immensely proud of what the Jaguars are doing this season on the gridiron!!! We have come a long way.

Area scoreboard for the second round of playoffs on October 28:
Rocori 30, Detroit Lakes 28 (The Spartans avenge a 27-25 loss in the season opener to the Lakers)
Cedar Mountain 32, New Ulm Cathedral 14
Eden Valley-Watkins 52, Royalton 6
New York Mills 26, Breckenridge 18 (In Week 5, NYM lost 32-6 at Breckenridge to start a three-game slide going into the playoffs with a 2-6 record)
Osakis 49, Wadena-Deer Creek 0
Mayer Lutheran 42, United South Central 0
Red Rock Central 20, Renville County West 6
Esko 56, Pierz 8
Holdingford 34, Kimball Area 26 (The Huskers avenge a 30-28 loss in Week 5 at Kimball by defeating the Cubs in Kimball in the Section 5AA semifinals today)
Ottertail Central 52, Hancock 24
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 32, Perham 8
New London-Spicer 48, Sauk Centre 14
Albany 28, Montevideo 0
#1 Minneota 39, Canby 6
Marshall 21, Willmar 7
Hutchinson 52, New Ulm 14
#4 BOLD 40, Dawson-Boyd 7
Alexandria 39, Bemidji 0

**On Sunday afternoon, I think this blog post is a wrap. Here's a link to the newspaper's photo gallery for the fall sports albums. It's been updated with recent events! https://bonanzavalley.smugmug.com/B-B-E-Fall-Sports-2023.