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
