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!
Saturday, November 30, 2024
Hot-shooting Mainstreeters take two games (VIDEO)
The Sauk Centre Mainstreeters came to town for a girls/boys doubleheader today at B-B-E high school. Their varsity girls' basketball team was playing their third game of the young season, and they left town with an 80-49 win. The Jaguars, who struggled with ice-cold 27-percent field goal shooting, were led by freshman Macey Roering's 14 points. The halftime score was Sauk Centre 43, B-B-E 25. The girls' basketball team (1-1) travels to Minnewaska Area next Tuesday for their third straight border battle.
Noteworthy: through three games, Sauk Centre's girls basketball team is averaging 75 points per game with a robust defensive average of 42 ppg.
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team opened their season against Sauk Centre today. The Jaguars were breaking in multiple new players, and they hung tough for the majority of the first half against a hot-shooting, fleet-footed Mainstreeters squad. In the opening minutes, the lead changed hands a handful of times. With almost 2 minutes played, the Jaguars led 6-4. Lance Radermacher's three-pointer lifted the Jaguars on top 12-11, but Sauk Centre punched back with two free throws, a shot in the paint and a three-pointer to take an 18-12 lead.
Aiden Radermacher's cleanup shot in the paint with 6:50 left cut what was a 6-point deficit down to 27-26. Sauk Centre later used a 7-0 run to extend a one-possession lead to 38-28 with just over 2 minutes on the clock.
After trailing 44-31 at halftime, the Jaguars suffered an 85-58 loss. My notes, which were not exhaustive, showed at least 6 three-pointers made by Sauk Centre in the first half. The fury of threes continued by the visitors across the second half.
Here's video featuring starter introductions, the tip-off and the opening minutes of the boys' varsity game:
This game marked the beginning of Coach Austin Rambow's tenure as head coach of the program, the sixth overall in school history. I was thoroughly impressed by his team's readiness to take on Sauk Centre. They fought for the full 36 minutes. I am excited for the future of B-B-E boys' basketball!
The next game for the boys' basketball team is next Thursday, December 5 at Minnewaska Area.
I spent the majority of today Thanksgiving-ing with family. Video is uploading that will be posted here tonight and also on Sunday.
Sunday morning updates after church!
I've added the video recorded one year ago in Arctander Township in the Norway Lake community in what I simply refer to as the "old log church" - which is really a replica of a log church that was originally built in 1868 about a mile west of the southwest corner of West Norway Lake. You can watch the video by clicking over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://shorturl.at/2JAze.
Also on Sunday...I'm slowly getting caught up on musical content, and here's the Fine Arts photo galleries you can look through at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's SmugMug website: https://bonanzavalley.smugmug.com/BBEBonanza-Valley-Area-Fine-Arts-2024. As of tonight, I'm roughly halfway through all the pictures from the three musicals, and the total uploaded is 623 pictures.
We've got some early-season growing pains to endure with theB-B-E Jaguars wrestling team, as they broke in numerous brand-new athletes today at the Sauk Centre-Melrose Defender Invitational. The Jaguars placed 10th with 85 team points in a field of 14 teams. Paynesville Area emerged as the team champions with 165 points. Mille Lacs was second with 162.5 points, and Thief River Falls was third with 152.5 points.
Individual results by weight division today in Melrose:
107: Emmitt Skarre went 2-2 and finished 7th in an 11-man bracket.
114: Noah Jensen went 2-1 and finished 3rd in an 11-man bracket.
121: Jude Thompson went 0-2 in an 11-man bracket.
127: Jaxxon Koetter went 0-2 in a 10-man bracket.
133: Noah DeRoo went 1-3 and finished 8th in a 12-man bracket.
139: Aiden Mueller went 1-3 and finished 8th.
145: Louie Tensen went 0-2.
152: Open.
160: Brett DeRoo went 3-0 and took first place.
170: Andrew Spanier went 2-2 and took fourth place.
189: Hunter Laage went 4-1 and took fifth place.
215: Eli Wold went 0-2.
285: Open.
Friday update...the Jaguars are ranked No. 6 in the first Guillotine team rankings of the 2024-2025 season. This was released on Thanksgiving Day. Four members of the team are ranked individually: Brett DeRoo (160 pounds), Ethan Mueller (172), Hunter Laage (189) and Carson Gilbert (215). Gilbert is the top-ranked wrestler in his division.
Also, I am beginning to add updated web articles to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. On Friday afternoon, I added a web article featuring the Belgrade Hardware store.
Coming on Saturday! both basketball teams, and their JV teams (plus the boys' C-squad) host Sauk Centre. The full schedule was published in this week' Bonanza Valley Voice. B-B-E's boys' C-squad team tips off at 1 p.m. at the elementary school in Brooten. Both JV squads tip off at 1:15 p.m. at the high school in Belgrade. The girls/boys varsity games are set to follow in back-to-back fashion after 2:30 p.m.
Wednesday night note: this blog post had a scoreboard added to it tonight. The rest you see here was posted late Tuesday night after the big win! Also, a new blog post with wrestling information is being added Wednesday night.
A strong first half tonight propelled the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team to a season-opening win against neighboring Melrose Area on the home court. After building a 36-21 halftime lead, the Jaguars played through some adversity in the second half and won by a 63-45 final score. The visitors started the game with a high level of energy and speed, but the home team's superior size got to the Dutchmen just a few minutes after tip-off.
Here's the starter introductions plus the game's opening tip-off:
It did not take long for the Jaguars to settle in with three new starters on the floor along with returning veterans Adley Hagen and Bree Thieschafer. Through two minutes, the score was tied 5-5 after Melrose Area scored on a three-pointer. Thieschafer had a steal and layup, and sophomore reserve Mya Worms drained a rebound shot with 14:20 to go for a 9-5 lead. These were the first two baskets of a 17-0 scoring surge by the Jaguars. After the Dutchmen scored to make it 22-7, Bree Radermacher canned a three-pointer, and Macey Roering followed that with a steal and layup for a 27-7 lead with 6 minutes left.
Across the last 6 minutes of the first half, the Dutchmen improved considerably on their ball control and whittled the large deficit down to 34-21 with a 10-0 scoring run. With 40 seconds left, the Dutchmen drained a fastbreak shot to make it 34-21. Kacey Fischer drained two free throws in the last 30 seconds for the 36-21 halftime lead.
Here's action from the closing minute of the first half tonight:
Early in the second half, the Jaguars led 45-28 with 13 minutes to go. The Dutchmen utilized a 9-0 run across the next 2 minutes, 20 seconds of play to make it 45-39. The next three minutes of the game brought out some sloppy play on both sides, and the Jaguars led just 48-43 with under 7 minutes remaining.
Some light game stats...
As a team, Melrose Area shot 34 percent from the floor and made 4 of 20 three-point shots. The Jaguars, meanwhile, shot just 32 percent from the floor and went just 14-for-28 at the free throw line. Three-point shots were made by Adley Hagen, Bree Radermacher and Teagan Dingmann. The Jaguars launched a total of 14 threes in the game.
Video is uploading.
Area girls' basketball scores on November 26:
Minnewaska Area 70, Eden Valley-Watkins 24
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 47, Maple Lake 42
Braham 60, Ogilvie 54
Osakis 46, Paynesville Area 44
Kimball Area 75, Rocori 29
Hancock 63, Canby 29
Alexandria 81, Brainerd 76
New London-Spicer 50, West Central Area 39
Montevideo 76, Dawson-Boyd 39
Upsala 50, Pierz 35
Sauk Centre 65, St. Cloud Cathedral 41
Willmar 84, Sauk Rapids-Rice 28
Swanville 50, Sebeka 43
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 89, Ortonville 20
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 74, Henning 24
BOLD 88, Yellow Medicine East 43
Pipestone Area 65, Lac qui Parle Valley 40
Underwood 51, New York Mills 48
Holdingford 57, Albany 43
Bertha-Hewitt 58, Browerville 23
Cedar Mountain 54, Renville County West 32
Wadena-Deer Creek 39, Pine River-Backus 37
Royalton 62, Annandale 56
Updates to follow here for the season opener of theB-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team, as they host Melrose Area in a border battle. The game is being broadcast on both local radio stations, Norway Lake and Glenwood!
Game updates: At halftime, the Jaguars are ahead 36 to 21. Earlier in the half, the Jaguars and Dutchman were tied five to five after 2 minutes.
The Jaguars expanded that to a 22 to 5 lead with 8 minutes to go.
Second half: the Jaguars built a 45 to 28 lead after 5 minutes were played. More to come in a NEW blog post.
Law enforcement from multiple jurisdictions responded to a home on Highway 55 in Brooten this morning, Tuesday, November 26. This included Belgrade-Brooten Police Chief Casey Jansky plus the Minnesota State Patrol and multiple officers with the Stearns County Sheriff's Office. Per newspaper sources, an armed, male individual had barricaded himself inside the house. (That source was incorrect! Police initially received possible bad information.)
Due to the home being within just a couple blocks of the elementary school, B-B-E elementary put the building into a "soft lockdown" at about 10:35 a.m. while the situation unfolded. By 11:45 a.m., the police squad vehicles left the area after the suspect was safely brought into custody.
Here's the message sent out by B-B-E schools for parents this morning:
This morning, approximately 10:35 a.m., we received a notice of police activity near our Elementary School in Brooten. We immediately went into a "Soft Lockdown". A lockdown of this type suggests that students stay in the building and carry on normal activity. We do not go outside during this type of lockdown. Law Enforcement has intervened and the situation is under control. We will continue in Soft Lock Down until Law Enforcement lets us know otherwise.
Additional updates will be posted at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website at this web article: https://shorturl.at/R4UCR. The web article was updated with correct information.
And a big shout out to our local law enforcement personnel for the work they do every day of the week to protect our small town communities!
Fall Sports is a wrap, The Voice Sports Show shifting towards winter (VIDEOS*)
I had a lot to say here! I did get angry at times, as you'll see if you watch the full clip. This is about 14 minutes long.
Video here featuring my final fall sports podcast of 2024:
The last 13 minutes was basically devoted to the issue of participation and turnout in athletic activities. I have had a front row seat to this for over 10 years now, and I will continue saying that I am extremely grateful for all the opportunties available to students in Jaguar Country to better themselves both in the classroom and in extra-curricular activities. We do a great job here with what we have in an environment of limited resources, but it's crucial that parents and families do their part to make sure we can continue offering extra-curricular activities here.
Here's a bright spot in all this: the wrestling program. In grades 7-12, they have 27 students on the team, which includes one female wrestler. A partial season preview was published in last week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.
Below, here's a video from practice last Tuesday:
The varsity wrestling season opener is Wednesday this week at Melrose.
There's another round of newspaper coverage coming next week for "Lucky Stiff" the Musical at B-B-E high school's Olson Auditorium.
From opening night! Here's the second scene of Act II last Friday night:
Don't forget! The Sunburg Fire and Rescue team hosts ham and turkey bingo TONIGHT starting at 7 p.m. at their community center. Please support them! The event features a really awesome gun raffle! All the details have been in the last 2 issues of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.
Now it's wheels up to Minneapolis for the Minnesota Farmers Union state convention.
On Sunday...
I'm happy to report I had a successful and safe trip to and from Minneapolis on Saturday night.
The Big Grove/Crow River/Grace Lutheran Parish Free Spirits youth group turkey dinner is being served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Crow River Church. Don't miss out! This is a great meal with free will offering. Come support a great cause! The proceeds will help pay for Christmas gifts for local families in need.
Football awards banquet - seniors provide farewell (VIDEO)
At the high school's Olson Auditorium tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars football team held their awards ceremony. The JV and varsity coaches spoke about each of the multiple awards given out, and head coach Chris Moscho finished the program with a 10-minute "farewell" for his 15 seniors. This consisted of each senior player providing a few comments on their gridiron career.
Here's a video featuring the seniors speaking tonight:
Note: on Friday, a video clip featuring comments by Coach Borgerding will be added when she spoke about her seniors at the volleyball banquet on Monday. I have a great deal of catching up to do from work that's been neglected basically this entire month of November. Upon returning from the FargoDome on Friday, November 1, I threw myself at musical coverage for our theater students. It consumed the lion's share of my mental bandwidth.
In other B-B-E sports news!
The B-B-E Class of 2029 girls' basketball team (8th graders) improved to 5-0 today with a convincing 49-24 win at Kimball Area. Coach Gary Rodgers' Jaguars host Paynesville Area in a key Central Minnesota Conference junior high game tomorrow in Belgrade. B-B-E's Class of 2029 team features 11 players on the roster with a 12th player hoping to return to action later in December. Also, due to an extremely thin JV girls' basketball roster, some players on this 8th grade team may be moved up once the varsity/JV season officially begins next week. That will play out with Melrose Area coming to town for the season opener on Tuesday.
The fast lane is where we are again for the newspaper operations, as I'm now in that in between. Where we are putting fall sports to bed and getting winter sports team coverage underway. Next week's newspaper will include coverage of volleyball and football awards.
After a quick trip to Kimball for junior high basketball, the football team banquet is tonight.
Theater career concludes for 5 seniors today (VIDEOS)
The final show of "Lucky Stiff" was held this afternoon in front of an "okay" crowd which was probably just fine considering how nice the weather has been this weekend. (I still don't rate that as an excuse for not spending 2 hours in Olson Auditorium supporting our musical students...but that's for another day.)
My estimate is that about 120 attended today's musical, which was the official end of the theater career of 5 members of B-B-E's Class of 2026.
Here's Savannah Finken leading a high-energy dance during a scene in Act I this afternoon:
The five seniors who "held down the fort" this fall to anchor the fall musical are Coby DenHartog, Savannah Finken, ReAnn Stalboerger, Kora Martinez and Tia Nelson. They will be terribly missed on that stage. For Tia Nelson, this was her sixth musical performance. If the COVID drama would have never taken place, she would have been in 7 fall musicals at B-B-E. Incredible!
Fortunately, the well is not dry, and ample talent is coming up the ranks. The musical cast has 11 returning for next year who they can add to. They are good!
Here's two of the seventh graders in the "Monte Carlo" scene during Act I this afternoon:
More to come tomorrow. I'm taking the rest of tonight "off" and watching a Christmas movie with family. I have two difficult days ahead of me trying to assemble a large Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper that will lean very, very heavily on musical coverage. Just about all other news coverage has been set aside while throwing everything at promoting "Lucky Stiff". It was worth it! It always is.
Well, now it's Tuesday...
Last night, at Olson Auditorium, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team held their season awards banquet. I'll have coverage from that coming up...
To watch the Voice of Democracy first place winner, Macey Roering, give her speech, you can click here: https://shorturl.at/rVvQ9. The video was from the high school's Veterans Day program on November 8.
They had a larger crowd than the prior night, and ticket sales have been strong across both nights. I can't count that well, let's chalk it up to that...they had 167 for the opening night on Friday and they approached 180 last night. This puts us on track to beat last year's crowd. Hopefully today brings an even better number...maybe 200! Let's go for it! Not surprisingly, I was way too tired to work on any video last night.
Right now, it's time to get pancakes and other great food for breakfast from the Brooten American Legion. They are serving in their former Legion Hall building (now owned by Leroy Wiener)...until 1 p.m.
Here's a clip from two nights before opening night, last Wednesday, at Olson Auditorium:
This is wheels up time! The final show starts in 40 minutes. Sunday night update: I have a new blog post being added tonight that will highlight the final musical show.
Fall musical's opening night was incredible (VIDEOS*)
The musical students did an outstanding job tonight performing the opening show of "Lucky Stiff" at Olson Auditorium tonight. The two-act show lasted a total of 1 hour, 50 minutes including a 15-minute intermission.
**Hot off the computer! Here's an iMovie creation featuring images and video from the musical opener:
Here's a four-minute long video featuring the cast and crew greeting fans after the show concluded tonight:
Now begins the backbreaking work on my part of combing over all the video and photos!
I'll go back and post this video which was recorded near the end of rehearsal on Wednesday this week:
Tonight's crowd was "okay" and I am estimating we had about 120 to 130 in the seats. I'll get a firm number tomorrow from Director Steph DenHartog. Seating capacity at Olson Auditorium is around 270. What this means is that the total weekend had the ability to draw in over 800 people. Many seats went unsold tonight.
Click here to see my web article that highlights tonight's show: https://shorturl.at/BJm6v. As of late Friday night, just 49 tickets have been sold for the Saturday night show. We need to double that! And then bring in another 100 at the door to purchase tickets...there's no reason we can't get 200 or more in the auditorium on Saturday night.
The final show is at 2 p.m. on Sunday. As of Friday night, just 40 tickets have been sold for Sunday.
Here's a video clip featuring the first 50 seconds or so of the opening scene on Friday night:
Saturday morning update... no additional tickets have been sold since last night. As of 11 a.m., 49 tickets have been sold out of a possible 270 for the Saturday night show. Disappointing! Also, for Sunday's afternoon show (2 p.m.), ticket sales stand at 40 as they were last night. This makes for just 89 tickets sold out of a possible 520 for the final two shows.
Saturday afternoon...tickets sold for tonight's show have increased to 60. That is good!
More musical coverage! The show is really, really coming along! (VIDEO)
This week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper contains ample coverage of the upcoming fall musical at B-B-E high school's Olson Auditorium. If memory serves me correct - and it does not always do that! ...this week's Voice contains Q and A profiles of 8 cast members of 'Lucky Stiff'.
To see additional musical coverage, and to read about what the musical is about, you can click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/section/bbe. I hope to do a quick count of the current number of presale ticket sold for the three nights of the musical. (Ticket link is below)
Here's a video recorded at tonight's rehearsal:
This show is VERY good! They are REALLY coming together! You do NOT want to miss it!
UPDATE on ticket sales: as of Wednesday night, 138 presale tickets have been sold. I find this encouraging. I badly want more sold, however, as we need to show a great response for the musical and give our Fine Arts students the support they've earned. The Olson Auditorium seating can comfortably hold over 800 across three shows. We have many, MANY seats to fill this weekend!!
Thursday night update...
The show had 143 seats sold as of this evening!! This is terrific! You can catch another update with a new rehearsal video from this evening by clicking here to redirect to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper: https://shorturl.at/LBktv. I also have a small photo album that feature photos taken at tonight's rehearsal. They are from both Act I and Act II, and a link to click on and find that photo gallery is here: https://shorturl.at/S9WmC.
B-B-E's Fall Musical is next weekend! 100 tickets sold so far! (VIDEO)
Today at Olson Auditorium, the cast and crew of the B-B-E Fall Musical "Lucky Stiff" held their 40th rehearsal of their season. Their practices plus a lunch break lasted over four hours as they continue to refine what is going to be a terrific show! You don't want to miss it! Friday, Saturday, Sunday, November 15-16-17, with shows at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and then 2 p.m. on Sunday.
I'm thrilled that, as of last night, over 100 musical tickets have been sold. They have room for over 800 across all three musical nights. To see additional musical coverage, and to read about what the musical is about, you can click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/section/bbe.
Here's a 10-day old video from rehearsal on November 1:
In that video clip, assistant musical director Brystin LaMont, who is B-B-E's band teacher, is shown helping cast work through different moves in one of the scenes.
Today has marked the end of an extremely rare four-day break from blogging here. Now it's "Back in the Saddle" time with a mountain of work ahead for this week!
I want to share a website for Glacial Ridge Hospice Care related to an ad that was on page 4 in last week's Voice; this promotes the Tree of Life event coming on Thursday, November 21. Their link is: https://glacialridge.org/hospice-palliative-care.
Yes, indeed! It is time to ramp up B-B-E fall musical promotion! In a big, BIG way! I've got a ton of work to catch up on after exhausting myself on a 14-page Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper issue. This week's paper was QUITE lacking on musical coverage. Unfortunately, it has only two musical student profiles included...and then a large splash of ink on page one.
Here's a glimpse of the new musical posters that will soon be seen everywhere across Jaguar Country!
In other news...
You can click on the following link to see news articles at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website. The latest one added features a video recorded at Harold Jacobson's funeral on Saturday in Swift Falls: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/section/news.
The musical is coming! the Musical is coming! (VIDEO)
This blog post will be expanded out tonight and tomorrow (Tuesday) to promote B-B-E's fall musical called 'Lucky Stiff' - coming to the Olson Auditorium theater stage at B-B-E high school on Friday, Saturday and Sunday - November 15, 16 and 17. You can purchase tickets and read more on the musical by clicking over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://shorturl.at/x1LQC.
The easiest response to someone asking, "What's the musical about?" is to tell them that it's a high school musical version of the hit 1989 movie "Weekend at Bernie's" that grossed a whopping $30 million that year on a $15 million production budget.
Here's a video clip featuring a glimpse of musical rehearsal back on Friday, October 25:
I strongly encourage you to come out and watch at least one of their shows! If you don't take in any of the musical nights, you are cheating yourself and the musical students! Don't be that person!!
Tuesday updates...ELECTION DAY!
My Bonanza Valley Voice SmugMug events albums are being updated this week. I'm getting mostly caught up through a couple weekends ago...you can see local events (community and school-related) photo albums by clicking here: https://bonanzavalley.smugmug.com/2024-B-B-EBonanza-Valley-area-events.
I have a whopping 12 event folders of separate, distinct events that have taken place across the past couple of weeks that I want to get included in this week's issue. That's about as high as I've ever seen it. October included a crazy number of local events. We are lucky to live in an area with such a high level of activities that we can participate in!
TUESDAY NIGHT election results...
You can follow local election results at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website...click on this short link to redirect your web browser to my election night article: https://rb.gy/99srez.
While it is painful that we will not be part of either of them, here's a brief overview of the state quarterfinals coming this week for football and volleyball. It pains me that this will be the first fall since 2017 (not including 2020, when there was no state tournament for any sports) that B-B-E will not have a fall state tournament team. That is a stretch of 7 years!
State volleyball...
In the Class 1A state volleyball pairings, West Central Area (27-4) earned the No. 4 seed and will open at 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 7 in the quarterfinals. Last night in the Section 6A championship, WCA swept Hillcrest Lutheran Academy to earn back-to-back state trips. The MSHSL website has not posted set scores from the match yet. At state in the opener, WCA will face No. 5-seeded Kittson County Central, who won the Section 8A championship in a four-set win over Ada-Borup West.
Incredibly, New Life Academy of Section 4A earned the No. 3 seed at state. They were ranked No. 19 in the QRF rankings and have an 18-12 record. In the Skyline Conference, NLA tied for fourth place with Maranatha Christian. From my view, WCA was robbed in the state seedings and should have been seeded No. 3.
New London-Spicer is back at the state volleyball tournament for the first time since 2009, when Mimi Knutson coached the Wildcats into the state tournament with a 29-1 record. At state this year, the Wildcats are the No. 8 seed and open up with No. 1-seeded Albany in the quarterfinals at 1 p.m. on Thursday, November 7.
State volleyball seedings:
1. Mayer Lutheran
2. Minneota
3. New Life Academy
4. West Central Area
5. Kittson County Central
6. Fillmore Central
7. Ely
8. Sebeka
State football...
In the Class 1A state football pairings, Upsala/Swanville Area earned the No. 1 seed in the North half of the state field. The state tournament was split into "south" and "north" divisions for the first time ever. (A good move.) For U/SA, they open with No. 4-seeded (North) Parkers Prairie on Thursday, November 7 with a 6 p.m. kickoff at Rock Ridge high school's football stadium, which is located between Eveleth and Virginia. The Rock Ridge high school opened up in 2021, and their football stadium is impressive. My stepson Jack (Class of 2025) played two years of varsity football there with the Class 4A Rock Ridge Warriors.
In Class 2A, Kimball Area will play in the state tournament as the No. 1 North seed. They open state on Friday, November 8 with kickoff at Brainerd high school at 7 p.m. against No. 4-seeded Moose Lake/Willow River. This is Kimball's first football state tournament of this century, and I am unaware of when they may have played at state in the 20th century.
Section volleyball championship match scores on November 2: Section 5AA championship: Annandale 3, Maple Lake 1 (a tough loss marking the end of the season for 6 seniors on Coach Kiebel's Irish squad) Section 7A championship: Ely 3, Bigfork 0 Section 1A championship: Fillmore Central 3, Mabel-Canton 1 Section 1AAA championship: Stewartville 3, Byron 2 (after missing state since 2019, Stewartville is back at state for the first time in Class 3A; they were the 2019 Class 2A state champions) Section 3AA championship: New London-Spicer 3, Redwood Valley 0 (NL-S Wildcats are back at state for the first time since 2009; this was NL-S's first section championship berth since 2014) Section 6A championship: West Central Area 3, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 0 Section 3A championship: Minneota 3, Westbrook-Walnut Grove 1
Section volleyball championship match scores on November 1: Section 4A championship: New Life Academy 3, West Lutheran 1 Section 8A championship: Kittson County Central 3, Ada-Borup West 1
Section semifinal (sub-section finals) match scores on October 31:
Westbrook-Walnut Grove 3, Russel-Tyler-Ruthton 1
Mayer Lutheran 3, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 0
Annandale 3, Watertown-Mayer 2
Mabel-Canton 3, Kenyon-Wanamingo 2
Sebeka 3, Pine River-Backus 1
New London-Spicer 3, Paynesville Area 1
Alexandria 3, Rocori 1
Minneota 3, Canby 1
Albany 3, Sauk Centre 2
Maple Lake 3, Providence Academy 1
Record for state-qualifying games at B-B-E (VIDEOS added)
A few additions were posted on Sunday to this blog post including video from Fargo...on Sunday afternoon, I am actually taking it easy!! For once.
This is mostly a "placeholder" blog post. I randomly thought about this and decided to flush it out tonight. Before I get to what I'm talking about, I'd like to encourage you to go back and review the Friday Night Lights X blog post. I added a video and some other updates on Saturday.
Overall, in B-B-E Jaguar athletic history, not including golf teams, a total of 55 teams have competed in state-qualifying contests. That is crazy!!!! Wow! It took about a half hour, and I found myself making a couple mistakes while doing it. This is what I came up with: between 1995 and yesterday, the Jaguars have had 21 teams win state-qualifying games, also known as section championships. Another 34 teams competed in section championship games but fell short of the big show. It is really mind boggling for a small school. Think about that! A total of 55 teams have made it all the way to section championship games.
Then add in numerous boys' and girls' golf teams who competed at the state meets (all between 2019 and 2023), and you have an impressive string of success for our small school!!!
The 21 non-golf teams who have competed at state all made it to the big show between 2005 and 2024. Between 1995 and 2005, the Jaguars had 11 total teams all fall short of the state tournament by one game. I personally witnessed 9 of those 11 section final losses. Teams losing in section championships from 1995 to 2005 included girls' basketball, boys' basketball, football, wrestling and volleyball teams. After the boys' basketball team lost in the 2005 Section 5A championship, the volleyball team won the Section 6AA title in November of 2005 to become B-B-E's first team at the state tournament.
Here's my total for state tournament teams by sport: volleyball with 7 state teams, boys' basketball with 4 state teams, wrestling with 4 state teams, girls' basketball with 3 state teams, football with 2 state teams and baseball with one state team. Add it up! That's 21 state tournament teams not including boys' or girls' golf (who have 5 cumulative state trips). I hope I'm not missing anything there. If something pops up, I will update this blog post.
Sunday...don't forgetthe Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic church ham and egg breakfast! They serve from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.!! (Ad on page 2 this week in The Voice.)
**Added on Sunday after church...here's the first 3 minutes of the Section 4A championship, with the video beginning with the opening kickoff:
As I wrote on Friday night, the Jaguars started out on fire on defense. They were LIGHTS OUT for those first three plays while holding the Patriots to a net negative two yards while forcing a punt.
Here's a video from the second quarter in the FargoDome on Friday...
Remember...church breakfast in Elrosa on Sunday!
Here's a video from late in the 3rd quarter with just over 3 minutes to go...the Jaguars are on defense near midfield:
State tournament updates...
In the Class 1A state volleyball pairings, West Central Area (27-4) earned the No. 4 seed and will open at 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 7 in the quarterfinals. Last night in the Section 6A championship, WCA swept Hillcrest Lutheran Academy to earn back-to-back state trips. The MSHSL website has not posted set scores from the match yet. *GRRRR!!
In the Class 1A state football pairings, Upsala/Swanville Area earned the No. 1 seed in the North half of the state field. The state tournament was split into "south" and "north" divisions for the first time ever. (A good move.) For U/SA, they open with No. 4-seeded (North) Parkers Prairie on Thursday, November 7 with a 6 p.m. kickoff at Rock Ridge high school's football stadium, which is located between Eveleth and Virginia. The Rock Ridge high school opened up in 2021, and their football stadium is impressive. My stepson Jack (Class of 2025) played two years of varsity football there with the Class 4A Rock Ridge Warriors.
I'll get a NEW blog post added later on Sunday night after taking an actual break from work!
Friday Night Lights X: stunned disbelief, hearts are torn in Fargo (VIDEOS added)
There are two things I am sure of with all of my heart: you could not have asked for a better game, and you could not have asked for more out of our team.
In their fourth straight appearance in a state-qualifying game, the Upsala/Swanville Area Patriots put their very best effort up against the very best effort of our B-B-E Jaguars football team for the toughest 48-minute battle you could ask for.
After the teams played to a 6-6 tie at halftime, the U/SA Patriots defeated the Jaguars by a 19-12 score and dashing B-B-E's season-long dream of earning back-to-back appearances in the state tournament. I billed it as one of the greatest high school football games I've ever seen. Unfortunately, we came up short. Season over! A difficult loss to process. It will take days.
Here's a video recorded just before the National Anthem was played at the FargoDome:
For the Patriots, this state tournament berth was in the making for 10 full seasons. Between 2015 and 2023, the Patriots had a record of 0-4 in section championship games.
Football can be a wild sport. Two years ago in this same game, U/SA lost to KMS by 7-6 score. The Patriots have now played in four straight section final games, and they came up with a win this time after losing the last three. And we came that close to sending them to 0-4. Hats off to their team for staying with it. As much as I hate losing, you have to admire what the Patriots have accomplished. Below is U/SA's Section 4A finals history in the last four years, which is now etched into my mind.
2021 section final: B-B-E 52, U/SA 44. 2022 section final: K-M-S 7, U/SA 6. 2023 section final: B-B-E 36, U/SA 12. 2024 section final: U/SA 19, B-B-E 12.
If you look at it cumulatively, across four section final appearances, U/SA was outscored 107-81 across four games where they have a 1-3 record. You can bet your bottom dollar they will make the most of this state tournament berth.
Prior to the COVID season, U/SA was upset by visiting teams in the playoff openers of 2018 and 2019. In 2017, they earned a giant upset of our Jaguars in Belgrade in the Section 4A semifinals by a 20-14 score...a loss that crushed me in so many ways. The Patriots went on to lose 28-0 to Mayer Lutheran in the finals that year. In 2016, U/SA lost 14-0 in the semifinals at Mayer Lutheran. In 2015, U/SA lost 35-6 on their field in Swanville to visiting Mayer Lutheran in the Section 4A semifinals. In 2014, U/SA played in Section 6A and defeated Royalton in the championship game to earn their last state berth. In the 2014 Class 1A state quarterfinals, Braham defeated U/SA in Brainerd. The 2013 season also featured a state tournament berth after U/SA defeated Browerville 35-8 in the FargoDome to win the Section 6A championship. At state in 2013, Mahnomen beat U/SA 28-12 at Bemidji.
In 2012, U/SA was in Class 2A, and they lost to Holdingford 34-0 in the Section 6AA finals in Fargo.
Here's a video featuring action in the later part of the first quarter today in Fargo:
A full review of the game will be posted much later tonight. Now it's time for the Belgrade Commercial Club Purse Bingo at the Belgrade V.F.W. Also, a deejay will be playing at the VFW tonight following purse bingo.
How the game started out...
The Jaguars won the first quarter of the game. Their defense was thoroughly dominant on the first series after U/SA started with great field position at their own 45. On first down, Carson Gilbert knocked down a pass attempt near the line of scrimmage. Second down brought a run for no gain. The third down play brought an overthrown pass. On 4th-and-12, U/SA chose not to punt and failed to convert fourth down. This gave the Jaguars terrific field position at the U/SA 40 with 10:52 left.
On B-B-E's first play from scrimmage, Luke Illies caught a halfback option pass for a 9-yard gain. Jack Lundberg converted on the next play on a reverse to the 20-yard line. He ran for 4 yards on the next play but was stopped for no gain on 2nd down. Brett DeRoo caught a 6-yard pass to bring 4th-and-2, but a fumbled ball was recovered on the next play for no gain.
On the turnover on downs, U/SA started back on their own 13-yard line, and they gained just 3 yards on 3 plays and punted with 7 minutes left.
B-B-E's second possession of the game started on U/SA's 49-yard line with 6:55 left. A 22-yard reception by Ethan Mueller was followed two plays later by a 9-yard catch by Brett DeRoo. On 3rd down, the Jaguars lost 7 yards on a fumble. The 4th-and-8 play had Kameron Hiltner streaking downfield, and he hauled in a perfect pass from Illies at the goal line just ahead of the defender. His 27-yard touchdown catch was followed by a 2-point conversion that was stopped a yard short. With 3:59 left in the opening quarter, the Jaguars held a 6-0 lead.
Here's action early in the 2nd quarter with the Jaguars forcing a turnover on downs:
How U/SA scored their first touchdown...
U/SA came up empty on their first 6 possessions of the game. Their tenacity came on strong, however, on their seventh possession late in the second quarter. With 2:14 left, the Patriots started on their 29, and they gained 17 yards on a catch-and-run reception. The following first down play got just 2 yards, and the next play brought a five-yard catch by Jack Primus. On third down, U/SA converted to the B-B-E 36. U/SA quarterback Frankie Meagher was hurried and threw an incomplete pass on first down. On 2nd-and-10 with under a minute to go, Primus bolted down the right sideline and caught a perfect, on-the-money pass in stride just as he sped past the right pylon. The touchdown reception was good from 36 yards out with 43 seconds to go. B-B-E's defense came up with a huge block on the PAT kick to keep it a 6-6 tie that stood into halftime.
Here's a video featuring that touchdown catch by Primus just before halftime:
I'm not a football expert - obviously - but it does appear that Primus pushed off on Brett DeRoo just before reaching out to catch the touchdown pass from Meagher. What do you see in the video? I have replayed it about 12 times so far to see just how that all went down.
Late Friday night, I have a pile of game notes to review from the second half before I fill out more of this Section 4A championship game review.
Some notes from the second half today...
For U/SA's first five possessions of the second half, they were held to 38 net yards while punting the ball three times and turning it over on downs twice.
A pivotal turnover on downs occurred with just under 6 minutes left in the third quarter, when the Jaguars stalled out at the U/SA 24-yard line after gaining 34 yards on their 9th overall possession of the game.
With the third quarter winding down, the Jaguar defense had to step up in a big way, and they did, while forcing a turnover on downs and holding U/SA to just 4 yards on 3 plays after they started on B-B-E's 40-yard line with 1 minute to go.
U/SA caught a huge, huge break when they earned a fumble recovery during B-B-E's 12th possession of the game. The lost fumble was returned for a touchdown with 8:20 left in the game. Hiltner came up with a huge interception on the 2-point conversion attempt. This made for a 12-6 deficit.
The Jaguars erased the 12-6 deficit on their 14th possession of the game when Hiltner caught a 40-yard touchdown pass from Aiden Mueller with 4:46 remaining in the game. Illies made a valiant effort for a two-point conversion on a broken play, but he was stopped one yard short of the goal line to keep the score at 12-12.
In the closing minute, Primus caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Meagher in the endzone with just 12 seconds to go. The PAT kick sailed straight through the uprights to put their team ahead 19-12. This game-winning touchdown closed out a 50-yard drive that used just 49 seconds of game clock. It was U/SA's 14th possession of the game.
A light web article from this game, with a video from the second quarter, has been added to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://shorturl.at/PNbJx. This web article contains some key plays from the fourth quarter.
Saturday is another busy day for the newspaper. The big event is the funeral in Swift Falls for Harold Jacobson. The Rolling Forks Township dairy farmer served on the Brooten school board from 1974 to 1989. He was one of a kind! Many of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren are either on the B-B-E school staff or are students in the system.
Let's talk musical!!
Here's the link to purchase musical tickets! Musical dates are November 15, 16 and 17: https://our.show/bbeluckystiff. You can see that link and read other information on the musical by clicking over to the "BBE" section at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/section/bbe.
Other Class 1A state-qualifying games: Section 5A championship in Marshall: Minneota 34, BOLD 28. Section 8A championship: Mahnomen/Waubun 36, Red Lake County 8. Section 6A championship: Parkers Prairie 42, West Central Area 12. Section 3A championship: Springfield 20, Murray County Central 10. Section 1A championship: Goodhue 52, Fillmore Central 7. Section 2A championship: Lester Prairie 14, United South Central 6. Section 7A championship: Deer River 8, Mille Lacs 6.
Area Class 2A and higher section championship final scores on November 1:
Staples-Motley 36, Osakis 30
Barnesville 46, Hawley 22
Albany 29, Minnewaska Area 21
Kimball Area 26, Holdingford 20
Annandale 44, St. Cloud Cathedral 0
Marshall 35, Hutchinson 13
Renville County West 12, New Ulm Cathedral 0 (a 9-man result)
Dassel-Cokato 33, Litchfield 18
Border West 22, Hancock 20 (a 9-man result played on Thursday morning in Fargo)
This is GAME DAY! And we are in Cass County, North Dakota! Over 130 miles from home...and preparing for the big, BIG game! Did I say this game is HUGE! We have a shot at a third state football tournament, which is incredible! The B-B-E Jaguars football team takes on undefeated and No. 5-ranked (Associated Press) Upsala/Swanville Area at the FargoDome with kickoff at 10 a.m. The Patriots are 9-0 overall, while our Jaguars are 8-1.
The game will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood. They broadcast at 107.1 FM of Glenwood and also online. Their website, which you can tune in from, is https://www.kmgk1071.com.
How's this for excitement! Here's a video from the section semis during the aftermath of Aiden Detloff's 41-yard fumble return for the last touchdown of the game on Saturday...
Game updates to follow here. Share this blog post on social media so others can follow along!
**After the first quarter, the Jaguars have a 6-0 lead. Kameron Hiltner scored on a 27-yard reception.
HALFTIME: B-B-E 6, U/SA 6. It is TIED after 24 minutes. Crazy. With 43 seconds left, Jack Primus caught a touchdown pass for 36 yards. The catch was made just before he crossed inside the right pylon with no room to spare.
The Jaguars blocked the PAT kick to make the first half essentially a draw. This is crazy town!!!
The second half is starting at 11:21 a.m.
****After three quarters, the score is still tied 6 to 6. The fourth quarter is starting at 11:46 a.m..
*MORE to come in the Friday Night Lights X blog post, which is added to this blog on Friday evening after musical practice.
THANK YOU to Fauskee Oil of Brooten and Elrosa Hardware and Lumber for sponsoring this Jaguars Sports playoff post!
