The weekend is here (VIDEOS*)

Lots of catching up to do today, first, here's the link to the Bonanza Valley Voice website. It's got a fresh set of news articles available: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com.

We had two exciting wins for hometown fans on Tuesday and Thursday nights. The volleyball match was a border battle mostly for bragging rights, with New London-Spicer being a Class 2A school and a non-conference opponent. The football game on Thursday was a thriller while the Jaguars made numerous defensive plays in the second half to hang on for the win.

I just did a full review of B-B-E football. Since 1988, the Jaguars have won just 11 season openers. Four of those 11 season-opening wins have been in the last 5 seasons! This means that from 1988 through 2020, the Jaguars won just 7 season opening games (in 33 seasons!) Officially, this will be the 38th season of B-B-E Jaguar athletics, and it is my 23rd season covering them as their sports reporter. This all began for me back in the fall of 2003, when the Jaguars fielded a state contender in Class 2A volleyball and also had a strong football team that won its playoff opener by a 20-13 score at Osakis in late October.

A huge key to victory was the Jaguars having no turnovers, while their defense forced 3 Eagles turnovers on a fumble recovery by Nate Geer and interceptions by Lance Radermacher and Kaden Kollman. Also key was a 3-for-30 penalty mark for B-B-E compared to NYM committing 9 penalties for 55 yards. Offensively, B-B-E gained an average of 8.4 yards per play from scrimmage, while NYM earned less than half that per play at 4.1 yards each.

Here's the postgame interview with Coach Moscho:


This news did not make it into any of my preseason coverage for the football team. This fall marks the first time since 2008 that the Jaguars will compete in Section 5A in the postseason. They made runs for state from 2009 through 2024 in Section 4A. Most of the Section 5A teams this fall made up the former Section 4A. More coverage on that will follow in October. The new group of teams in Section 5A include Benson, Upsala/Swanville Area, Browerville, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle, West Central Area and Ashby/Brandon-Evansville for a total of 7 teams.

More to come. I've got a mountain of items to tend to in the family garden! The tomato crop is coming in, and there's green peppers, squash, carrots, green beans and more to harvest this weekend.

Here's action from the 2nd quarter in the football opener on Thursday:


On Sunday afternoon, I hope to get the rest of my volleyball videos edited and uploaded.

And on Sunday night...after many hours of gardening have been completed, here's more volleyball coverage...

Here's a video featuring the last 4 minutes of game 2 against NL-S:


As I said in the video, the Jaguars trailed 22-18 late in game 2 against NL-S on Tuesday night. They stormed back to tie it at 22-22. NL-S came out as winners by a 26-24 score.

Coming on Monday, Labor Day, September 1:
The community of Sunburg will host their annual Sunburg Trolls Classic Car and Truck show at Willie Reigstad baseball field and their school grounds. The event concludes with the awards ceremony at 2 p.m.

Also! The Pope County Farm Bureau will host the annual Breakfast on the Farm event at Malecha Dairy Farm south of Westport. This runs from 8 a.m. to noon, and the free breakfast will be served from 8 to 11 a.m. This event was advertised in the August 21 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

Area football scores in Week One on August 29:
Goodridge/Grygla 46, Hancock 6
Verndale 14, South Ridge 6
Stephen-Argyle 34, Border West 16
Breckenridge 55, Benson 34
Holy Family Catholic 39, New London-Spicer 8
Springfield 68, Canby 7
Fergus Falls 21, Willmar 13
Frazee 22, Browerville 0
Wadena-Deer Creek 8, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0
Parkers Prairie 34, Upsala/Swanville Area 22
Dawson-Boyd 7, Murray County Central 0
Annandale 54, Little Falls 6
Paynesville Area 46, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 8