Friday Night Lights II: the Jaguars are 2-0 (VIDEOS**) and a volleyball update

Who else is a believer! YES! BELIEVE!

When the chips were down, the B-B-E Jaguars football team came through with one of their more thrilling come-from-behind wins tonight in their Mid-Northwest Gold District opener. On the road at a traditionally tough stadium to play in, the Jaguars trailed 8-6 going into the 4th quarter against West Central Area in Barrett. The first 3 offensive series of the second half for the Jaguars all failed to produce points.

Finally, on their 10th drive of the game, the Jaguars took advantage of a wildly bad decision by WCA in the 4th quarter as they scored on what was just a 30-yard field. With 5:45 left, the Jaguars used 4 plays to cover the distance. Jesse Niklaus plunged in for a 6-yard touchdown carry with 4:41 to go. The 64-second drive gave the Jaguars a 12-8 lead. Niklaus also ran in the two-point conversion off left tackle to make it 14-8.

Final score: B-B-E 14, West Central Area 8.

How the game turned in B-B-E's favor...
WCA had first down at their own 39-yard line earlier in the 4th quarter. They were held to 4th-and-9 after two incomplete passes. On fourth down, they elected to attempt a fake punt, and it was stuffed for a 9-yard loss. B-B-E earned possession at the WCA 30-yard line with 5:45 left as I said earlier.

The game was a lesson in persistence! The Jaguars struggled in their first series which gained just 3 yards on their first 3 plays before they punted. On their second drive, the Jaguars scored on a distance of 75 yards on 4 plays. The last two were explosive: Aiden Mueller running for 37 yards, and Lance Radermacher catching a 33-yard grab from Mueller for a touchdown. With 5:30 left in the first quarter, the Jaguars led 6-0.

After playing through adversity across most of the second half and struggling offensively, the Jaguars kept at it and wore down WCA when it mattered.

Here's a video featuring one of the more exciting moments in the game, which was in the 4th quarter and the game in the balance:


In the final minutes of the third quarter, the Jaguars had a terrific opportunity to score as they drove into the red zone on a drive that began on their own 40-yard line with 4:35 on the clock. A 15-yard catch by Austin Berge gave the Jaguars first down on the WCA 13-yard line. The drive stalled out on downs, however, on an incomplete pass on 4th-and-10 with 1:24 left in the third quarter.

Here's a video featuring action in the final minute of the game:


How the Jaguars built a 6-0 halftime lead:
B-B-E went to the run on the game's first series, but they went 3-and-out with just 3 yards gained. WCA received the punt and set up at their 30. On a quarterback keeper, Noah Kampsen stopped them with a 1-yard run On 3rd-and-4, WCA converted with a 14-yard catch. An 8-yard run on a sweep followed that, and their quarterback converted 2nd-and-2. Next came an incomplet pass, Kampsen earning a 4-yard tackle for a loss and no gain on third down. WCA punted on B-B-E's 41, but they had a penalty that gave B-B-E possession at their own 25-yard line with 6:30 left in the first quarter.

On B-B-E's second series of the game, they had two short gains on running plays. On third down, Aiden Mueller broke right and sped past numerous WCA defenders down the right sideline for a 37-yard run. On first down, Lance Radermacher caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Mueller with 5:30 left. The conversion failed for a 6-0 lead.

Later in the first quarter, WCA appeared poised to score when they had first down at the B-B-E 25-yard line. After one incomplete pass and a run for no gain, their quarterback threw a long pass to the right flats. Kameron Hiltner stepped in front of the pass for an interception with about a 7 yard return. This gave B-B-E the ball at their own 26 with 1:14 on the clock.

As the first quarter came to an end, the Jaguars drove into WCA territory. A 13-yard reception brought first down at the WCA 36. Two incomplete passes and B-B-E's first penalty of the game thwarted their momentum, however, and they punted from their 39 with 9:51 left before halftime.

Here's a video featuring action in the last 4 minutes of the first quarter:


WCA built momentum after being tagged with Noah Kampsen's quarterback sack on their 3rd series of the game. On 2nd-and-21, they picked up a 38-yard run to midfield. Helped by a WCA delay of game penalty, the Jaguars later stuffed the Knights on a 4th-and-2 conversion at B-B-E's 41-yard line. B-B-E's 4th series of the game was halted on the 5th play, when WCA's Brady Sabolik earned an interception. WCA then had possession at their own 20-yard line. On their next series, WCA was hurt by a false start penalty on their first play. On first down, Noah DeRoo had a pass knock down. On 3rd-and-10, Lance Radermacher and Noah Kampsen stopped a run play with a 2-yard gain. On 4th-and-8, WCA punted with 4:30 left before halftime.

B-B-E's 5th series of the game stalled out at midfield. The Knights then blasted the Jaguars on their second play of the series with a 37-yard catch to gain goal-to-go at the B-B-E 10. After a 5-yard run, Austin Berge had a huge pass knock down, and the Jaguars stopped a quarterback run for no gain on 3rd down. On 4th-and-5, the Knights were stopped cold and suffered a lost fumble. Lance Radermacher recovered it with 1:19 left at B-B-E's 7-yard line. The Jaguars smartly used 3 run plays to close out the first half.

Here's a short postgame interview with senior Nate Geer:


Note: late Saturday morning, this blog post received another update. It will get a 3rd major update on Saturday afternoon.

The second half...
The Knights tied the game in the third quarter on a 70-yard touchdown drive. With 5:01 left, WCA took an 8-6 lead on Hunter Gruchow's 9-yard pass to Austin Bennett.

B-B-E's first drive of the second half (7th overall) started at their own 40. Jesse Niklaus ran for 13 yards on the first play, and Kameron Hiltner later converted 3rd-and-7 with a 16-yard reception. The drive stalled out on downs, however, on 4th-and-10 with 1:24 on the clock.

WCA started their next drive on their own 8, but they later punted on 4th-and-19 on their own 22. The Jaguars had great field position after Mueller's 16-yard punt return to have first down on the WCA 39 with 9:28 left on the game. Two incomplete passes and a quarterback sack halted the drive. WCA then suffered a lost fumble (recovered by Austin Berge) on their first play from scrimmage.

B-B-E went to work starting on the WCA 42 with 7:47 left, but this drive also stalled out on downs with an incomplete pass in the endzone. This led to WCA's costly decision to go for it on 4th-and-9 from their own 40-yard line with just under 6 minutes left in the game.

Some light game statistics:
Overall, the Jaguars outgained WCA 288 to 270. A key to the game was winning the turnover battle, which showed the Jaguars ahead 3 to 1. That was a huge factor in B-B-E's defense stopping WCA from scoring on 9 of their 10 total series in the game.

The win was incredibly exciting to me because it marked a special achievement that I have outlined below. I can recall multiple tough, bitter football losses at B-B-E. Tonight was not a night we were going to get another one!

This is just the 6th time in B-B-E history that the football team has started 2-0. Three of those 6 starts with 2-0 records have been in the last 3 seasons! This means that from 1988 through 2022, the Jaguars had just three 2-0 starts. Those other 2-0 starts were in 1997, 2006 and 2013.

Let's go back to the very first season that Coach Moscho was on our football staff, which was in 2008. In the season opener that year, the Jaguars were stung with a 27-20 loss at WCA. At that time, the Knights were a Class 2A football team. B-B-E fell behind 27-6 in the 4th quarter before they came roaring back. Time ran out on the Jaguars, and they came up short in receiving what would have been extremely valuable seeding points for Section 5A. Fast forward to the playoffs that year, and the Jaguars were the No. 4 seed and got throttled in a 55-6 loss in the semifinals by top-seeded Minneota.

In 2016, when they had a junior-dominated team, the Jaguars suffered a 33-27 loss at WCA in a game they should have won. It would have helped in a huge way for the Section 4A seedings as well, but the Jaguars took a 2-6 record into the playoffs and then lost in the first round.

On Friday night in volleyball action at Marshall...
The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team lost their first match to Wayzata by 25-13, 25-14 scores. The final Friday match resulted in a tough three set loss to Northfield by scores of 19-25, 25-19, 5-15. The Northfield Raiders are very, very good. They were 22-9 last year while winning the Big 9 Conference title with an 11-0 record for the third straight year. In fact, in the post-COVID era, Northfield has only lost one time in Big 9 Conference play.

In Saturday's first match, the Jaguars won in 3 sets by scores of 24-26, 25-23, 15-5 against Class 4A Owatonna. The Huskies were 3-0 coming into the tournament. The Jaguars utilized a balanced attack with 10 kills by Teagan Dingmann, 8 kills from both Kacey Fischer and Kadynce Haider and 3 kills each from Kamie Fischer, Mya Worms and Macey Roering. B-B-E's second match of Saturday is against Class 4A Bloomington Jefferson.

More to come on Saturday afternoon.

Next: the Jaguars travel to Swanville for Week Three; they play there next Friday, September 12 with a 7 p.m. kickoff against Upsala/Swanville Area. The Patriots demolished Benson in their district opener 45-8 in Swanville.

Mid-Northwest Gold District Week One scores on September 5:
Ashby/Brandon-Evansville 18, Maple Lake 16 (the Bolts win on their home field in Brandon)
Upsala/Swanville Area 45, Benson 8
Browerville 28, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0 (sadly, this game was called in the 3rd quarter after LPGE had sustained multiple key injuries)

Area football Week 2 scores on September 5:
BOLD 18, Lester Prairie 16
St. Cloud Cathedral 49, ACGC 8
Kimball 44, Paynesville 0
Litchfield 28, New London-Spicer 8
Canby 10, MACCRAY 6
Osakis 43, Minnewaska Area 15
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 48, Montevideo 0
Redwood Valley 45, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 0
Minneota 37, Eden Valley-Watkins 30

GAME NIGHT! In Grant County (VIDEO)

We have a big, BIG game on hand! Tonight, in Grant County, the B-B-E Jaguars football team looks to hand West Central Area their second loss of the season. The Jaguars and Knights square off at WCA High School in Barrett with a 7 p.m. kickoff. It's going to be a COLD game! At least the wind is dying down. The low tonight is going down to 40 degrees locally. Yikes! As of 5 p.m. in Brooten, the temperature outside is 55 degrees and dropping.

WCA lost 28-14 in their season opener last week at Lake Park-Audubon; however, I expect a tough game tonight. WCA is always strong on their home field.

Here's a video featuring the Jaguars praying The Lord's Prayer before kickoff in the season opener:


Game updates to follow!

Halftime: B-B-E 6, WCA 0. This game is a battle!

In the third quarter, the Knights took an 8-6 lead...with 5 minutes to go. Their touchdown drive was filled with big plays as they drove 70 yards for pay dirt. The Knights overcame a holding penalty early in the drive by using multiple receptions good for 9, 14, 15 and 15 yards plus shorter receiving gains. With 5:01 on the clock, WCA tied the game with an 8-yard touchdown carry. Their 2-point conversion was good via a reception with their receiver all alone in the right flats. The score became WCA 8, B-B-E 6.

It's time to head home. The final score will be posted in the Friday Night Lights II blog post later tonight.

Back on track: Jaguars defeat Cubs in 4 sets (VIDEOS*)

A very young Kimball Area squad gave their best effort, an effort good enough to avoid being swept, but the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team recovered from a rough second set to win 3-1 tonight and improve to 2-1 overall. After being swept in a disappointing loss on Tuesday night, the Jaguars applied a couple tweaks in the rotation that paid off. Improvements in passing and blocking are still needed, but they are coming along with the meat grinder of the schedule right in front of them across the next few weeks.

This was the Central Minnesota Conference opener for both squads.

The Cubs, who were just coming off of a thrilling 3-2 win against Section 5AA and neighboring rival Dassel-Cokato two nights ago, fall to 3-4 overall. They have no seniors on the roster, and their setter is just an 8th grader (5'4" Bree Johnson). They have a very good 5'11" middle in Mazie Jurek, one of 8 juniors who make up the majority of the team. We can all look for Kimball to make some noise in 2026, and it's a sure bet they are only going to get better this season as they gain experience.

How tonight's match played out...
B-B-E won the opening set 25-14 after initially trailing 2-0. An ace block by Mya Worms gave them a 3-2 lead, and they did not trail from there. The Cubs tied it at 6-6 after they fell behind 6-4, but Kacey Fischer's third kill of the night put the Jaguars ahead for good at 7-6.

The Jaguars had to fight from an early deficit in game two, when they started out down 7-3 and then 10-5. They later tied it at 22-22, but the Cubs evened it at one set apiece with a 25-23 win. In the video below, both teams basically traded points to the point where the Cubs led 14-10.

Here's a video from early in game two tonight:


After trailing 14-10 in game two, Kacey Fischer had a kill, and the Cubs then had a hitting error. Kadynce Haider's kill was followed by an ace block by Macey Roering to forge a 14-14 tie. The Cubs gained 17-14 and 19-15 leads, but an ace serve from Roering and a kill from Kacey Fischer brought the deficit to 20-19. The Cubs hit long to make for a 20-20 tie. After Macey Roering had another ace serve, the Cubs called a timeout. Consecutive B-B-E errors then put the Cubs ahead 22-21.

A kill from Kacey Fischer tied it at 23-23, but the Cubs got a kill after that to bring game point. The Jaguars hit into the net to end the set.

Needing to come out strong in game three, the Jaguars got a 2-1 lead on Kamie Fischer's kill. They fell behind 4-2 before fighting back to tie it at 5-5. A kill from Mya Worms put the Jaguars ahead 6-5, and they never trailed from that point while surging ahead 14-6 and then 17-11. The Cubs got as close as 19-16, but the Jaguars overwhelmed them down the stretch with ace attacks from Kamie Fischer, Kadynce Haider and Macey Roering for a 25-17 win.

In game four, the Jaguars built early leads of 7-2 and 15-3 before the Cubs went into their first timeout. A kill from Roering put the Jaguars ahead 17-5, but the Cubs toughened up their level of play while going on a 6-1 run. A kill from Teagan Dingmann brought a badly-needed side out. McKinley Haider fired off back-to-back kills to push the Jaguars ahead 21-12. Final score: B-B-E 25, Kimball 17.

Here's a video featuring the last 6 minutes of the match; this video begins with the Jaguars ahead 18-11:


The Cubs challenged the Jaguars, but their youth showed as unforced errors hurt them badly in the first and last sets of the match.

What's next?
No rest for the restless! The Jaguars have a big task ahead as they travel to Marshall tomorrow for the two-day, 32-team Southwest Minnesota Challenge Invitational. Their first match is at 6:15 p.m. at Marshall Area high school against Class 4A Wayzata. Wayzata is tough! They were 19-11 overall last year and took second place in the Lake Conference behind St. Michael-Albertville.

Between now and Homecoming week, the Jaguars have just one match at home. That home match is next Thursday, September 11 against Holdingford. The Jaguars have best-of-five road matches on the following dates: September 8, September 16 and September 18. They also have a long road trip on Saturday, September 13 to the Crosby-Ironton Invitational.

Unfortunately, the next time I can watch the volleyball team is not until September 18 in Grove City.

Central MN Conference volleyball opener scores on September 4:
Royalton 3, Maple Lake 0 (the Royals are for real this fall; they are 6-1 overall after tonight's win)
Paynesville Area 3, Eden Valley-Watkins 1
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 3, Holdingford 1

Area volleyball scores on Sept. 4:
Sauk Centre 3, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 0
Norwood Young-America 3, New London-Spicer 2
Minnewaska Area 3, Melrose Area 1
MACCRAY 3, Renville County West 0
Sauk Rapids-Rice 3, Willmar 0
Litchfield 3, Rockford Area 0
Benson 3, Browerville 1

GAME NIGHT! In Jaguar Country

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team is hosting Kimball Area tonight. In one of the preliminary matches, the JV Jaguars defeated the Cubs. K-M-S played our C-squad, as Kimball Area does not currently have one at that level.

The Cubs are 3-3 overall; they just won a huge 5-set match against Dassel-Cokato on Tuesday night in Kimball. Both Kimball and D-C are Section 5AA teams, and the Chargers entered that match with a 7-0 record; they opened the season on August 23 by winning the Simley Invitational. D-C earned 3-0 sweeps against Maple Lake and Paynesville Area on August 26 and 28.

Varsity updates:
The Jaguars won the first set by a 25-14 score. The Cubs turned the tables, though, and won game 2 by a 25-23 score after the Jaguars fought back from a 20-16 deficit to force a 22-22 tie.

Game 3 final score: B-B-E 25, Kimball Area 17. More to come in a NEW blog post.

Wolverines take down Jaguars in three; and Fall Sports Shows begin! (VIDEOS**)

The 3-0 set score is deceiving, but a loss by sweep was disappointing for the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team as they faced MACCRAY in the second non-conference match to start the season.

Playing at the renovated, newly-addition'ed MACCRAY high school in Clara City, the Jaguars went toe-to-toe with the home team but suffered back-to-back 26-24 losses. A late 22-20 lead in game two did not hold up. Had the Jaguars come out with a split in the first two sets, they very well could have fought to make it a five-set night. Strong serving at a 94.2 percent clip plus 3 solo and 2 assisted blocks were not enough to overcome mild 17.2 percent hitting.

MACCRAY overcame an 11-8 deficit midway into the third set to win 25-20 to improve to 3-0 overall.

Here's a video recorded in game two tonight:


Additional match notes are being reviewed, but I won't get much more posted here until tomorrow. The next match for the Jaguars is at home on Thursday this week against Kimball Area (1-4).

Here's a video featuring the final points scored in game one:


The Jaguars fought for a 20-18 lead in game one, but they were unable to hold on in a 26-24 loss.

I'll repost this again, but here's my first fall sports show of the new school year.

The Voice sports department Fall Sports show No. 1, recorded late Tuesday night:


Additional updates to this blog post are coming on Wednesday afternoon.

Area volleyball scores on September 2:
Benson 3, Lac qui Parle Valley 1
New London-Spicer 3, Paynesville Area 0
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 3, Litchfield 1
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 3, Yellow Medicine East 0
Minnewaska Area 3, Sauk Centre 0
Melrose Area 3, Montevideo 1
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 3, West Central Area 0

Tennis rained out, volleyball heads to Chippewa County

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team has a huge battle on their hands with a road match at No. 12 state-ranked MACCRAY tonight. The Wolverines are 2-0 and a contender in the Camden North Conference and Section 3A. In the preliminary matches, the JV Jaguars won, and the C-squad Jaguars lost.

The home match with New London-Spicer for the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team was rained out. Their next match is at Pierz on Friday this week.

Varsity volleyball updates to follow!

Game one final score: MACCRAY 26, B-B-E 24.

In game two, the Jaguars led 11-8 before falling behind 17-14. Coach Borgerding then called a timeout with MACCRAY on a 9-3 run. Game two final score: MACCRAY 26, B-B-E 24.

In game three, the Jaguars fell behind 4-0 and 7-2 but put up a huge fight to climb out of it. They forged ties at 8-8 and 9-9 and then took an 11-9 lead. Errors plagued them down the stretch, however, as the Wolverines came on strong to complete the sweep with a 25-20 win.

That's all she wrote - time to go home!

Here's a video in game three against NL-S last week:


I had to alter my sports schedule for this week, or for today, rather, because the tennis match was rained out. I had planned to use pictures from the tennis meet to help round out the sports section in this week's newspaper. The rainfall blew up that plan! So now I've got a backlog of volleyball video.

Today was Labor Day

This was Labor Day, Monday, September 1. I hope you got a chance to get some rest. I did not! No rest for small business owners. I don't even know what rest means!

I want you to take special care to consider attending the Bluegrass Festival this Sunday, September 7 in Terrace. It will be well worth the small price of admission! Just $20. You can read more here: https://shorturl.at/tDy00. This was also advertised on page 10 of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's August 28 issue.

You can skip right ahead to purchasing tickets by clicking as follows: (adults) https://terracemill.org/store/product/p_3350645; (and children ages 6 to 17) https://terracemill.org/store/product/p_3350647.