Friday Night Lights XII: Vikings maul the Jaguars (VIDEOS)

That one really, really hurt, and the hurt comes mostly in the form of damaged pride.

With an ocean's worth of excitement and plenty of enthusiasm, the B-B-E Jaguars football team stepped on the field at U.S. Bank Stadium feeling good with a sense that a week of preparation would serve them well in facing No. 1-ranked and defending state champion Minneota. B-B-E's crowd was enormous! It was huge! I don't know what the exact figure was, but we can be very proud of our turnout.

*Here's the Jaguars with their pregame Lord's Prayer and then player introductions and a view through part of the huge B-B-E fan section:


The mood soured quickly on the game's first play from scrimmage. Ryan Meagher, a junior 5'9" 195-pound running back, broke free for a 65-yard touchdown. With a successful PAT kick, Minneota held a 7-0 lead with 11 minutes and 43 seconds left in the first quarter.

B-B-E's first possession at one point had a five-yard gain on a run by quarterback Luke Dingmann, but overall it gained just two net yards before the Jaguars punted with 9:40 left.

Minneota started their second series on their own 37-yard line. On just his second touch of the game, Meagher gained 14 yards on first down. The series ultimately needed 9 plays for the Vikings to get into the end zone, but Meagher burst in for a 12-yard touchdown with 5:22 left. A good PAT kick made it a 14-0 deficit.

With 1:23 left in the second quarter, Hayden Sobiech scored on a 57-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Luke Illies. It was a one play drive that lasted just 9 seconds. At that point, however, the Vikings led 42-6.

At halftime, Minneota led 49-6.

In the closing minutes, Minneota made the classy move to put the brakes on their offense in an attempt to not score another touchdown. The public should take note of that. This is the type of sportsmanship you love to see in a dominant team.

Final score: #1 Minneota 63, #5 B-B-E 6. The Vikings amassed 596 yards of offense, while the Jaguars gained 93 yards. B-B-E had just 21 rushing yards, while Minneota rushed for 371 yards. Minneota quarterback Ryan Dalager was 11-for-18 for 184 yards and two touchdowns. For B-B-E, junior quarterback Luke Illies was 5-for-12 for 72 yards and one touchdown. B-B-E had 21 net rushing yards on 19 carries. Owen Paulson was the lead ball carrier with 2 runs for 14 yards.

B-B-E's season ends with an 11-1 overall record and the school's third conference or district football title. They won the section title for just the second time in school history after losing in their first four section championship game appearances (1997, 2010, 2012, 2013). This year's Jaguar football team rewrote countless school records. It could take a day and a half to review them.

Now it's time to shift gears to the fall musical! The second night is tonight! See more at this web article at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://tinyurl.com/3df7rkbk. I looked at presale tickets tonight, and I'm legitimately nervous: as of 5 p.m., just 55 tickets had been sold for an auditorium that seats 270.

*Here's Tia Nelson in an interview following the opening night of Addams Family last night on stage at Olson Auditorium:


I know the cast, crew and directors are very excited about the second night of this show!

In college football news...the University of Minnesota-Morris Cougars trailed 35-0 after the first quarter against No. 4-ranked (NCAA D-III) University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse in the opening round of the national tournament. That one got out of hand quickly, much as today's game with Minneota did. At halftime, UW-LaCrosse led 52-0. Once the final horn sounded, UW-LaCrosse had a 62-7 win to their credit. They gained 528 overall yards compared to 200 yards for UMM. The lone Cougars touchdown came on a 45-yard pass in the fourth quarter. This was UMM's first appearance in the national tournament since 1981.

And here's other college news! This one has a more local flair, with B-B-E Class of 2023 graduate Tiyana Schwinghammer earning a prestigious Player of the Week honor in her basketball conference...click to read all about it: https://tinyurl.com/y5vuenyp. In her first four college games, Schwinghammer has scored 70 points! Her Pioneers team is 3-1 overall.