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!
Thursday, October 31, 2024
The Voice Fall Sports Show No. 11! and...Box Score Sports Episode 5! (VIDEOS)
How's this for timing! Here you can get a double dose of...me!
Here's my 11th fall sports podcast of the season, recorded late last night:
And I was thrilled to be a guest on the B-B-E high school's Box Score Sports podcast, which was recorded this week and posted online this morning.
Here's Austin Berge and Aiden Mueller hosting Box Score Sports Episode 5 for the 2024-2025 school year:
Just for FUN! How about THIS for a throwback! Here's my blog post written on Saturday, October 28, 2006...a few hours after the Jaguars lost 14-7 in the Section 5A football semifinals in Murdock. It was an incredible game. Losses like them stick with you: https://bbejaguars.blogspot.com/2006/10/jaguar-football-we-were-robbed.html.
It's still Thursday morning...but it is time to begin preparation for the FargoDome! My list has about 100 items on it for today. The very first on the list is to hang a garbage bag on our "Back the Blue" sign in our front yard. I won't explain here why I'm doing that, but some of you reading this may get it. As I type this, we are just 24 hours away from KICKOFF! The pressure is ON!!
Late Thursday night...
I'm happy to announce that the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's sports department arrived in Fargo right around 10 p.m. tonight! We quickly settled into our hotel room at the Quality Suites near the West Acres Shopping Mall. I have to say that this is SO worth the expense! The FargoDome is just four miles away, which means we can essentially "sleep in" tomorrow, enjoy a free hotel breakfast and then gear up for the big football game! Just being able to have a hearty breakfast basically a little over an hour before kickoff is a HUGE money-saving bonus. The breakfast itself can wipe out at least one-third of the hotel room's price. Add in the ability to have a low-stress Friday morning, and this has wins written all over it.
Now that November is...tomorrow! It is time to dramatically ramp up pre-musical coverage for the upcoming B-B-E Theater's production of Lucky Stiff at Olson Auditorium's stage. If you want to learn more about what the musical is about, you can visit Music Theater International's official website: https://www.mtishows.com/lucky-stiff. The show is PG-rated and takes place across two acts. I've posted a short web article online that features a video clip from their October 25 rehearsal. You can see that by clicking here: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com.
Step III: a dream cut short, five-game thriller goes to the Knights (VIDEOS*)
Time for a "post makeover" on Wednesday night! Tonight, Wednesday, I am struck a bit by straight up fear at getting through the next 48 hours. The next 48 hours involve a drive to Fargo, North Dakota, and the biggest football game since last year's state semifinal contest in Minneapolis. The pressure is on at full strength after I remake this blog post, which will bring you a full recap of the sub-section championship. I have added a sports podcast recording at the end...
This will be brief! I have a long drive ahead.
Trailing 6-1 in game five, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team picked themselves up and made a battle of it with West Central Area. In the end, the Knights had too much at the end and advance with a 15-12 win. B-B-E cut an 11-6 deficit down to 13-10 late in the final game.
The Jaguars won game FOUR by a 25-20 score. It is time to head home.
Here's an overview of how Tuesday night played out for the Sub-Section 6A-South volleyball championship in Fergus Falls.
In a heavyweight battle between Top 10 teams in Class 1A, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team had revenge on their minds with No. 8-ranked West Central Area. The Knights, who entered the night ranked No. 12 in Class 1A by QRF, faced a Jaguars team that was No. 2 on that same scale. Both teams bring back a long list of returning talent from their 2023 squads that also met in the same match that precedes the state qualifier, the Section 6A championship. In 2023, the Knights prevailed by a 3-1 margin against a B-B-E team that featured numerous newcomers to the varsity level but had a stellar regular season where they earned a solo conference crown.
In a match reminiscent of the 2021 Section 6A championship, during which our Jaguars suffered a five-set loss to Breckenridge and fall one win short of state, the West Central Area Knights prevailed 3-2 to claim their second straight sub-section title. Game scores vs. WCA: 17-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-20, 12-15. The Jaguars finish a spectacular season 27-4 overall after going 23-7 a year ago.
Game five lasted a full 15 minutes, and you can read about all five sets further below on this blog post...first, here's some video plus other notes I posted last night before preparing the October 31 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice for the printing press.
Here's action from early in game two where the Jaguars were trying to right the ship after fading in a game one loss:
*Here's video in game 4 tonight featuring the end of that set:
The clip begins with the Jaguars ahead 23-18. That fourth set was polished off by a big middle attack for a kill by sophomore Teagan Dingmann.
It's nearing 23:00 tonight, and I'm back in the saddle in the comfort of my home office. It's GOOD to be home! I topped out at around 220 action photos tonight. GOOD grief!
It will take a day or two to really let tonight's volleyball match soak in. It truly was a remarkable, thrilling, exciting, heartbreaking night. As it is common knowledge by this point, B-B-E's senior setter and third-year starter, Kylie Weller, suffered a knee injury last week and was unable to play tonight. She bravely poured herself into supporting her team sitting on the bench with crutches next to her. It was tough. Real tough. I told her dad tonight that once she is back from whatever surgery she may face, she will be tougher because of what she went through. I can speak to that after having one of my own daughters face an extremely tough surgery and recovery one year ago.
To add to that difficult adversity that our Jaguars faced this week, a big scare came over everyone on our side when junior outside hitter Kacey Fischer collided with the left volleyball post. She was down for about two minutes before getting tended to by our fearless trainer. At that point, our Jaguars held an 18-15 lead in game two. INCREDIBLY, with Kacey on the bench and freshman reserve Macey Roering taking her spot, the Jaguars INCREASED their lead to 21-16! It was INCREDIBLE!! Did I say that it was INCREDIBLE! Kadynce Haider smoked an attack to make it 21-16. Somehow, also incredible...the WCA Knights fought back with a noteworthy amount of perseverance and took a 22-21 lead on a 6-0 run. Haider then tipped it for a kill to tie it at 22-22. WCA got a kill, and the Jaguars were called for a lift to bring set point. The Knights were on an 8-1 run. The final point came on a hitting error that gave WCA a 25-22 win and a 2-0 lead in sets.
Kacey Fischer returned to the court for game three, and the Jaguars proceeded to shine at crucial junctures of the next two sets as they forced a game five. She finished with 18 kills on 46 attacks with 17 digs and 2 block assists.
Game one vs. WCA
The lead changed hands when the Jaguars fought back from a 5-3 deficit when Haider's kill put them in front 6-5. Kacey Fischer's right side kill plus her ace serve and a Hagen kill put them ahead 10-6, prompting WCA into a timeout. The Knights scored 3 straight while going on a 9-1 run. The Jaguars got two points on WCA errors, but they had their own string of miscues that helped WCA take a 21-13 lead. Kills from Kamie Fischer, Lieser and Haider were not enough to fuel a late rally.
Game two vs. WCA
The Jaguars had the upper hand early in game two and caught fire with a 5-0 run that put them ahead 7-2. Beginning with a block by Teagan Dingmann, the Jaguars were the aggressors with two kills from Kacey Fischer and two ace serves by Hagen. The Knights clawed back to trail 10 before Lieser's kill brought a side out. Hagen hit consecutive kills to help expand the lead to 17-10. Kacey Fischer went to the bench briefly after colliding with the left volleyball post, but the Jaguars maintained their composure and expanded an 18-15 lead to 21-16. WCA stormed back to gain a 25-23 win as they stunned Jaguar fans with a late 8-1 run.
Game three vs. WCA
Once again, the Jaguars rocketed out of the gate to build a big lead early in game three. An ace tip and a block by Dingmann plus Kacey Fischer's kill made it 7-1. The Jaguars pushed the tempo and led 13-9 before WCA All-State hitter Mya Foslien came alive with five kills that put her team ahead 15-14. Kamie Fischer's ace tip and an ace serve made it a 19-16 lead, but the Knights tied it with 3 straight points. Not wanting to flirt with a loss by sweep, the Jaguars put together their best run of the night while scoring 6 of 7 points in a 25-20 win. Lieser, Kacey Fischer and Hagen all had late kills, with Lieser's kill making it 24-20 before the Knights hit long to end the set.
Game four vs. WCA
The Jaguars came back from a 4-2 deficit in game four and maintained the upper hand with leads of 7-4, 13-7 and 16-11. WCA closed the gap to one point, but the Jaguars were strong down the stretch as Dingmann's kill finished another 25-20 win.
Game five vs. WCA
With Foslien hammering down 4 straight kills and then earning an ace block, WCA was the aggressor to start game 5 with a 5-0 lead. The Jaguars came back from a 6-1 deficit with kills by Hagen and Kacey Fischer plus Abigail Lien's ace serve and Haider's block to make it 7-5. WCA got a right-side block for an 11-6 lead, but Haider had two kills to cut it to 12-9. Down 14-10, Dingmann and Hagen had 2 straight kills to make it 14-12, but that's as close as they got. You can watch the final rally by the Jaguars in game five by clicking over to the Bonanza Valley Voice website: https://tinyurl.com/cy7wh3a9.
The Jaguars were strong at the service line with 94 percent serving and 8 ace serves. Three hitters were in double digits: Kacey Fischer (18 kills), Hagen (15 kills) and Haider (13 kills). Kamie Fischer had 47 set assists, and Deters tallied 19 digs.
Here's the WCA Pep Band playing the National Anthem, the player introductions and the start of game one tonight:
Game stats will not be fully reviewed until Wednesday morning.
In the Sub-Section 6A-North finals tonight at Fergus Falls, the No. 1-seeded Breckenridge Cowgirls suffered a 3-2 loss to No. 2-seeded Hillcrest Lutheran Academy. Crazy. Back-to-back five-set championship matches played tonight in Fergus Falls! The WCA Knights (26-4) will face Hillcrest Lutheran Academy in the Section 6A finals this Saturday night at 7 p.m. back at Fergus Falls.
More to come. I saw Maple Lake beat Kimball Area 3-2 in a giant playoff match in Section 5AA. The Irish were the home team tonight. In the last match of the regular season (October 15), Maple Lake survived a scare at Kimball Area in a 3-2 win that gave them a share of the conference title with our Jaguars. Next for Coach Marty Kiebel's squad is Providence Academy, a team ranked No. 20 in the Class 2A QRF that sports an 18-3 overall record. The Lions were champions of the Independent Metro Athletic Conference. The Section 5AA Final Four features Maple lake, Providence Academy, top-seeded Annandale plus Watertown-Mayer.
Area volleyball sub-section final scores on October 29:
Pine River-Backus 3, Swanville 0 (Swanville's dream season ends in Sub-Section 5A-East; the Tigers, who lost to our Jaguars in the season opener, won 26-24, 25-18, 25-22 to avenge a 2-0 tournament loss on September 14 in Crosby; Swanville finishes 23-4 after one of their best-ever volleyball seasons, while PR-B takes a 19-11 record to the 5A finals against Sebeka)
Sebeka 3, Browerville 0
Sauk Centre 3, Royalton 0 (technically it was simply a Section 6AA semifinal)
Albany 3, Milaca 0
Area volleyball sub-section semifinal scores on October 29:
Canby 3, MACCRAY 0 (the Lancers end MACCRAY's season by scores of 25-18, 25-17, 25-17 in the 3A-North semis)
Minneota 3, Renville County West 0 (the Vikings won 25-20, 25-16, 25-19)
Paynesville Area 3, Eden Valley-Watkins 1
New London-Spicer 3, Litchfield 0
Here's my 11th sports podcast recording of this fall season:
I'll repost that in a new blog post on Thursday. Ironically, I had just a couple brief points I wanted to focus on during what was supposed to be a shorter sports show. In fact, it ended up going 15 minutes long. **A new blog post went live on Thursday morning, October 31.
The first 'SHIP! Volleyball Jaguars set to battle Knights in Fergus Falls (VIDEO, UPDATES)
We have REVENGE on our minds! At top of mind specifically is a rematch with the West Central Area Knights for our Central Minnesota Conference champion B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team, as the two teams will collide at Fergus Falls high school tonight with a 6 p.m. start time. They are the top seeds in the sub-section. Our Jaguars have a 27-3 overall record, while the Knights enter 25-4. This one is going to be an epic battle!!! The Jaguars need to block well and serve well in order to have a chance at advancing!
Tonight's Sub-Section 6A-South championship will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood. (Thanks, Brady!) They stream online! So you can tune in that way: https://www.kmgk1071.com. ...update...Brady re-appeared! So you can tune in via the Glenwood radio station (107.1 FM) via the radio waves or Interwebs.
**Here's a video featuring the end of the subsection semifinals against C-G-B...
Match UPDATES to follow here! Please share this blog link so others can follow along from anywhere!
In game one...the Jaguars jumped out to a nice 10-6 lead, but now the Knights hold a 14-11 advantage after they found success at the service line.
Game one final: WCA 25, B-B-E 17. The Jaguars looked rough, and it was very tough to watch, as the Knights began picking up their back row play and challenging the Jaguar attack. Trailing 14-11, Coach Borgerding called a timeout. They got no closer than 3 points, trailing 16-13, before the Knights had a key 5-0 run to take control and win the opening set.
Game 2 final: WCA 25, BBE 23.
Game 3 final: BBE 25, WCA 20.
UPDATES IN A NEW BLOG POST.
THANK YOU to Bonanza Valley State Bank of Brooten for supporting this sports playoff post! And all the work we do at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper 365 days of the year.
Oh, man, did I bury myself on Saturday. I just checked the camera card: 338 pictures taken on Saturday afternoon at the football game. Now the uphill climb begins for picking what gets published in the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper! Oh, boy!
I'm also working on a cross country story on senior Taylor Nelson, who was a leader at the Section 6A meet on the Paynesville/B-B-E boys' cross country squad. In last Thursday's state qualifier, Nelson missed advancing to the state cross country meet by just two places. It was a heartbreaking end to what was a short but outstanding cross country career.
Football and volleyball are clearly, and with good reason, the big talk of the community this week. We have two big match ups ahead of us for both teams! Have you made your plans yet for carpooling to Fergus Falls tomorrow night?
More to come tonight. Soon it's time to get ready for the B-B-E Music Boosters Halloween Spooktacular!
BIG announcement for volleyball fans:
Ticket sales are online only. Which I absolutely despise...but I am powerless to change that. So, for the Tuesday volleyball match in Fergus Falls, you have to go to this website and purchase whatever tickets you need: https://gofan.co/event/2039633?schoolId=MN16848. Adults are $10, and students are $5 each.
Here's a video from game 2 of the subsection semifinals last Friday:
The Voice Fall Sports Show No. 10 - Let's Make Travel Plans and support our Jaguars! (VIDEO)
Right after returning home from the Bonanza Valley Royal Strutters Gun Blast last night at the Padua Pub, I went straight to the recording studio with the camera equipment. Instead of drawing up an intricate outline and speech for this 10th Fall Sports show of the season, I wanted to record it right away and get it done. With football and volleyball fresh on my mind last night, I figured I'd get most of what I wanted to say included.
Here's what I did not stress in the podcast: the trip to Fergus Falls on Tuesday night to cheer on our volleyball team is crucial! They will be playing on Tuesday without the support of the football team, who will be remaining home and just about wrapping up with their practice while the volleyball team is running pre-match drills. Let me be very clear on this: the match against West Central Area will be essentially a home game for the Knights. Their school district is neighbors right to the south of Fergus Falls. It's more or less a 20 to 30 minute drive for WCA Knights fans. For B-B-E fans, it's about a 1 1/2 hour drive. This is a HUGE hurdle to overcome! Please spread the word and fill up the car pools! Fan support goes a long way in the playoffs!
Without further ado...here's the latest installment of The Voice sports department's fall sports show:
Today I thoroughly enjoyed having lunch at the Sunburg Free Lutheran church! They had an old-fashioned and delicious Lutheran potluck meal. They are hard to beat! Yah, sure, you betcha!
I looked ahead on the forecast, and it appears that our family garden vegetables will not make it into November. On the night of Halloween, a hard frost will take out what we have left growing with a low of 28 degrees. It is unclear if blankets will help. I may try a sleeping bag over a couple of our tomato plants. We'll see how the week goes.
Looking ahead to a few section football championship games... Section 6AAA: Minnewaska Area faces Albany in that section final at 7 p.m. on Friday, November 1 at Rocori high school in Cold Spring. Section 5A: BOLD faces Minneota on Friday, November 1 at 3 p.m. at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall. Section 5AA: Kimball Area faces Holdingford on Friday, November 1 at 7 p.m. at St. John's University. Section 6AA: Staples-Motley faces Osakis on Friday, November 1 at the FargoDome at 3 p.m. Section 6A: West Central Area faces Parkers Prairie on Friday, November 1 at the FargoDome at 12:30 p.m. Section 4 9-man: Hancock faces Border West on Thursday, October 31 at the FargoDome at 11:30 a.m.
Friday Night Lights IX: incredible 2nd quarter lifts Jaguars to section finals! (VIDEOS)
An absolutely incredible second quarter performance today by the B-B-E Jaguars football team launched them into their second straight Section 4A championship berth. The Jaguars led 42-0 at halftime after blistering the Tigers to the tune of 34 second quarter points. Final score:B-B-E 54, Browerville 0.
The final score marks the first playoff shutout win in B-B-E football history, which goes back 36 years! B-B-E improves to 8-1 overall. They have won every post-pandemic playoff opener, now four in a row, going back to 2021. In section semifinal games, the Jaguars have a record of 7-9. This means that this is the 7th time in school history that they will play in a section championship game. The other seasons they've made it to a section football final were 1997, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2021, 2023 and now 2024.
NEXT: the Section 4A championship game is on Friday, November 1, at the FargoDome in North Dakota. Kickoff is at 10 a.m. against No. 1-seeded Upsala/Swanville Area. The U/SA Patriots defeated No. 4-seeded Benson by a 49-6 score today in Upsala. Their overall record is now 9-0. The Braves finish their season 3-7 overall.
This is an eye-popping statistic that describes how the Jaguars won 54-0: the Jaguars earned an average of 12.4 yards per offensive play; the Tigers gained an average of just 1.75 yards per play.
Here's a video featuring the starter introductions, the opening kickoff and the first few minutes of the first quarter:
Before I get into the game review, I have to give a huge shout out to Browerville high school for two things: (1.) the Browerville Pep Band made the one-hour long trip to Belgrade and played during pregame plus at halftime. Kudos to them! (2.) the Browerville high school also sent a large cheerleading crew who displayed what I felt was an outstanding job of cheering throughout the entire game, even as the Tigers fell behind on the scoreboard by a wide margin. It takes great courage and character to continue giving your very best effort in spite of the realization that your team is going to lose.
How the game played out...
The game started with Browerville on offense, but their first series had a net loss of 7 yards on 3 plays. In their first try on offense, the Jaguars started on their own 29, but they had a net loss of 2 yards on 3 plays before punting. The Tigers went back on offense starting on their 33 with 8:14 left. On first down, Brett DeRoo tackled Browerville quarterback Ryan Riedel for a 4-yard loss. On second down, DeRoo had a pass break up, and third down was called dead due to a Browerville false start penalty. On 3rd-and-19, the Tigers gained just 3 yards. On 4th-and-16, the Browerville punt sailed high and landed on the track right in the Browerville cheerleader's section.
B-B-E's second series of the game brought another three-and-out with a punt on 4th-and-5. Luke Illies's punt rolled inside the 20, and Browerville started their third series with 5:54 left. A false start penalty hurt the Tigers on 3rd-and-7, and their 3rd-and-12 play resulted in an incomplete pass.
After receiving the punt, the Jaguars had first down on the Browerville 28-yard line with 3:48 on the clock after DeRoo had a great punt return. B-B-E then needed just 2 plays to punch in their first touchdown, with Jack Lundberg running for 6 yards and then 22 yards with a touchdown. Lundberg ran in the two-point conversion to give his team an 8-0 lead with 3:10 left in the opening quarter.
You can watch that first touchdown drive as part of this video below:
As you can hear in the video, I was jacked sky high! From the moment I ran into the stadium this afternoon, the Modus Operandi was that we had to give 200% all game long! In the instance where I thought the Browerville quarterback committed a grounding penalty, I did not see the nearby receiver just out of my camera view. In that case, it was not grounding, just a great effort by Riedel to get rid of the ball as Ethan Mueller was tackling him.
The Jaguars scored early and often across the second quarter to lead 42-0 at halftime. The onslaught of offense seemed unending, with the Jaguars utilizing numerous big plays to post five additional touchdowns as follows:
Second touchdown: Lundberg with an 87-yard run with 11:38 left.
Third touchdown: DeRoo with a 65-yard reception with 10:58 left.
Fourth touchdown: Kameron Hiltner with a 42-yard reception with 8:25 left.
Fifth touchdown: Lundberg with a 10-yard run with 6:48 left.
Sixth touchdown: Josh Walstrom with an 82-yard reception with 2:33 left.
After Walstrom's big touchdown reception, Lundberg ran in the two-point conversion to make it a 42-0 lead.
In a very classy move, the coaching staffs agreed to play JV squad players right at the beginning of the third quarter. With a six-score deficit, Browerville concluded that it was best to turn the game over to the JV and see how the second half played out. The Jaguars JV offense began the second half with possession, and while they did not score on that drive, they used over 6 minutes of game clock while driving into Browerville territory before stalling out on downs at the 47-yard line with 5:41 left.
Once the second half was complete, the JV defense kept the record-making shutout intact. B-B-E's JV offense scored with 4:09 left in the fourth quarter. Kaden Kollman leaped for a 17-yard touchdown catch in the endzone from quarterback Aiden Mueller. This brought a 48-0 score. After the kickoff, the JV team scored a defensive touchdown when Aiden Detloff returned a lost fumble from a distance of 41 yards in the final two minutes of the game.
For the game, the Jaguars racked up nearly 460 yards of offense. A full review of game statistics won't be completed until later this evening.
Here's head coach Chris Moscho in a postgame interview today:
Game statistics summary:
B-B-E's defense was incredible from start to finish, including in the second half. The Tigers attempted to convert third down 12 different times, and their final conversion rate was 0-for-12. Through 48 minutes, the Jaguars limited Browerville's offense to 96 yards. A total of 21 Jaguars recorded one or more tackles. Kameron Hiltner had the game's only interception, and Aiden Detloff had the game's lone fumble recovery. Browerville's varsity and JV quarterbacks combined for passing marks of 3-for-13 for 8 yards. Browerville ran the ball 38 times for a total of 88 rushing yards.
For their part, B-B-E had 156 rushing yards on just 12 carries. Through the air, Luke Illies and Aiden Mueller combined for 303 passing yards and four touchdowns! Wow! For those who are calculating, that comes out to a quarterback passing rating (combined) of 126.36.
More to come. Video is uploading. Plus, I have a big event tonight in Padua with the Bonanza Valley Royal Strutters Gun Blast!
Don't forget! the St. Francis de Sales Catholic church holds their fall pancake and sausage supper on Sunday (tomorrow) from 2 to 6 p.m. at the parish center on Martin Avenue. Also, a fall sports show was recorded tonight, and it will get posted in a new blog post on Sunday after church.
Area football scores (section semifinals) on October 26:
Holdingford 34, Eden Valley-Watkins 14 (the Huskers avenge a Week 8 loss by a 24-6 score in Eden Valley)
Kimball Area 37, Royalton 0
Mahnomen/Waubun 43, Polk County West 0
Barnesville 58, Frazee 6
Parkers Prairie 22, Breckenridge 12
Border West 51, Ottertail Central 8
Hancock 56, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 28
Osakis 16, Pillager 15
Renville County West 41, Red Rock Central 8
Minnewaska Area 26, New London-Spicer 22 (a huge win for the Lakers football program just a year after they went 2-7; they are now section finals bound)
Two Harbors 21, Pierz 20
Litchfield 44, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 27
Marshall 20, Willmar 6 Minneota 62, Canby 0
Mille Lacs 24, Braham 8
BOLD 41, Dawson-Boyd 20
Alexandria 38, Bemidji 13
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 31, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 27 (MA/CA drops a tough one at Big Cat Stadium in Morris)
Hutchinson 21, St. Peter 0
Albany 44, Sauk Centre 8 Pipestone Area 23, Redwood Valley 14
West Central Area 42, New York Mills 18
Springfield 27, Sleepy Eye United 6
Step II: another sweep, Jaguars head to the 'Ship! (VIDEOS*)
The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team defended their home court for the last time of the season and defeated No. 4-seeded Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley in a 3-0 sweep to advance to the Sub-Section 6A-South championship match! B-B-E used 23 percent hitting with three hitters earning 9 or more kills to defeat an outstanding Wolverines team. Game scores: 25-17, 25-20, 25-23.
The Jaguars will get a rematch looking for revenge against West Central Area, who swept Parkers Prairie tonight in the other subsection semifinal. The subsection final match is Tuesday, October 29 at 6 p.m. at Fergus Falls senior high school. Please spread the word!
Here's just a brief glimpse of the tail end of the "Roller Coaster" cheer tonight; recorded during game three:
How tonight's match played out...
From start to finish, game one had an ebb and flow of momentum between each team, but an early 2-0 start on the scoreboard got the Jaguars off to a good start. Kenna Lieser's ace serve and later back-to-back kills from Kacey Fischer made it a 5-2 lead. A block from Kadynce Haider made it 10-7. After Adley Hagen's third kill of the set, the Jaguars led 15-8, and C-G-B's Coach Moberg called a timeout. Hagen's fourth kill of the set, Kacey Fischer's kill and a C-G-B net violation made it 20-10. The Wolverines scored four straight points at the start of a 6-2 run that cut it to 22-16. Back-to-back kills from Kadynce Haider and Hagen gave the Jaguars a 25-17 lead.
The Wolverines had early leads of 4-3 and 5-4 in game two, but back-to-back ace serves by Kamie Fischer put the Jaguars ahead 7-5. The Wolverines tied it at 9-9, but Hagen hit two straight kills to start a 3-0 run. The Jaguars kept grinding while building a lead of 22-17. Kacey Fischer later finished off the set with a booming kill for a 25-20 win.
C-G-B showed resiliency and hung tough early in game three while earning early leads of 6-3 and 7-5. The Jaguars pulled in front 10-8, but the Wolverines earned a 4-0 run off of four straight errors by the Jaguars. The Jaguars played from behind until Kenna Lieser's ace serve tied it up at 19-19. C-G-B later led 23-22, but they committed two straight hitting errors to give up the lead. Kadynce Haider's 9th kill of the night finished the competition while the Jaguars won 25-23.
Here's a lengthy video featuring the National Anthem, the player introductions plus the first few minutes of game one:
Here's the final points scored in game one:
Adley Hagen had 16 kills on 42.4 percent hitting with 9 digs, one block and one block assist. Kacey Fischer dropped 15 kills on 22 percent hitting with 16 digs. As a team, the Jaguars racked up five ace serves, but their serving percentage was just 86.4 percent. That figure will have to dramatically improve in order for them to compete with WCA on Tuesday.
More to come. Video is uploading. I'm also terribly distracted from sports while watching a freshly recorded podcast created by one of the most famous podcaster on the entire planet. PLUS there's going to be frost tonight, so I have garden vegetables to cover before midnight!
Section 6A volleyball playoff scores on October 25:
Breckenridge 3, New York Mills 1
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 3, Underwood 0
I'm caught up as far as October 14 for my fall varsity sports photo album. I try to keep within about a 10-day lag on getting pictures uploaded from my community and sports events. You can find the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's Fall 2024 photo albums by clicking here: https://bonanzavalley.smugmug.com/BBE-Fall-Sports-2024.
In community news...
We have numerous activities coming up beyond sports in the Bonanza Valley across the next couple of weeks. It is an intense stretch of events! One item I want to give a shout out to is the Ham and Eggs breakfast at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Elrosa, which will be held on Sunday, November 3 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in their church basement.
Saturday night! Don't forget the Bonanza Valley Royal Strutters Gun Blast that's coming to the Padua Pub on Saturday night. This is a 20th annual event! It has been held without interruption, even held in November 2020 while resisting being canceled that fall...the Royal Strutters is one of the premier local groups supporting our B-B-E Clay Trapshooting team each spring. Please come out and show your support in Padua! You can read more about this and other upcoming events by clicking to the Bonanza Valley Voice website, where the community calendar can be found by clicking here: https://shorturl.at/IkhQe.
Area volleyball scores on October 25:
Kimball Area 3, Blake 1 (Cubs have back-to-back playoff wins in Section 5AA)
Litchfield 3, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 2
Paynesville Area 3, Montevideo 0
Sauk Centre 3, Minnewaska Area 0
Albany 3, St. Cloud Cathedral 0
MACCRAY 3, Central Minnesota Christian 1
Pine River-Backus 3, Mille Lacs 2
Swanville 3, Braham 0
Westbrook-Walnut Grove 3, Edgerton 0
Russel-Tyler-Ruthton 3, Red Rock Central 0
Minneota 3, Lakeview 0
Canby 3, Lac qui Parle Valley 0
Eden Valley-Watkins 3, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 0
Royalton 3, Holdingford 0
Renville County West 3, Wabasso 1
Albany 3, St. Cloud Cathedral 0
Adrian/Ellsworth 3, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 2
Funeral held for Mrs. Stalberger (VIDEO, UPDATES at playoffs)
A Mass of Christian Burial was held today for Mrs. Ruth Stalberger, who taught elementary school locally between the years of 1952 and 1998. In that period, she taught a total of 42 years in Brooten, Spring Hill and Belgrade. In four of those years, she took time away from teaching when her two children were born.
She was a dearly beloved teacher, according to everything I have read and heard about her! Just a wonderful, wonderful woman. I did not have the honor of having her as a teacher as an elementary student in Brooten in the late 1980s. (I had really great teachers there, of course!)
Her funeral was in Belgrade at the St. Francis de Sales Catholic church. I have a short video clip to share below that features part of one of the funeral's songs.
"On Eagles' Wings" today in Belgrade...
Mrs. Stalberger's obituary has been posted online at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://rb.gy/953qd7.
Time to get ready for the Belgrade Lions Fish Fry! Plus the volleyball game later tonight.
VOLLEYBALL UPDATES...
In game one, the Jaguars have a 15-8 lead, and the Wolverines just called their first timeout. Game one final: B-B-E 25, C-G-B 17.
On Thursday, two additional videos were added, and other updates were included below...including a postmatch interview with Ava Deters...
In a terrific night of serving, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team overwhelmed the No. 8-seeded Hancock Owls in straight sets during the playoff opener tonight.
Now 26-3 overall, the top-seeded Jaguars host a Sub-Section 6A-South semifinal match on Friday this week. They will face Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley at 7 p.m. The Wolverines (17-13) are the No. 4 seed and were a fourth-place team in the Little Eight Conference. They had a 10-4 overall record after beating Brandon-Evansville 3-0 on the road in Little Eight Conference action back on September 19.
How the match played out tonight...
The Owls came out jittery to start game one and faltered with a serve into the net to start the match. After hitting long, however, they earned a kill for a side out. Adley Hagen had a kill for the Jaguars, and the Owls hit into the net. Hagen then served back-to-back aces to make it a 6-1 lead. The Jaguars expanded the lead to 9-1 before the Owls called for a timeout. The tough serving continued for the Jaguars, and they added three more ace serves plus 8 more kills in a 25-6 win.
The Jaguars won 25-13 in game two after leading 19-10. Hancock showed better fight early in the set, but a 3-2 deficit soon became 10-3 after three straight kills from Kacey Fischer. The Owls had a couple kills and trailed 15-7 before surging down the stretch. Game three had a final score of 25-16 while the Jaguars overcame an 11-7 deficit at one point. In the third set, the Owls had early leads of 5-2 and 7-3. Kylie Weller's ace serve and a kill by Hagen tied it at 11-11. Three straight kills from Kacey Fischer brought Hancock to call their final timeout, but they were unable to re-ignite their offense against B-B-E's strong service game.
Here's a video featuring the starter introductions tonight plus the opening minutes of game one:
And more video...
Here's action from the middle of game three after the Jaguars trailed 11-7...
Match statistics:
The Jaguars had a monstrous 53.1 hitting efficiency rating and were led by Kacey Fischer's 15 kills and Adley Hagen's 10 kills. At the service line, B-B-E racked up 14 ace serves, including 5 by Hagen and 4 by Kacie Fischer. Kylie Weller had 18 set assists plus stellar serving marks (18-for-18 with 3 aces). Overall, the Owls struggled mightily against B-B-E's strong serving and were not able to mount an effective attack.
Here's a postmatch interview with Ava Deters following the win:
Thank you, Ava, and all your teammates! I appreciate you offering your time for these random interviews after matches this season.
The Hancock Owls finish 9-17 overall after a 1-1 showing in the subsection playoffs. In the QRF, they were ranked No. 111 out of 151 teams in Class 1A.
More to come. It's time to work on a scouting report on the Browerville Tigers football team.
Community announcement (again)! I'm asking again that you get the Belgrade Lions Fish Fry on your schedule for Friday this week! It is coming Friday night from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Belgrade. If you get the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper in your hands, their advertisement was published as a banner ad on page one.
Section 6A volleyball scores on October 23:
West Central Area 3, Ortonville 0
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 3, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 0
Parkers Prairie 3, Brandon-Evansville 0
Breckenridge 3, Battle Lake 0
New York Mills 3, Park Christian 0
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 3, Henning 0
Underwood 3, Lake Park-Audubon 1
State tennis update...
The Litchfield Dragons girls' tennis team prevailed in a close battle by a 4-3 score over Crookston in the Class 1A state semifinals this morning. In the state championship, the Dragons fell to No. 1-ranked Blake by a 6-1 score to finish as state runners-up.
Area volleyball playoff scores on October 23:
Kimball Area 3, Cristo Rey Jesuit 0
Holdingford 3, Staples-Motley 1
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 3, Nevis 2
Pine River-Backus 3, East Central 0
Browerville 3, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0
Swanville 3, Ogilvie 0
Braham 3, Upsala 0
Willmar 3, Mankato East 0
Royalton 3, Melrose Area 1
Sebeka 3, Verndale 0
Minnewaska Area 3, Osakis 1
A video was added here late on Wednesday afternoon...
The last four teams standing in Section 4A are now set. In tonight's quarterfinal round, the Browerville Tigers defeated visiting Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 43-14. This means that our B-B-E Jaguars football team knows its opponent for their playoff opener. The Jaguars (7-1) and Browerville (6-3) will meet in the Section 4A semifinals this Saturday, October 26 at 2 p.m. at our house at the B-B-E high school football stadium.
Here's a video from the first quarter during Friday Night Lights VIII in Murdock:
I posted that video last weekend, but it hasn't gotten many views yet. Now I return to publishing the October 24 newspaper issue. Additional notes will be added to this blog post on Wednesday morning.
**Here's action from the third quarter against K-M-S last week...
The Jaguars were on defense at the beginning of that video.
**Also! there is not radio coverage for the volleyball match on Wednesday night. The match starts in our house at 7 p.m.!
State tennis tournament updates:
At the Class 1A state tournament today, the Litchfield Dragons girls' tennis team defeated Montevideo 5-2. In another quarterfinal state match, the Crookston Pirates defeated Providence Academy 5-2 (way to go public schools!)...now Litchfield and Crookston will meet in the semifinals tomorrow morning at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis. Litchfield is the No. 3 seed, while Crookston is the No. 2 seed.
Area football playoff opener scores on October 22:
West Central Area 40, Pine River-Backus 8
Parkers Prairie 62, Brandon-Evansville/Ashby 6
Benson 47, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 6
Royalton 22, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 14
Holdingford 42, Paynesville Area 2
Renville County West 46, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 8
Sauk Centre 16, Melrose Area 8
Willmar 28, New Ulm 6
New London-Spicer 50, Montevideo 7
In Murdock for the Section 5AA playoffs, Royalton trailed 14-0 before scoring a touchdown before halftime to trail 14-6. They scored 16 unanswered points in the second half to end K-M-S's season. Jett Olson carried the ball 31 times for a whopping 233 rushing yards, but it was not enough to overcome three lost fumbles.
Hot off the press! Or video camera...here's my ninth sports show of the fall...I got off to a very good start with my sports podcasting for this fall season with seven sports shows recorded from late August through Homecoming week in the last week of September...but just 2 so far in the first 20 days of October. The month of October has been wicked crazy, and I have had to dial back from 80-plus hours a week of working like I was doing in September. That is a pace I can't keep for more than a few weeks at a time.
Let's talk playoffs!
Currently, we await the outcome of the play-in round volleyball match in Hancock that takes place tomorrow night. Also, we look to Tuesday to see the outcome of the Browerville vs. Long Prairie-Grey Eagle football game. I actually might record a "Part II" for my sports show, as I forgot a few things that I wanted to include.
I'm having technical difficulties with link shorteners, so I can't get a short link prepared for a web article I wanted to share. I added video to the Crow River Lutheran church auction article that's posted at the Bonanza Valley Voice website. You can click here and look for it under "news" = https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com.
In other news...community news!
The Belgrade Lions Fish Fry is this week on Friday! Mark your calendar and bring your family! Click here for all the details: https://rb.gy/ntgokj.
AND...more Sonic Escape concert coverage! This is a two-week old video, but I got it posted today for the first time at The Voice's website: http://bit.ly/40czo4u.
Monday night update: the Hancock Owls swept Benson 3-0 tonight to advance to the Sub-Section 6A-South quarterfinals. The Owls will travel to our house on Wednesday to face the Jaguars with a 7 p.m. match.
Volleyball team earns top sub-section seed (VIDEO, SEEDINGS)
Both a tough strength-of-schedule plus a stellar 25-3 overall record have both earned the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball teamthe No. 1 seed for the upcoming Sub-Section 6A-South playoffs. The Central Minnesota Conference co-champion Jaguars completed the regular season with a four-set win at Paynesville Area earlier this week.
The playoff road starts at home!
For the sub-section quarterfinals, the Jaguars will host on the evening of Wednesday, October 23 with a 7 p.m. start time at the elementary gymnasium. Their opponent is to-be-determined. If they win, they will host a semifinal match two nights later on Friday, October 25.
To learn our quarterfinal opponent, we have to wait until Monday, October 21, when the play-in round matches take place in Section 6A. The Jaguars await the outcome of No. 8 Hancock hosting No. 9 Benson in a border clash. The Owls are 8-16 overall, while the Braves are 2-18. Oddly, Benson and Hancock did not meet in the regular season in spite of being only 17 miles apart on Highway 9.
Here's a video from the end of game two at Paynesville:
That's all I've got to post. I'll update again this evening. Tonight, we have an Eagle Scout ceremony for Odin Jensen at the Belgrade V.F.W. at 6 p.m. He is a Class of 2024 graduate and key lineman on the 2023 Jaguar football state semifinal team.
Sub-Section 6A-South volleyball seedings for the 2024 playoffs:
1. B-B-E
2. West Central Area
3. Parkers Prairie
4. Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley
5. Wheaton/Herman-Norcross
6. Brandon-Evansville
7. Ortonville
8. Hancock
9. Benson
10. Ashby
Sunday updates...
I learned today that the Litchfield Dragons girls' tennis team has earned the NO. 3 seed for the upcoming Class 1A state tournament. They ended the season for our Jaguars back on October 3 in the Section 6A quarterfinals. Litchfield will face unseeded Montevideo in the state quarterfinals. The Jaguars also played Montevideo in a match held in early September.
Friday Night Lights VIII: defense rules the night, Jaguars win border battle (VIDEOS!)
This was not a game for the faint of heart!
While it did not technically go down to the wire, the B-B-E Jaguars football team did not have the game in hand against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg until quarterback Luke Illies took a knee in the final minute of the fourth quarter. They had just scored 14 unanswered points across the final 26 minutes of the 48-minute-long border battle. A game ruled by defense and offensive miscues was won by the Jaguars by a 14-3 score at Murdock.
Here's action from late in the 1st quarter last night (Wednesday) in Murdock:
More to come. I have many pages of notes to review from the game!
How the game developed...
The flow of the game was outlined soon after the game's opening kickoff. B-B-E started on their own 32-yard line, and Ethan Mueller caught an 8-yard pass. Good! On the next play, the Jaguars lost a fumble, which gave K-M-S the ball on B-B-E's 39-yard line with 11:16 left in the first quarter. On K-M-S's first series, they gained one net yard on three plays but got off a great punt. The chess match was underway, as the Jaguars started their second series back on their own 14-yard line. Two plays later, the Jaguars lost possession on another fumble.
Back on defense, the Jaguars got tough again, but K-M-S had advantageous field position with their second drive starting on the B-B-E 10-yard line. A solo tackle by Ethan Mueller on first down brought a 5-yard loss. Next was an incomplete pass, but quarterback Tyler Engelke got those yards back with a carry on the next play. This set up 4th-and-10, and the Fighting Saints elected to kick a field goal. The kick was just on the mark, barely, as the ball fell on the goal post and rolled over to the ground. K-M-S 3, B-B-E 0 was the resulting score.
Over 16 minutes of scoreless football went by after that field goal. The Jaguars swiped the lead away from K-M-S with 1:11 left before halftime when lineman Noah Kampsen earned an interception and ran it back for a 68-yard Pick Six touchdown. The resulting 6-3 score stood to halftime.
Here's a video featuring how that Pick Six went down...
The second half...
Two false start penalties hampered K-M-S on the first series of the third quarter. The Fighting Saints had driven just into B-B-E territory, but they later punted on 4th-and-14 on their own 48-yard line with four minutes gone. The first drive of the third quarter for the Jaguars ended after three plays by an interception near midfield. K-M-S had possession at their own 45-yard line, but their drive lasted just three plays and ended on a lost fumble which was recovered by Brett DeRoo with 5:08 left in the third quarter.
This put the Jaguars back in the driver's seat with just 44 yards to go. On second down, Jack Lundberg caught a 16-yard pass. Brett DeRoo followed that with a 9-yard catch, and the Fighting Saints then committed a dead ball penalty to convert 2nd-and-1. Now at the K-M-S 19, the Jaguars had all the momentum. DeRoo caught an 11-yard pass and had a bead on the end zone before being stacked up one yard short. With first down on the K-M-S one-yard line, a costly lost fumble stopped a great opportunity to score the game's first offensive touchdown. Instead, the Fighting Saints took over possession with 1:46 left in the third at their own 2-yard line.
Later in the game...K-M-S had possession for the 10th time of the game early in the fourth quarter. Near midfield, Brett DeRoo grabbed an interception with an 8-yard return. This gave B-B-E possession at K-M-S's 42-yard line with 7:04 left in the game. Nine plays later, DeRoo caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Luke Illies in the right corner of the endzone after he got a couple steps ahead of his defender. Harley Weber powered in the two-point conversion, and the Jaguars held a 14-3 lead with 2:47 to go.
After the kickoff that followed, the Fighting Saints reset their offense on their own 25-yard line. Their attempt for a big play on first down ended quickly when Kameron Hiltner grabbed an interception at the K-M-S 43-yard line.
Game statistics...
Luke Illies earned 10-of-18 passing marks for 114 yards. DeRoo caught 5 of those 10 receptions for 51 yards. Overall, B-B-E gained 219 yards with 105 of them on the ground. Their defense held the Fighting Saints to 115 net yards, 89 on the ground. Through the air, the Fighting Saints had 2-of-9 marks for just 26 yards.
Three Jaguars earned interceptions: Kampsen, Brett DeRoo and Kameron Hiltner. Hiltner's interception all but sealed the win for the Jaguars with 2:35 left in the game.
Mid-Northwest Gopher Gold District football scores in Week 8 on October 16:
Browerville 43, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 14
Benson 42, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 0
Upsala/Swanville Area 37, West Central Area 14
Breaking news!
The Section 4A seedings have gone final this afternoon, and the Jaguars are the No. 2 seed for the upcoming playoffs. Both the Jaguars and top-seeded Upsala/Swanville Area received first-round byes. B-B-E's playoff opener is on Saturday, October 26 on the home field.
Section 4A football seedings:
1. U/SA
2. B-B-E
3. Browerville
4. Benson
5. Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City
6. Long Prairie-Grey Eagle
Friday updates:
A light recap of the past week in football news has been posted to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://shorturl.at/p6XNr. Also! Don't forget tonight's supper and auction at Big Grove Lutheran Church in North Fork Township! The fun begins at 5 p.m. with their supper (serving Padua Pub beef sandwiches) plus the auction at 7 p.m.
The Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's website community calendar has been updated as of this morning. I cleared out old events and added a couple new and updated the school board meeting date. They will meet on Tuesday, November 12, the day after Veteran's Day. You can find that website calendar by clicking on this short link: https://shorturl.at/wgmJ4. If you haven't bookmarked that webpage, please do so! It will quickly inform you on a host of upcoming LOCAL events across the Bonanza Valley area and Jaguar Country.
In volleyball news...the Jaguars are seeded No. 1 in Sub-Section 6A-South. Great! They open the playoffs on Wednesday, October 23 with a home match at 7 p.m. I'll get full details posted in a new blog post later tonight.
Area football scores in Week 8 on October 16:
MACCRAY 42, Yellow Medicine East 0
BOLD 66, Canby 20
Parkers Prairie 57, Pine River-Backus 0
Hancock 42, Ottertail Central 6
Royalton 42, Paynesville Area 8
Rock Ridge 19, Duluth East 14
Osakis 52, Maple Lake 8
Albany 52, Montevideo 7
Minneota 54, Dawson-Boyd 0
Kimball Area 42, St. Cloud Cathedral 7
Rockford 20, Sauk Centre 0
Border West 65, Brandon-Evansville/Ashby 18
Mountain Lake 52, Renville County West 13
Lakeview 20, Lac qui Parle Valley 19
Minnewaska Area 56, Melrose Area 14
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 20, Pierz 18
Annandale 35, New London-Spicer 3
Eden Valley-Watkins 24, Holdingford 6
GAME NIGHT! In Swift County! Border Battle!!! (VIDEO)
Thursday night note...I'm working on the Friday Night Lights VIII post early tonight. I posted one video below from the game to this blog post.
Kickoff at Murdock is at 7 p.m. tonight for this big border battle. Game updates to follow. I expect a tough game, but we will see!
GAME UPDATES...
Halftime: the B-B-E Jaguars football team erased a 3-0 deficit and are ahead 6 to 3 at halftime.
*Here's a video that started in the first minute of the game:
In the first quarter with 6:07 on the clock, the Fighting Saints kicked a 29-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.
With 1:11 left in the second quarter, junior lineman Noah Kampsen rumbled into the endzone after earning an interception with a 68-yard return. It was an incredible sight, and he had plenty of help from his fellow Jaguar blockers. The two-point conversion was stopped about 2 yards short.
After the 3rd quarter: still a 6-3 score.
Final: 14-3 win!
The Jaguars added one offensive touchdown on 4th-and-goal when Brett DeRoo caught a 4 yard pass from Luke Illies in the right corner of the endzone with 2:47 remaining in the game. Harley Weber powered in the 2 point conversion.
The Jaguars take a 7-1 record into the Section 4A playoffs, for which they have a first-round bye. The playoff opener will be on Saturday, October 26 in Belgrade with a 2:00 p.m. kickoff. Please spread the word!!
**This blog post is a wrap, as I am in Hutchinson now and have to get up at 6:00 a.m. to drive to Rochester Mayo for a check-up with my daughter. I have been blogging straight off of my cell phone tonight.
A complete Friday Night Lights XIII blog post will be added on Thursday afternoon after returning home from Rochester.
Good night!
**Update: Upsala/Swanville Area defeated West Central Area 37-14 in Barrett to finish undefeated in the regular season and claim the district title alone. It was an impressive win for the Patriots against a tough Knights squad that had a shot at earning a share of the title with a win.
For the second time in school history, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team has won four straight Central Minnesota Conference titles. Awesome!
Tonight at Paynesville in a CMC border battle, the Jaguars lost game one 25-22 before regrouping to win three straight sets and finish the loop in first place with a 6-1 record. No word yet on Maple Lake's match at Kimball Area. The Jaguars and Irish entered tonight tied for first place.
The Bulldogs take a 14-9 record into the Sub-Section 3AA-North playoffs, where they are ranked No. 2 by QRF behind New London-Spicer. They finished 4-3 in the CMC.
In game two, the Jaguars held small three-point leads early before utilizing a 6-1 run that game them a 19-11 lead. The Bulldogs cut it down to 21-19 before the Jaguars finished strong to claim a 25-20 win. In game three, the Bulldogs held an early 5-3 lead before the Jaguars went on a 7-3 run. Just as they did in game two, they finished strong in the third set while earning a 25-17 win. The Jaguars were in control for just about the entire fourth set, and Paynesville Area made multiple mistakes down the stretch while the visitors ended the match with a 25-15 win.
Here's a lengthy video recorded in the middle of game 2 tonight:
Overall, as a team, the Jaguars had a mild 17.1 hitting percentage, and for large stretches of the match, their offense was not clicking. Credit to Paynesville, however, as they picked up their level of play considerably after a very poor start to game one. The Jaguars had a balanced attack with four hitters earning 6 or more kills: Kacey Fischer (15 kills), Adley Hagen (13), Kadynce Haider (8) and Kamie Fischer (6). Libero Ava Deters led the defense with 21 digs. At the service line, the Jaguars had an excellent 94.7 percent mark tonight with 4 ace serves.
B-B-E finished the regular season 25-3 overall. This is their best record entering the playoffs since 2008. In 2018, the Jaguars were 22-4 at the end of the regular season. In both 2008 and 2018, they finished fourth at the state tournament. Right now, there are no thoughts of state whatsoever, as the Section 6A playoffs loom large with a strong array of competitors. The climb will be uphill, but if the Jaguars play their game, they are going to go far!
Here's a video recorded before game 4 started tonight:
And speaking of the CMC "Four Peat"...the Jaguars earned CMC titles in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 for a four-peat. They were also CMC champions in 2000, 2002 and 2003. While I'm at it, I'll just go and outline the full picture of volleyball conference titles. The Jaguars won West Central South Conference titles in 1994 and 1995. In addition to the CMC titles won in the early 2000s, the Jaguars went on a huge tear to claim the conference titles (all solo crowns) consecutively from 2006 through 2012. Their huge CMC winning streak was halted on October 3, 2013 in Maple Lake in a 3-1 loss. The Jaguars finished second in the CMC in 2013 and 2014 before going 7-0 to claim a solo CMC title in 2015. Next came CMC titles in 2018 and 2019. They took second in the COVID season of 2020, and now they can say they have won four straight CMC titles through 2024!
More to follow in the morning. I have a newspaper to prepare for the press.
Central MN Conference volleyball scores on October 15:
Holdingford 3, Eden Valley-Watkins 0
Royalton 3, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 1 (played on Monday this week)
Area volleyball scores on October 15:
West Central Area 3, BOLD 0
Delano 3, Annandale 1 (Delano is 28-0)
Willmar 3, New London-Spicer 0
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 3, Montevideo 0
This blog post will serve as a catch-all for the next 24 hours or so. The next 72 hours are going to be flat out crazy. It begins with having a GOOD Tuesday, and that all hinges on being able to throw most of my energy and focus into publishing the October 17 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.
Tonight, at the elementary cafeteria, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team held their season banquet and awards ceremony. In the last week, I fell a little behind on sports blogging for the tennis team. In fact, I think I still have video from the Section 6A playoffs in Litchfield that I haven't uploaded. Yikes! That was 11 days ago. In order to stay on track, I'll post a video that only has 2 views so far...this is from that day, October 3, in Litchfield.
Here's action at No. 1 and No. 4 singles in the Section 6A quarterfinals:
...and let's go back one day prior to that with the home playoff opener on October 2.
Here's action at No. 1 doubles with Ellan Fischer and Grace Berndt:
This year's tennis team fought with outstanding grit, determination and sportsmanship all season long. They improved week by week, which was shown by their performance at the Prairie Conference tournament on September 19 and then in the final week of September while leading into the postseason. This week's newspaper will feature additional coverage.
It's still shy of 10 p.m. tonight, and I need to get out and cover a bunch of vegetables in the garden. Based on the forecast, we'll see approximately 6 straight hours of freezing temperatures tonight as the mercury dips to as low as 29 degrees (between 3 and 8 a.m.). If I can get a few of our vegetable plots through the next couple of nights, the outlook says that we've got smooth sailing without frost until at least October 23!
And a Tuesday update...the blankets worked! We've got a great variety of vegetables that will live to another day.
Volleyball updates to follow here later on Tuesday night...
In the preliminary matches, the Jaguar JV and C-squad teams both won! The varsity match got underway at about 6:50 p.m.
Updates! the match is tied at one set apiece! We had two exciting games to start this border battle. The Bulldogs took game one 25-22 after the Jaguars held leads of 9-6, 10-4 and 12-6. In game two, the Jaguars won 25-20. ****More to come in a NEW blog post.
Here's the latest I've collected on current B-B-E graduates who are playing college ball...featured are two volleyball players and one football player.
Ethan Spanier is a 6'2" 290-pound defensive tackle who's played in six games this fall for North Dakota State College of Science. The Wildcats are 6-0 in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference and 7-1 overall with the playoffs set to begin on October 19. In their last regular season game, NDSCS defeated rival Rochester by a 28-25 score on Saturday in Rochester.
Emily Kern, junior 5'6" libero at St. Cloud State University, recorded 6 digs and one set assist in Saturday night's 3-2 win for the Huskies against conference rival Wayne State in Wayne, Nebraska. SCSU (14-2, 8-0 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) entered the match ranked No. 5 in the latest national polls, while Wayne State (14-3, 8-1 NSIC) was ranked No. 6. The incredible game five was won by a 18-16 score after the host Wildcats held match point with a 16-15 lead.
Brooklyn Fischer, a 5'9" freshman middle hitter at St. Cloud Technical and Community College, has recorded 236 kills this season at an average of 3.47 kills per set with 22.7 percent hitting efficiency. Her Cyclones are having an outstanding season and stand 15-4 overall with an 8-1 conference record. On Friday in St. Cloud, the Cyclones had a nine-match winning streak halted in a 3-2 loss to MN West Community and Technical College (15-11 score in game five). Fischer led her team with 14 kills on 17.6 percent hitting with a team-leading 26 digs and 5 block assists. In the MCAC South division standings, SCTCC has a half-match lead over MN West, who is 24-4 overall and 7-1 in the conference. The two teams have a big rematch on the horizon next Friday, October 18 in Worthington.
Getting back to high school sports...
The next three days are jam packed! And I do mean packed!!! Events taking place three nights in a row. It's going to be interesting to navigate through all of it. I'll explain more later. Here's what's on the docket: on Monday comes a school board meeting, Brooten city council plus the tennis team banquet. Tuesday brings grades 7-12 volleyball action at Paynesville that also concludes the varsity team's regular season. For Wednesday, the football team has a big game at Murdock against K-M-S.
Here's a video from early in the 3rd quarter at Browerville:
And then let's fast forward to the fourth quarter at Browerville...
Here's a video featuring Andrew Spanier's touchdown reception...
The Browerville Tigers traveled to Barrett to West Central Area high school's stadium on Friday. They suffered a 24-0 loss to the once-beaten WCA Knights to fall to 4-3 overall with their second straight loss. The WCA Knights have an outside shot at winning in their last game to finish the regular season 7-1 overall. They host Upsala/Swanville Area in Week 8.
Also this week...let's give a shout out to B-B-E senior Taylor Nelson, who is the lone Jaguar who competes this fall with the B-B-E/Paynesville boys' cross country team. The Jaguar-Bulldog harriers run at Holdingford on Tuesday this week in the Central Minnesota Conference championships starting at 4 p.m.
Friday Night Lights VII: 8th-ranked Jaguars defeat Thunder (VIDEOS!*)
The B-B-E Jaguars football team maintained second place in the Mid-Northwest Gopher Gold District standings with a 54-7 win over Long Prairie-Grey Eagle tonight. Parents Night was also held tonight in the last regular season home game.
The Jaguars built a 42-0 lead after the first quarter. At halftime, they led 48-0.
Big achievements! in tonight's second quarter, Jack Lundberg surpassed 1,000 season rushing yards. Luke Illies eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for passing this season. Both are two valuable members of the 16 seniors on this year's roster.
Some light game statistics...
B-B-E totaled 288 offensive yards tonight while their defense held the Thunder to 89 yards from scrimmage. While employing a predominantly running game, Luke Illies had 3-of-6 passing marks for 58 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Jack Lundberg finished with 154 rushing yards and now has 1,006 yards this season. Illies was also part of the rushing statistics with one long run for a 41-yard touchdown. B-B-E ran for 228 yards on 13 run plays.
This was another fun stat: 22 different Jaguars recorded at least one defensive tackle tonight, Cameron Loe, a junior, had the game's lone quarterback sack.
Here's a video from the second quarter tonight:
More to come later tonight after I review additional game statistics. There have been over 40 kids gathering tonight at Lucky Shots Bowling Alley in Brooten! This is a wonderful thing for our youth! Bravo to the B-B-E Fellowship of Christian Athletes program! Kids are participating in bowling, pool and simulated golf. I am beaming with pride in the organizers behind tonight's big party at the bowling alley.
**Here's a video from the 2nd quarter at Browerville on Friday Night Lights VI:
I am a little backed up right now on my sports videos for the tennis and football teams. This weekend is when I'll get caught up! **The video I just added features the final minutes of the second quarter at Friday Night Lights VI in Browerville. The clip begins with Brett DeRoo scoring on a 46-yard touchdown catch from Luke Illies.
Mid-Northwest Gopher Gold District Week 7 scores on October 11:
West Central Area 24, Browerville 0
Upsala/Swanville Area 46, Benson 0
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 41, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 0
Area Week 7 football scores on October 11:
New London-Spicer 55, St. Cloud Apollo 23
Canby 27, Yellow Medicine East 6
Hancock 32, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 28
Pierz 67, Montevideo 34
Moorhead 22, Alexandria 20
Rock Ridge 49, Duluth Denfeld 32
BOLD 54, Lakeview 6
Albany 21, Minnewaska Area 0
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 32, Perham 13
Melrose Area 28, Rockford 27
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 21, Sauk Centre 0
Osakis 44, Royalton 14
Renville County West 57, Madelia 6
