extended sports coverage for the B-B-E community brought to you by the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper in Brooten, MN. (Address: P.O. Box 250, Brooten) http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. ALL VIEWS posted are strictly and without exception the opinions of the newspaper owner and no one else; they're written in first hand format. Please submit feedback in writing to the address posted above. **This is Minnesota's oldest varsity high school sports blog. We hope to keep it going into the future!
Monday, September 30, 2024
Home cooking for Jaguar tennis playoffs + volleyball wins (Updated)
This is exciting news!
With a flurry of late-season wins last week, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team has earned a home playoff match for the play-in round of the Section 6A tournament. They take a 4-11 record into the playoffs, which start on Wednesday this week (October 2) on the home courts. The No. 8-seeded Jaguars host No. 9-seeded Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala-Swanville Area at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. The winner moves on to the Section 6A quarterfinal round, which brings with it a trip to top-seeded Litchfield on Thursday, October 3. That quarterfinal match would start at 4 p.m. at Litchfield high school.
I'm just a tiny bit frustrated that the MSHSL hasn't updated their website yet...I looked on Monday night, and no updating for Section 6A. Many other sections are posted. Once I get more complete information, I'll get this blog post updated.
Section 6A girls' tennis seedings for the 2024 playoffs:
1. Litchfield (ranked No. 6 in Class 1A)
2. Minnewaska Area
3. Osakis
4. New London-Spicer
5. Sauk Centre
6. Melrose Area
7. St. John's Prep
8. B-B-E
9. LPGE/U-SA
On a brighter note...I'm going through over 1,300 Homecoming week photos. It is crazy! I also have a mountain of Hall of Fame ceremony video to go through, but that's going to take a couple of weeks. We had a very special induction ceremony on Saturday night at Olson Auditorium.
In weather-related news...it's not even 9 p.m. and we've already dipped below 60 degrees outside. Currently, as of 20:44, I see 56 degrees on the mercury. The temperature is plummeting! It is supposed to drop all the way down to 42 degrees by roughly 7 a.m.!! Wow! It got as hot as about 85 degrees on both Saturday and Sunday. Today, Monday, we reached the upper 70s. It felt good! Now we are in fall weather for about a day and a half. On Wednesday, we're supposed to reach a high of 77 degrees with full sunshine. That is gonna be great! Our family garden is going to be running strong far into October.
Tuesday morning update...
The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team won an important road match by defeating Hancock 3-0 last night. The Owls are in Sub-Section 6A-South with our Jaguars, who are now 19-2 overall. Game scores at Hancock were 25-13, 25-21, 25-15. As a team, the Jaguars hit at just under 28 percent. Next: the Jaguars resume Central Minnesota Conference action with a trip to Maple Lake this Thursday night. The Irish have a great team this fall and are currently 13-5 overall and 3-1 in the CMC, just one game out of first place.
The B-B-E schools Hall of Fame ceremony took place tonight for the induction of the Class of 2024 nominees. All eight nominees, who span multiple generations across Brooten, Belgrade and B-B-E school history. The oldest nominee is Wes Von Eschen, Brooten Class of 1964. The youngest is Brian Goodwin, B-B-E Class of 2014. That covers a span of 50 years! The evening was remarkable and full of the reminiscing of many fun, heartfelt memories.
Here's retired Coach Kevin Weller giving his speech tonight at Olson Auditorium:
Coach Weller led the volleyball program from 2007 to 2018 as its head coach. Four of his teams won section titles and competed at the Class 1A state tournament
Here's a video from last night recorded prior to Friday Night Lights V:
I failed to write about this last night...and I will write about it again! This is incredible! We had the largest Homecoming crowd that B-B-E has ever seen. It was incredible to see all the fans line up along the fence on the north side of the stadium. Upsala/Swanville Area also had a huge contingent of fans - which is no surprise. They have a great football following wherever they go!
From Monday afternoon's tennis action through Saturday night's Hall of Fame banquet, my main camera took over 1,300 pictures. Good Grief!!!
Have a wonderful Sunday! High of 79 degrees in the forecast...after that, it appears we'll see more fall weather next week but also one day of 80 degrees (Wednesday). Our family garden is winding down. What's left alive in your garden? We've got zucchini, squash, green peppers, kale, watermelon, tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers still going strong.
Friday Night Lights V: Homecoming is a bust (VIDEOS)
An exciting, promising start to the game fizzled in a bad way as the second quarter unfolded tonight for Friday Night Lights V, which served as Homecoming for the B-B-E Jaguars football team. The full sum of the first half was difficult to take in once halftime arrived. By that point, the energy and momentum the Jaguars had going in the first quarter had faded. The overall tone of the game was set in the latter part of the first quarter...I'll get to that later.
The halftime score stood at 28-0 in favor of Upsala/Swanville Area, and the Jaguars had their work cut out for them. Across the entire first half, the referees whistled plays dead five times to call penalties. Of those five penalties, four were assessed to B-B-E. All four were momentum killers. Overall for the game, five of the first six penalties assessed were against B-B-E.
A much better second half played out, but it was nowhere near enough to overcome the enormous deficit on the scoreboard. A hard-earned Homecoming winning streak came to a crashing end tonight. The Jaguars had won Homecoming games in 2021, 2022 and 2023. I was buzzing with excitement all day at the chance to witness a fourth straight Homecoming win - a feat that the football team has yet to achieve.
Final score: U/SA 28, B-B-E 8. The Jaguars have no time to get down on themselves from this difficult loss, as they have to prepare for another very tough game. Their Week Six opponent is Browerville, and the game next week is at their house. In tonight's game at Benson, Browerville won 21-6 to get back in the win column after losing 20-0 on the road last week to U/SA. The Tigers and Jaguars currently sit in a tie for second place in the district.
How the game played out...
B-B-E started the game on defense and made things tough for U/SA after giving up one first down. On the first play of the game, the Patriots gained 18 yards on a sweep to the left, but four yards was all they got after that. From B-B-E's 41-yard line, the Patriots punted with 10:20 on the clock. Brett DeRoo got an 8-yard return on what was an excellent punt, and the Jaguars set up at their own 15-yard line.
The Jaguars got a big gain on their first play from scrimmage when Jack Lundberg busted free to the left side for a 16-yard gain. The next play was good for a 2-yard rush. Then the penalty bug struck for the first time of the night with a false start. Next came an incomplete pass, but the damage was done to kill the drive. After a short 5-yard run by Lundberg, the Jaguars punted from their 32.
Here's a video featuring part of what I just described...
And you can tell by my frustration that the game was not going in the right direction when our own mistakes stunted any momentum we had going on our side of the ball.
The job went back in the hands of B-B-E's defense, and they stood tall while holding U/SA to 8 yards on three plays. Carson Gilbert had a hurry on the first play with an incomplete pass. On the second down play, U/SA's talented junior receiver Brody Kircher ran for 6 yards. On third down, Jack Lundberg came up with a big solo tackle with a two-yard gain to force a three-and-out. The Patriots then tried what looked like a fake punt, and they were ran out of bounds at the 50-yard line with 6:57 on the clock. The tide was moving in favor of the Jaguars.
On B-B-E's first play of their second drive, Kameron Hiltner caught the biggest pass of his career to that point over the middle for a 30-yard gain. Lundberg and his blockers than blasted the Patriots with a 12-yard gain to bring goal-to-go. Another false start penalty struck at the worst time. On the next first down play, Brett DeRoo carried up the middle for about 6 yards. Next came a costly illegal blocking penalty, which pushed the Jaguars back to the 23. Next was a three-yard loss on a pitch, and third down brought an incomplete pass. On fourth down, another incomplete pass resulted in a turnover on downs. It was difficult to swallow what transpired on what should have been a 50-yard touchdown drive and at least an initial 6-0 lead.
With 4:48 to go in the opening quarter, U/SA started their third series of the game on their own 26. They gained 9 yards on two runs, and on third-and-inches, they got a big carry up the middle for 12 yards. The Patriots started cooking when Jack Primus caught a 23-yard pass to get to B-B-E's 30. The Jaguars had two solid plays on defense to hold to 3rd-and-3. The Patriots responded with a 13-yard by junior fullback Ethan Barthel. Again, the Jaguars dug in and had two great defensive plays to hold for third down as the first quarter ended. On the first play of the second quarter, U/SA punched through with the game's first touchdown with 11:54 left on a 4-yard carry by Barthel. DeRoo intercepted the two-point conversion to make it a 6-0 score.
The Jaguars needed to respond right away, but they did not as just two net yards were gained on three plays. The Jaguars punted to put U/SA on offense at their 33-yard line. A total of 9 plays is what they needed for a 67-yard touchdown drive. On the final play, Barthel weaved his way through B-B-E's defense for a 26-yard touchdown with 7:42 left. Barthel also ran in the conversion and made it 14-0.
On their fifth series of the game, the Jaguars started on their 29-yard line. What hurt at that moment was an illegal blocking penalty that nullified what was a great kickoff return by DeRoo. The Jaguars started on their 29 and found success by the third play when Josh Walstrom caught a 10-yard pass. DeRoo later converted for another first down at U/SA's 45. Disaster struck three plays later in a huge way, however, when Jack Primus ran back a pick six from about 60 yards out. It was a punch in the gut, and with 3:32 left before halftime, the Patriots extended their lead to 20-0.
The Patriots got another interception on B-B-E's next series, and their defender was downed at the U/SA 23-yard line with 2:18 to go. The Patriots put a dagger into B-B-E when they used 8 plays and overcame one false start penalty to score with just 8.5 seconds left. Brandon Mugg ran in a 3-yard touchdown, and Kircher's two-point conversion pass made it 28-0. A key play on the drive was by Jack Primus, who caught a deep pass that was good for a 52-yard gain. That catch gave U/SA first down at B-B-E's 15.
Fast forward to the fourth quarter...
Here's a short video featuring a tough carry by Hunter Laage that brought the Jaguars to the one-yard line...
Harley Weber ran in B-B-E's lone touchdown of the game with 8:18 left on the clock. Ethan Mueller caught the two-point conversion pass to make it 28-8.
When the dust settled on the game statistics, the Jaguars had a total of 244 yards on 66 plays. The Patriots gained 316 yards on 60 plays, with 224 of those yards coming on the ground. The Jaguars had a 115 rushing/129 passing split for their offense. One key statistics was third-down conversions: B-B-E made good on just 2 third-down conversions out of 12 attempts, while U/SA had a much better 6-of-12 conversion mark. Both teams were 1-of-3 on fourth down conversions. The game featured zero lost fumbles, but the turnover ratio was minus three for B-B-E with three interceptions.
Week Five football scores in the Mid-Northwest Gopher Gold District:
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 56, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 7 (Jett Olson had 15 carries for 212 yards with 6 touchdowns in Murdock)
West Central Area 36, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 8
Browerville 21, Benson 6
Area football scores in Week Five on September 27:
Rocori 29, Willmar 7
Pierz 56, Melrose Area 26
Albany 22, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 8
Sauk Centre 34, Montevideo 21
St. Cloud Cathedral 35, Paynesville Area 30
Eden Valley-Watkins 48, Royalton 15
Holdingford 26, Osakis 6
Minneota 69, MACCRAY 12
Breckenridge 14, Parkers Prairie 12
Hancock 52, Rothsay 6
Border West 51, Underwood 14
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 50, Brandon-Evansville/Ashby 30
BOLD 50, Dawson-Boyd 19
Minnewaska Area 21, Rockford Area 19
New London-Spicer 34, Watertown-Mayer 7
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 28, Detroit Lakes 10
This is DAY FIVE of Homecoming! And it is GAME NIGHT! (VIDEOS and SPORTS show)
This is a huge, huge day in Jaguar Country! It includes history in the making! I'll get to that in my sports show that I'm soon going to record and post. I certainly hope you've made plans to attend tonight's Homecoming football game. Our B-B-E Jaguars football team hosts fellow undefeated and Gopher Gold District rival Upsala/Swanville Area. Remember! The Belgrade Commercial Club Tailgating party starts at 5:30 p.m.
The Jaguars are giving up 12 points per game and have averaged 45 points per game on offense. For their part, U/SA has scored 39.8 points per game.
First, some catching up...
The high school hosted a marvelous pep fest this afternoon that kicked off with the revamped B-B-E Pep Band performing as the student body filled the bleachers. It was heartwarming to see Mrs. Carrie Halvorson taking part in the Pep Fest and helping out as the student council advisor. She and her family continue to mourn the loss of her husband, Paul, whose funeral was held last Saturday in front of a packed house at Crow River Lutheran church. I've got more on that on page one this week! Look below to see how the pep fest concluded today...
Here's a postgame interview at A-C-GC high school with Brett DeRoo last Friday:
For the record! Today's high reached at least 82 degrees...possibly higher, although I did not see it get above 82 with my own eyes. Earlier this afternoon, the temperature in Brooten was at 82 degrees. It is WARM outside. This will be a hot evening...at least until the sun sets during the first half of the football game.
*Here's the end of today's Pep Fest:
**AND here's my seventh sports podcast of this fall...
Much to prepare for! We have the Homecoming tailgating party, the Pep Band will play and then the big game of state-ranked heavyweights takes place for Friday Night Lights V!
GAME UPDATES to follow...LET'S GO, JAGUARS!!! ...in the second quarter, the Patriots hold a 20-0 lead with 3:32 left before halftime. Jack Primus just ran back an interception for about 60 yards.
Halftime: #6 U/SA 28, #5 B-B-E 0. It is a bloodbath.
FOURTH Homecoming win of the week! Tennis and volleyball are rocking (VIDEO)
Fans in Jaguar Country took in a fourth varsity Homecoming win of the week tonight, as the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team dispatched Eden Valley-Watkins by a 3-1 margin. This win moves the No. 13-ranked Jaguars to 4-0 in the Central Minnesota Conference as they remain in first place alone.
By QRF, the Jaguars are ranked No. 2 out of a total of 151 Class 1A teams in Minnesota.
With the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team earning a 5-2 win against MACCRAY/Renville County West tonight, tonight's volleyball win is the fourth varsity team win of the week in Jaguar Country! The tennis team improved to 4-11 overall with the non-conference win today in Clara City that concludes their regular season. They will find out Section 6A girls' tennis seeding on Monday. At No. 1 singles, senior Hannah Hirman won a third set tiebreaker by a 10-8 score. Congratulations!
How tonight's volleyball match played out...
The Jaguars softened up in the middle of game one after taking early leads of 7-4 and 10-6. The Eagles stormed back to gain a 17-15 lead before the Jaguars scored three straight points. They toughened up from there and won 25-19.
Here's a short video featuring action in the middle of game one tonight:
In game two, the Jaguars trailed 5-3 early before turning it around to build a 9-7 lead. That expanded to 14-9, but the Eagles came back to tie it at 19-19. The Jaguars faltered with multiple errors after that in a 25-23 loss.
The Jaguars came out strong in game three to take early leads of 5-1 and 11-2. The Eagles never threatened in that set as the Jaguars won easily by a 25-11 score. In game four, the Jaguars won 25-16 after being in control for most of the night's final set.
Kacey Fischer led all hitters tonight with 16 kills on 26 percent hitting. At the service line, the Jaguars had an outstanding 95 percent serving with 10 ace serves.
Next: the Jaguars (18-2 overall) become road warriors starting next Monday with a trip west to Hancock (6-8, 4-2 Little Eight Conference).
With today's 2-0 varsity mark in tennis and volleyball, B-B-E's fall teams have a cumulative record of 27-13. This is truly remarkable! You have to go back to the 2007 and 2008 seasons to find cumulative records of those three sports having anything similar of a win/loss percentage through the last Thursday of September. Currently, that win/loss percentage is 67.5 percent. The closest we've gotten in school history to that was in 2008, when the win/loss percentage was 62% at 26 wins and 16 losses. At this point in the 2008 season, the volleyball team was 16-1, the football team was 2-2 and the tennis team was 8-13.
After tonight's volleyball matches, I see that Paynesville Area, Royalton and Maple Lake all remain in a three-way tie for second place in the CMC. The scoreboard is posted below.
In other volleyball news...West Central Area, defending champions of Section 6A, defeated No. 6-ranked (Class 2A) Sauk Centre on Tuesday this week by a 3-1 margin as they improved to 6-2 in the West Central Conference. Coming into tonight, Sauk Centre and Minnewaska Area are tied for first in the WCC with equal 7-1 records. Update: the WCA Knights defeated Minnewaska Area 3-2 tonight at MAHS to improve to 7-2 in the WCC and knock the Lakers into a tie with them for second place.
Friday updates...
What a shocker: I struggled to get myself going this morning - physically, not mentally. Mentally I'm great, but physically - oh boy! This is what back-to-back 14,000-plus step days does. I eclipsed 14,000 steps for the Color FUND Run Day - no surprise. Then I repeated that many steps and a few more yesterday with much of it coming on a field trip to the Cyrus area out west with the B-B-E fifth grade class.
In case you missed the Turkey Fest parade in Swift Falls...the Bonanza Valley Voice has it covered! Here's a link where you can watch the parade at the newspaper's website: https://shorturl.at/F9SRf.
Two football giants will collide in our stadium on Friday night! Our football team is ranked No. 5 on the QRF in Class 1A....while Upsala/Swanville Area sits at No. 6. It is going to be an incredible game to take in. The U/SA Patriots are allowing just 3.5 points per game while they've forged a 4-0 record.
**Friday night Homecoming tailgating party! Don't miss out! All the details were published on page 14 of this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. It's also posted online, and you see that by clicking here: https://shorturl.at/3hN7q. That web article features a throwback video all the way to 2010. How about that!
Central MN Conference volleyball scores on September 26:
Paynesville Area 3, Holdingford 0
Maple Lake 3, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 0
Royalton 3, Kimball Area 2
Homecoming Day IV! Another exciting day underway - and tennis wins!
We're having another incredible day of Homecoming excitement in Jaguar Country!
At Clara City tonight vs. MACCRAY/Renville County West in their last regular season match, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team earned a convincing 5-2 win over the Wolverines. I know the Jaguars had wins at No. 2 singles (Bree Thieschafer in straight sets) plus No. 3 doubles (Olive Olson and Hannah Wurm). This improves their overall record to 4-11 as they prepare for the Section 6A playoffs. It's also their best regular season record since 2021! Playoff seeding takes place on Monday, so the Jaguars won't know what the playoff road looks like until that night. Section 6A includes 9 teams, and currently, the Jaguars sit in the No. 7 or No. 8 range.
Other tennis wins against MACCRAY/RCW came at No. 1 singles (Hannah Hirman), No. 3 singles (Izzy Graham) plus No. 1 doubles (Grace Berndt and Ellan Fischer).
I also heard that the 7th/8th grade junior high football Jaguars lost a heartbreaker to Long Prairie-Grey Eagle by a 14-12 score in double overtime. A crazy tough loss, but they played a great game. Coach Funk reported that the Jaguars trailed 6-0 with a minute to go in regulation. They tied it with a 70-yard touchdown pass to force the first overtime.
More to come after tonight's varsity volleyball match. Our Jaguars are hosting Eden Valley-Watkins, who enter the night with a 3-10 record. They are ranked No. 4 as of this week in Sub-Section 3AA-North.
Volleyball update...the Jaguars and Eagles are heading into game four. The Jaguars hold a 2-1 set lead. **Final scores in a new blog post.
Day III of Homecoming: the greatest Color Run! and another sports show (VIDEOS)
We just held the greatest Color FUND Run ever in Jaguar Country, at least as far as I'm concerned. It was really something to be a part of. If you have never participated in one, you are really missing out.
Here's a quick sports show I recorded tonight before cleaning up:
I am excited to hear the fundraising total from the Color Run. Also, I have to give a huge shout out to Dee Jay Rocks and Cows! That was the Deejay who played music all afternoon for us. THANK YOU!
This is the first video I recorded this afternoon at the Color Run:
Here's a video featuring the finish line as the Color Run was winding down today:
I have a lot more to say about today! It was so much fun. We are richly blessed to be part of this community.
Community announcement...
The B-B-E National Honor Society will host an American Red Cross Blood Drive on Wednesday, October 16 at the high school. Further details will be published in the October 3 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.
We are having another marvelous day of Homecoming in Jaguar Country! FULL sunshine and very little wind to speak of! The current temperature in the early afternoon hours hovers around 70 degrees! How about that! The predicted high is 71 degrees, although I think we'll get a little past that.
You can see the coronation video clip from the end of the program when the King and Queen received their crowns. Click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://shorturl.at/cD2kB. That web article has the video included in the slideshow with the photo.
At the high school, grades 6-12 students enjoyed a grill-out for lunch, which was pretty neat to take in! Shop teacher Reed Adrian and math teacher Jack Mueller handled most of the grilling duties for hamburgers and hot dogs. This is such a wonderful day! Outstanding to be a part of Homecoming week!
Here's a video from lunch time today:
Today is a crazy busy day. Wicked busy! I'll get back to blogging later tonight. I do need a full night's rest in order to be at 120% for the Color FUND Run tomorrow!
In sports news from today...
The B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team lost a very close battle against Parkers Prairie by a 4-3 margin today on the home courts. It was also a Prairie Conference match. They were in the running for a third straight win, but it was not meant to be. Additional coverage is forthcoming in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.
Here's a video from No. 2 singles tonight with Bree Thieschafer...
Let's get more football video out the door...the next game is coming fast!
Here's late second quarter action at Grove City last week:
Upsala/Swanville Area, B-B-E's next opponent, is a fellow Top 10-ranked team. This makes our 36th Homecoming football game the first time in school history that two Top 10 teams will do battle on our football field! It's going to be one hell of a game!
Tennis on a win streak! And Homecoming is underway (VIDEO)
The B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team has a two-match winning streak to their credit and three wins overall after today's action. On the home courts this afternoon/evening, the Jaguars clawed out a 4-3 border battle win against Melrose Area. They followed that with an exciting 5-2 win over Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala-Swanville Area in Prairie Conference action.
B-B-E 4, Melrose Area 3...
This was a HUGE win! The Dutchmen entered today's match with six wins overall. I do not recall the last time B-B-E has defeated Melrose Area in girls' tennis. It has been a few years. Strong singles play led the Jaguars in today's close win over the Dutchmen. At No. 2 singles, Bree Thieschafer won a thriller by scores of 7-5 (8-6 tiebreaker), 7-5. Izzy Graham picked up a straight set win at No. 3 singles by scores of 6-4, 6-1. At No. 4 singles, Skylar Knight-DeWeerd put up zeroes with a 6-0, 6-0 win. At doubles play, No. 1 doubles players Ellan Fischer and Grace Berndt won in three sets by scores of 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 10-7. How about that!
Next: the Jaguars (3-10 overall, 1-3 Prairie) have Staff Appreciation Day with a third straight home match tomorrow against Parkers Prairie. Varsity action starts at 4 p.m., and JV players will also compete against the Panthers. It is also a Prairie Conference dual.
In football news...
Tonight in a home game, the B-B-E Jaguars JV football team won a close battle by a score of 24-18 over Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. The Jaguars led 12-6 early and stayed strong through the final horn. This win evens their record at 1-1 overall.
This is an exciting day! Now it's time to prepare for Homecoming coronation!
And here's a video featuring the socializing taking place after coronation was held tonight:
You can catch up on the Homecoming coronation by clicking over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://shorturl.at/cD2kB. Additional video is uploading. **Due to technical difficulties, the coronation video won't be posted until Tuesday morning.
For Tuesday's activities...a grill-out will take place for high school students, which is exciting! The weather will be terrific for that. The 7th/8th grade volleyball teams travel to Eden Valley-Watkins. Taylor Nelson with the B-B-E/Paynesville Area cross country team competes at Koronis Hills in Paynesville. The tennis schedule was posted earlier in this blog post.
And! The 9th annual Color FUND Run is on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the high school athletic complex.
The hectic and exciting times of B-B-E Homecoming is soon upon us. It's a jam-packed week beginning with the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team hosting a double-dual tomorrow (Monday) afternoon. Teams coming to town are Melrose Area and Long Prairie-Grey Eagle. The Melrose Area vs. B-B-E dual begins at 12:30 p.m. at the high school courts. For the LP-GE dual, that should begin at about 3 p.m., and that will be a Prairie Conference match.
Here's Bree Thieschafer battling at No. 2 singles in the Prairie Conference tournament in Osakis last Thursday:
Bree Thieschafer lost a close match in that semifinal, but she then defeated a player from St. John's Prep to earn the third-place medal.
Also on Monday! The JV Jaguars football team hosts Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City with a 4 p.m. kickoff. The 7th/8th grade Jaguar volleyball teams travel to Osakis with a start time of 4 p.m. To conclude the day, the Homecoming Coronation is set for 7 p.m. tomorrow night at Olson Auditorium.
The girls' tennis team hosts Parkers Prairie on Tuesday in Prairie Conference action starting at 4 p.m. with varsity matches to follow with JV matches.
Here's action from late in the first quarter in Grove City during Friday Night Lights IV:
Here's action from early in the second quarter in Grove City:
Now it's time to get out and finish digging our last load of potatoes at the R.D. Offutt potato dig south of Brooten.
Friday Night Lights IV: that was something else! (VIDEOS)
Through four games of the season, the offensive average is now 45 points per game! Wow! This is not far off the pace of last year's team, which was averaging 49.5 points per game through Week Four.
To improve to a perfect 4-0 during Friday Night Lights IV, the No. 5-ranked B-B-E Jaguars football team showed their superiority in the opening seconds of the game as they proceeded to dismantle Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City by a 56-8 score tonight. The Jaguar defense put on a clinic in the first half while limiting the Falcons to 54 total yards on 6 possessions. One of those 6 possessions gained 53 yards before stalling out in the red zone. If you do the easy math there, that means A-C-GC had 5 first-half possessions that combined for a net gain of just one yard.
The game did not start well for the Falcons. On their first series, they had two incomplete passes and a one-yard loss on a rush. After a 7-yard punt, the Falcons had to get to work on defense while trying to make a stop on B-B-E with just a 41-yard field to work on. The Jaguars needed nine plays to do it, but they succeeded with their first try on offense when Jack Lundberg ran in a touchdown from 4 yards out with 6:56 on the clock. Hunter Laage ran in the two-point conversion.
*Here's video from the opening quarter of the game tonight at A-C-GC:
B-B-E's second touchdown came on a three-yard carry by Brett DeRoo, and Laage's two-point carry made it 16-0 with 6:06 left in the first quarter.
A-C-GC's first three series ended with two punts and one lost fumble. Across those drives, they had a net gain of one yard with a time of possession of 2 minutes, 32 seconds. Ethan Mueller earned that fumble recovery and later earned a second (with 34 seconds left before halftime) to account for the game's two fumble recoveries.
Here's a video featuring part of B-B-E's second touchdown drive tonight:
The Jaguars started their third drive of the game with 3:40 on the clock starting at A-C-GC's 34-yard line. Just two plays from scrimmage were needed to score, with the Falcons committing an offsides penalty that converted a 2nd-and-4 for B-B-E. On the next play, DeRoo caught a pass from Luke Illies right at the goal line with 2:24 on the clock. The 76-second-long drive was capped by Harley Weber's two-point conversion for a 24-0 lead.
The halftime score was 32-0. At that point, A-C-GC had five possessions but only gained meaningful yards on one of them (their fourth drive).
The Jaguars racked up 419 total yards on 64 plays, while their defense limited the Falcons to 109 total yards on 40 plays. The Jaguars ran for a season-high 285 yards on the ground. Senior Jack Lundberg earned his first 200-yard game as he tallied 205 rushing yards on 17 carries with 4 touchdowns. Luke Illies's quarterback numbers were once again outstanding: 12-for-20 for 134 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. His longest pass was a 44-yard reception to Ethan Mueller. Brett DeRoo caught 4 passes for 63 yards and three touchdowns.
B-B-E's defense held A-C-GC quarterback Brayden Schroeder to 3-of-17 passing for just 36 yards. One of the three passes was good for a 25-yard reception by senior wide receiver Cameron Giese.
Next: the Jaguars now prepare for their toughest test of the season so far when they host fellow undefeated Upsala/Swanville Area (4-0, 3-0) for Homecoming AND for sole possession of first place in the Gopher Gold District. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. on Friday, September 27. The U/SA Patriots just earned a marquee win by shutting out fellow Top 10-ranked Browerville 20-0 tonight. In a nutshell...as routine as this A-C-GC win seemed, next week's game with U/SA will bring the fight of our lives against a stacked, experienced Patriots team.
More to come in the morning.
In case you missed it...you can click on the following link to redirect yourself back to yesterday's blog post that features my 5th sports podcast of the fall season: https://shorturl.at/Gc7cc.
**Don't forget! Brink's Beer Joint in Swift Falls will host Turkey Fest on Saturday. The activities' list has been published in the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper, and you can also see more by cilcking over to the newspaper's website: https://shorturl.at/v1soy. That web article features a video from Turkey Fest way back on September 19, 2015.
Mid-Northwest Gopher Gold District scores in Week Four on September 20:
#10 Upsala/Swanville Area 20, #8 Browerville 0
West Central Area 24, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 0 (in Barrett)
Benson 40, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0 (at Long Prairie)
Area football scores in Week Four on September 20:
Holdingford 56, Maple Lake 0 (Huskers are averaging 45 points per game and have given up just two touchdowns all season)
Rocori 35, Hutchinson 14
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 34, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 32 (Overtime! Tigers win a thriller at Big Cat Stadium in Morris)
Litchfield 22, New London-Spicer 6
Kimball Area 56, Royalton 6
MACCRAY 16, Lakeview 13
Eden Valley-Watkins 46, Paynesville Area 16
Minneota 56, Canby 0
BOLD 50, Lac qui Parle Valley 13
Parkers Prairie 53, Wadena-Deer Creek 0
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 38, Underwood 32
Bertha-Hewitt 20, Verndale 14
Ottertail Central 34, Rothsay 22
Becker 42, Willmar 7
Hancock 52, Brandon-Evansville/Ashby 20
Mahnomen/Waubun 36, Bagley 6
Sauk Centre 22, Melrose Area 18
Rockford Area 35, Montevideo 0
Border West 54, Ortonville 6
Breckenridge 58, Pine River-Backus 22
St. Cloud Cathedral 19, Osakis 16
Dawson-Boyd 61, Yellow Medicine East 6
Albany 34, Pierz 12
Alexandria 42, Sartell-St. Stephen 13
Minnewaska Area 33, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 8
It's GAME NIGHT!...in Meeker County (SPORTS SHOW VIDEO)
We are in Week Four of the varsity football season, and on deck is Friday Night Lights IV! This is an exciting day where our B-B-E Jaguars football team has another opportunity to win as they navigate the Mid-Northwest Gopher Gold District schedule. Tonight, the Jaguars travel to Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City high school on the south side of thw town of Grove City. Kickoff at Falcons Stadium is at 7 p.m.
The Falcons are 1-2 overall and have lost their last two games. They fell at Browerville in Week Two by a 34-0 score. Last week in Swanville, the Falcons lost 51-8. In A-C-GC's season opener, the Falcons defeated visiting Maple Lake 30-6. If you do the easy math, the Falcons have scored 38 points so far this season through three games. Against Maple Lake, A-C-GC's running game was led by 6'0" 165-lb. sophomore running back Brody Straumann, who rushed for 169 yards with three touchdowns on 25 carries. Senior running back Braxton Kragenbring had 11 carries for 67 yards, and the Falcons tallied 267 yards on the ground on 45 carries. Sophomore quarterback Brayden Schroeder had 2-of-4 passing marks for 29 yards. Kragenbring had one of the two catches, which was good for a 24-yard gain. Joseph Sherwood was the leading tackler with 5 solos and 5 assists.
More to come.
**Here's my Fall Sports Show No. 5 of the season...just my second show since Saturday, September 1. I need to cinch up the slack!
AND! The sports show has *Two errors*...A-C-GC Coach David Blom is a 2002 graduate of A-C-GC. His senior football season was one for the ages, as he helped lead the Falcons to a Class 2A state football title. Watch the video if you haven't already and hear more! Also.....the Pope County Water Fest was held one week ago! I totally missed it. Completely spaced on it. I thought it was on Friday, Sept. 19...but it was held on September 12 at the Pope County Fairgrounds. B-B-E's sixth grade students participate in this event every year.
Here's a video from the second quarter at Benson last week:
I've got a video from early in game three from last night that you can watch at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://shorturl.at/Rv7rC. It's soon time to prepare my equipment for the big game at Grove City! THIS blog post should be shared around as you are able to, as it will feature a few game updates tonight.
Volleyball powers past A-C-GC (VIDEOS + Sports Show No. 5!)
Note: this blog post was updated at mid-morning on Friday with a sports show video and other information...
An upstart Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City Falcons squad came to town and used scrappy play throughout the match to challenge the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team in the third Central Minnesota Conference match of the season. The Jaguars responded to the challenge and came away with a 3-0 sweep that improves their record to 3-0 in the conference. Game scores were 25-17, 25-15, 25-19.
The Falcons, who haven't played since last Thursday when they lost 3-2 to visiting Holdingford, fall to 5-10 overall.
Match stats...
B-B-E had a robust 34.8 percent hitting percentage while being led by Kacey Fischer's 15 kills on red-hot 60 percent hitting. Adley Hagen had 11 kills, and Kamie Fischer had 10 kills with 12 set assists. Kylie Weller had 16 set assists, and Ava Deters added 12 digs with two ace serves. Overall, the Jaguars had 9 ace serves with 3 solo blocks and 4 block assists.
**Here's my Fall Sports Show No. 5 of the season...just my second show since September 1. I need to cinch up the slack!
AND! The sports show has *Two errors*...A-C-GC Coach David Blom is a 2002 graduate of A-C-GC. His senior football season was one for the ages, as he helped lead the Falcons to a Class 2A state football title. Watch the video if you haven't already and hear more! Also.....the Pope County Water Fest was held one week ago! I totally missed it. Completely spaced on it. I thought it was on Friday, Sept. 19...but it was held on September 12 at the Pope County Fairgrounds. B-B-E's sixth grade students participate in this event every year.
The No. 3-ranked (QRF) Jaguars (17-2 overall) have a big layoff now until they host Eden Valley-Watkins one week from tonight for Homecoming in another CMC match. The conference had a slight shake-up at the top of the standings tonight, as Paynesville Area knocked Royalton out of a first-place tie in a 3-2 win at PAHS. Earlier this week on Monday, Royalton earned a big win over Class 3A St. Cloud Tech, who was 8-3 going into the night and ranked No. 19 in Class 3A by QRF.
More to come after 22:00 tonight. I've got video to go through, and there's a stack of other work to get done tonight that did not get done today while I was in Osakis. I've also got a scouting report to finish on A-C-GC's football team! Tonight, I enjoyed visiting with A-C-GC head coach David Blom, who was attending the volleyball match. He has both a daughter and a niece playing on the varsity team.
Here's action from the final points scored in game one tonight...I had one error in the play-by-play...
In game one, the Jaguars built a 13-6 lead before falling into a 16-16 tie (not 20 to 20)...they came on strong to claim game one by a 25-17 score.
Here's my post-match interview with junior Kadynce Haider...
...and Kadynce had a nice shout out to her two biggest fans at the end of that video...they would be her mom, Dawn Rupp, and also Grandma Katie Haider. They are two dedicated Jaguar fans! And we can't forget to mention Grandpa Gary Haider!
Worth noting...tonight in a West Central Conference border battle in Barrett, the West Central Area Knights lost 3-1 to Minnewaska Area. The Knights were on a five-match winning streak (all sweeps) and fall to 8-3 overall. They were rated No 8 in the latest QRF Class 1A power rankings. The Lakers improve to 9-2 overall; they were ranked No. 30 in the latest Class 2A QRF power rankings. In Section 6AA, Minnewaska Area is ranked sixth-best by QRF.
Central Minnesota Conference volleyball scores on September 19:
Maple Lake 3, Holdingford 0
Paynesville Area 3, Royalton 2
In other news...
I've got a short Hall of Fame story posted at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website, which you can find by clicking here: https://shorturl.at/Mz8Cc.
Here's a video from the second quarter last Friday at Brock Field in Benson:
I have been delinquent on adding more Friday Night Lights III video. So there's action from the second quarter, with the Jaguars on defense deep in Benson territory. I'll be getting to volleyball and more tennis video later tonight.
Area volleyball scores on September 19:
Watertown-Mayer 3, New London-Spicer 1
Swanville 3, Osakis 0
New York Mills 3, Verndale 0
Renville County West 3, Ortonville 0
Pine River-Backus 3, Cass Lake-Bena 0
Sauk Centre 3, BOLD 0
Melrose Area 3, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 2
Westbrook-Walnut Grove 3, Russel-Tyler-Ruthton 0
Jaguar tennis grinds out wins at conference tournament (VIDEOS*)
The B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team has been fighting for and earning wins at the Prairie Conference tournament in Osakis today.
At No. 3 singles, senior Izzy Graham earned a tough win in the third-place match. At No. 3 doubles, freshman Hannah Wurm and eighth grader Olive Olson battled for a win in their third-place match in straight sets by scores of 6-4 and 7-5. At No. 4 singles, Skylar Knight-DeWeerd also earned third place with a win against at St. John's Prep player.
I'm proud of all the student athletes today at Osakis. The sun and heat became a factor in the second matches of the day. For teams/individuals who won at least one match, they played three matches today, making it essentially a quadrangular for them. The high reached past 80 degrees, which made for a hot day like we've seen many of this fall.
Here's a video from No. 3 singles action today in Osakis:
*Here's a video added late Thursday night featuring action at No. 1 doubles today in Osakis:
UPDATE: at No. 2 singles, senior Bree Thiescafer also finished with a win to take third place in the conference tournament today. Great job!
More to come! My laptop battery is low...busy and hectic afternoon with the Brooten Farmers Market coming at 4 o'clock! Our family garden is anchoring much of the produce available for sale. (It runs 4 to 7 p.m. by the way!) Then we jump straight into the home volleyball match against Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. No rest for the wicked as I like to say!
Volleyball update...this evening featured Parents Night for the C, JV and varsity squads before the varsity team squared off with Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. Volleyball coverage will be posted after 21:00 tonight in a new blog post.
9th annual Color FUND run is coming! (in one week)
Since 2015 during Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa's Homecoming week, with the lone exception being in 2020 when Homecoming was greatly altered due to the pandemic, school staff, volunteers and an extensive list of local donors have combined forces to put on the Color FUND Run.
This unique event has become the envy of schools throughout central Minnesota, with more and more adopting it themselves, while it brings students outdoors for a common purpose while raising funds that are crucial to fulfilling B-B-E's mission of fostering Bold, Boundless and Engaged students.
For the majority of families who have local roots and local family members to rely on, fundraising involves getting students out and about to solicit at least $30 to help generate fundraising activity. For newer families who don't have local ties or the ability to raise the funds on their own, they can contact the school and be connected to numerous anonymous donors who graciously and happily extend contributions towards the cause.
The overriding goal is to offer all 600-plus students in Jaguar Country the chance to participate in the Color FUND Run afternoon activities. Last year, B-B-E staff reported that participation in the high school student body had a noteworthy increase from 2021 and 2022. The event is picking up steam again after a one-year hiatus in 2020.
The Color FUND Run is one of four major fundraisers that defray costs for a variety of school activities and functions across academics, athletics and Fine Arts. The 2023 Color Run raised $28,759.
Last May, school administration reported to the school board that the Activies Fund balance was $77,192.41. The profits for last year's fundraisers, marked Fiscal Year 2024, are as follows: $7,600 Jaguar Golf open; $28,759.30 Color Run; $10,135.80 softener salt; and $8,523.61 fruit sales. Total profits raised in the 2023-2024 school year: $55,018.71. Other revenues are raised by various donations, including the RJ's Mini Mart "Jaguar Pride pump, the Toy Drive and middle school field trip fees. Bonanza Valley State Bank and Kensington Bank also have the Jaguar debit cards that donates portions of the banks' fees to the school.
Here's a video from three years ago, when the Color FUND Run was held on September 29 at the high school:
This year's Color Run in Jaguar Country is at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, September 25! The public is still invited to donate and also participate in the event. You can register yourself by contacting either school office in Belgrade or Brooten: 320-254-8211.
To go back 9 whole years to B-B-E's first Color FUND Run, you can click on this link to be redirected to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's SmugMug photo gallery from October 7, 2015: https://shorturl.at/xrfVA.
It was total domination from start to finish tonight for the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball teamin a non-conference match at Brandon-Evansville high school. The Jaguars utilized a robust 35 percent hitting mark to take down the subsection rival Chargers in three short sets: 25-10, 25-14, 25-12.
Brandon-Evansville's record is 1-4 according to Minnesota-Scores.net, but their results from Long Prairie this past weekend are not posted yet.
Now 16-2 overall, the No. 11-ranked (Coaches Association) Jaguars resume Central Minnesota Conference action with a home match on Thursday against Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. The Falcons are 5-9 overall and 0-2 in the CMC.
So! This almost slipped through the few cracks I have in my news/sports media conglomerate...I have finally uploaded the "Game Five" video clip that's now exactly one week old from New London. The video is being processed on YouTube as of 9 p.m. tonight.
Here it is...all of the exciting game five at NL-S high school last week:
It's worth noting that since their 3-2 loss to our Jaguars, the Wildcats have picked up two straight wins going into their home match tonight against undefeated Albany. The Huskies are the No. 1-ranked team in Class 2A by QRF. They are also No. 1 in the latest Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association poll.
In the QRF rankings, the Jaguars have climbed to No. 2 from No. 8 in the previous rankings. In Class 1A, Minnesota has 151 teams.
Area volleyball scores on September 17:
Albany 3, New London-Spicer 0
A strong performance throughout the day on Saturday at Crosby-Ironton high school propelled the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team to earn the Barb Neprud Invitational title with a 5-0 record. After sweeping three pool play opponents, the Jaguars defeated Ada-Borup West in the championship semifinals in straight sets before doing the same against Swanville in the finals.
The Jaguars beat Class 4A White Bear Lake 25-18, 25-13 to open pool play. The Jaguars then won handily against Pillager 25-16, 25-9 and then winless Deer River 25-8, 25-8. In the semifinals, the Jaguars beat Ada-Borup West 25-18, 25-16. In the championship, the Jaguars beat Swanville 25-17, 25-11. The Bulldogs, a contender in the Prairie Conference this year after taking second place last year, hold a 9-1 record. Across all five matches, the Jaguars had a robust 29.8 percent hitting efficiency plus a whopping 47 ace serves on 90.6 percent serving.
Now 15-2 overall, the Jaguars travel to Brandon-Evansville high school (in Brandon) tomorrow (Tuesday) for a non-conference match.
There is so much going on now! It is crazy! All good! The football team has climbed higher in the Top 10 state rankings...I haven't really caught up to that yet. We also have Homecoming on the horizon.
**Here's a short video I recorded while seniors (Class of 2025) were gathering for a group photo last Thursday after the Kimball win:
I'll get a new blog post added on Tuesday night featuring girls' tennis. They lost to Yellow Medicine East tonight in a home match.
And now the bad news that I have to get off of my chest...I got a little sidetracked tonight after learning of parents who are complaining via social media about the upcoming B-B-E Color Run event. Good Lord! I can't even begin. This negativity is exhausting. It exhausts me. It takes me away from my other activities, because I have to spend time studying the complaints and determining the full host of ways they are wrong. When people share wrong and incorrect information on social media, it takes away from EVERYTHING I do at the Bonanza Valley Voice. It is time consuming, and I hate it. I also deeply resent that I compete against media/tech conglomerates like Google and Facebook who monetize and sell YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION as a revenue source. Meanwhile, my ethics are too high to do such a thing, as are the ethics of every other small town newspaper publisher is across America. We not only have to worry about keeping our small businesses going, but we also have to counteract the wrong and misleading information that some people in the community spread via social media.
With that said, I am writing my thoughts about the Color FUND Run = ALL POSITIVE! And they will appear in the September 19 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. In the end, I understand we have people here in Jaguar Country who are not unlike people in every other corner of America who just love to make others miserable. They have miserable lives, and therefore, they are jealous when others find happiness, meaning and success. I don't know what we do with such people. For now, I will simply re-butt them.
Making an impact at the college level...and volleyball news! (VIDEO)
Two former members of the No. 11-ranked B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team are making an impact at the next level with their respective college teams.
Emily Kern, B-B-E Class of 2022, is a junior on the No. 7-ranked St. Cloud State University Huskies women's volleyball team that has had a strong start to the 2024 season. Kern plays at the libero and defensive specialist positions. She had outstanding performances this weekend while her Huskies went 2-1 at Houghton, Michigan in an invitational hosted by Michigan Tech University. On Friday, Kern had 10 digs, three ace serves and three set assists against Findlay (a 3-1 win). On Saturday against Northern Michigan, Kern had a season-high 11 digs. Then on Saturday against Michigan Tech, Kern had 5 digs in SCSU's 3-1 win over the host school.
In their fourth match of the season, the SCSU Huskies were ranked No. 10 (Division II) but defeated No. 1-ranked Cal State LA in four sets: 25-15, 21-25, 25-11, 25-20 on September 7 at Coussoulis Arena in San Bernadino, CA to finish a four-match stretch at the Yotes Classic Showdown. In that marquee win, Kern had her first start of the season at defensive specialist and earned 9 digs.
Brooklyn Fischer, B-B-E Class of 2024, is a freshman middle hitter at St. Cloud Community and Technical College. The Cyclones are off to a 2-0 start to their conference schedule and have a 7-3 overall record. On Friday night against Rochester Community and Technical College in her team's 3-1 win, Fischer blistered the Yellowjackets with 17 kills on 39-of-55 hitting while earning four ace serves (with no service errors) plus 16 digs and four block assists. Her 55 attacks accounted for over one-third of her team's total attacks on the night. She is averaging a robust 19.1 percent hitting percentage and 3.38 kills per set. Through 10 matches, she has 115 kills and 11 ace serves. Just as impressive is her 3.56 digs per set figure (121 total digs) plus 25 block assists.
Beyond those two volleyball players, I know Ethan Spanier is a sophomore defensive lineman at North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton. He is a 2023 B-B-E graduate and was a key member of B-B-E's history-making 2021 state tournament team. The Wildcats were 2-1 in their first three contests. After a 2-0 start, they lost 40-26 to Minnesota West Community and Technical College on September 7 in Wahpeton.
A few other sports notes...and big volleyball news!
I still have a few videos to get to and upload from Friday night's game at Benson. Also, a rather robust sports section is being developed for the upcoming issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice! Also! I will expand this out tonight in a new blog post, but I'm THRILLED to report that the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team had a perfect record across five matches at Crosby-Ironton's Barb Neprud Invitational. They earned 2-0 wins in pool play against White Bear Lake, Pillager and Deer River. As one of four pool play winners, the Jaguars advanced to the playoff semifinals, where they defeated Ada-Borup West in straight sets. The Cougars, defending Pine to Prairie Conference champions and a perennial contender in Section 8A, entered the tournament with an 8-2 record. In the finals, the Jaguars then swept Swanville to improve to 15-2 overall. How about that! The Swanville Bulldogs are a contender this year in the Prairie Conference and had a 5-0 record before their trip to Crosby.
Here's a video from the end of game two in Thursday's win against Kimball:
This morning, I'm still on the "return trip" from a visit to Wisconsin. I will not get to recording my Friday Night Lights III podcast until tonight.
Don't forget! two big events today: the Fall Festival at Rustic Designs Flower Farm by Georgeville (that runs 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) plus the St. Donatus Catholic Church dinner at the Padua Pub (serving 11 to 1:30). All the details of those events have been advertised in The Voice. Please support our local events, as their advertising supports my Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper and its crazy busy sports department!
On the horizon...the annual Turkey Fest celebration is coming to Swift Falls on Saturday, September 21. You can read more by clicking here: https://shorturl.at/aclFC. Their advertisement was also in the September 12 newspaper issue. I highly recommend driving down for the parade, and if you get to town around 4:30 that afternoon, you can take in the turkey cook-off plus the parade.
Friday Night Lights III: Jaguars rack up huge win at Benson (VIDEOS)
They had their hands full at a few moments across the first half tonight, but ultimately, the B-B-E Jaguars football team handled the Benson Braves at will in a 54-20 Mid-Northwest Gopher Gold district road win. The No. 6-ranked Jaguars led 38-0 at halftime and then expanded that to 46-0 with just over 4 minutes gone in the third quarter.
B-B-E's defense was "lights out" to start the game. Three Benson plays yielded a net negative two yards, and the Braves punted on 4th-and-12. The snap was mishandled, and the punter tried to no avail to run wide right to gain the first down. He was tackled at the Benson 24-yard line, and with 10 minutes on the clock, the Jaguars had their first possession just 24 yards from the endzone. On first down, Jesse Niklaus had an 8-yard reception, and Aiden Mueller followed that with a 10-yard catch for goal-to-go at the six. Benson's defense got tough, and a costly penalty on fourth-and-goal nullified a touchdown reception and turned the ball over on downs. Benson gained 7 yards on three plays and punted with 5:50 on the clock. The Jaguars got a nice punt return by Brett DeRoo and had first down on the Benson 31. They needed just 4 plays to cover the distance, and Kameron Hiltner's 15-yard touchdown reception with 4:41 left broke open the scoring. Hunter Laage's two-point run gave the Jaguars an initial 8-0 lead.
Here's a video featuring B-B-E's second touchdown of the night:
On B-B-E's fifth series of the game, they started on Benson's 45-yard line with 4:50 left in the second quarter after a nice punt return by Brett DeRoo. Josh Walstrom's 23-yard catch set up the next play, which resulted in a 32-yard touchdown by Jack Lundberg down the left side. With 4:24 left, the Jaguars extended their lead to 22-0.
After Benson's fifth series, which resulted in a punt after they gained no yards on 3 plays, DeRoo had a marvelous 33-yard return to get the Jaguars a short field to work with of just 12 yards. Kameron Hiltner's 12-yard touchdown catch on second down made it 28-0 with 1:36 left. Harley Weber ran in the two-point carry to make it 30-0.
The first half ended in spectacular fashion as Brett DeRoo hauled in an acrobatic touchdown catch with no time on the clock while using the agility he's developed as a state-ranked wrestler. Harley Weber added the two-point conversion on a running play to cap the scoring at 38 points in the game's first 24 minutes. That touchdown will be a special play to watch again and again on Hudl!!
With 7:48 left in the third quarter, DeRoo caught a 33-yard touchdown catch from Illies, and DeRoo added a two-point conversion run to extend the lead to 46-0.
The Braves broke up the shutout with a 15-yard touchdown carry with 5:36 left in the third quarter to make it 46-6.
On B-B-E's next series, they started on Benson's 47-yard line and used four plays while overcoming a false start penalty on 3rd-and-8 to score again. Ethan Mueller's 24-yard catch brought first down at the 24. Lundberg took it from there with a 24-yard run to the endzone with 3:11 on the clock. Laage's two-point run made it a 54-6 lead.
Benson was held to 165 total yards, including 127 rushing yards.
Next: the Jaguars take their 3-0 record back on the road when they travel to Meeker County for another district game. The opponent will be a tough-as-nails Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City team at their house. I rate their 1-2 overall record as deceiving. Game time is at 7 p.m. on Friday, September 20. Be there!
Here's action from early in the first quarter tonight:
This is eye-popping: the No. 10-ranked Upsala/Swanville Area Patriots have outscored their first three opponents 139-14 to also earn a 3-0 start. Currently, our football district features three Top-10 teams: the Jaguars at No. 6, Browerville at No. 7 and U/SA at No. 10. For what it's worth, U/SA has played teams who have a cumulative record of 2-7. The three teams that Browerville has played have a combined record of 4-5. B-B-E's three opponents have a combined record of 3-6. The point being: we really won't know how good each of these three Top 10 teams are until they play one another.
I'll be calling it a night soon! I have a big trip to make tomorrow that I'll write about more on Saturday night.
Here's a post-game interview with senior Carson Savage at Brock Field tonight:
The Jaguars racked up 400 yards of offense, including 191 on the ground with a total of 19 first downs and no turnovers. Jack Lundberg had 13 carries for a season-high 147 yards with three touchdowns. Luke Illies was 13-for-19 for 148 yards and four touchdowns. Aiden Mueller had 7-of-8 passing marks for 61 yards. Defensively, Carson Gilbert and Brett DeRoo each had quarterback sacks, and Ethan Mueller was the team's leading tackler with 5 solos and 6 assisted. Louie Tensen had a fumble recovery, and DeRoo, Jack Lundberg, Gilbert and Ethan Mueller all earned tackles for losses.
Mid-State District Gopher Gold scores in Week Three on September 13:
Upsala/Swanville Area 51, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 8
Browerville 26, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 19
West Central Area 50, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 7
Area football scores in Week Three on September 13:
Albany 53, Sauk Centre 20
Holdingford 36, St. Cloud Cathedral 0
Cedar Mountain 22, Renville County West 19
Hancock 60, Ortonville 6
Lac qui Parle Valley 48, Yellow Medicine East 6
Dawson-Boyd 32, Lakeview 0
Canby 28, MACCRAY 6
Litchfield 28, Foley 13
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 50, Little Falls 21
Pierz 26, Minnewaska Area 21
Kimball Area 36, Paynesville Area 6
Melrose Area 41, Montevideo 21
Princeton 28, Willmar 6
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 14, Rockford Area 7
