Friday Night Lights V: such a difficult loss, hard to describe (VIDEOS)

Because the weather is far too nice for me to sit on the computer, the blog updates won't be done until later in the day. One video from the 3rd quarter was posted below. Also, the funeral information for Levi Adrian is posted near the end of this blog post before the scoreboard.

The B-B-E Jaguars football team left everything they had on the field tonight against Maple Lake for Homecoming. They played a rather solid first half where they earned over 200 yards of offense and held a 12-0 lead at halftime. Kameron Hiltner scored one touchdown in both the first and second quarters, the first on a 10-yard pass from Aiden Mueller and the second on a 24-yard run. However, both conversion plays failed.

Maple Lake scored on an 11-yard carry in the third quarter, and the conversion carry was good to cut B-B-E's lead to 12-8. The visiting team then put a dagger in B-B-E's Homecoming hopes when Joseph Aasen picked off a bullet-style pass in the shallow left flats and returned it 54 yards for a game-changing Pick-Six interception.

This was a difficult game to endure. The second half was very, very difficult to get through. I'll get to some type of a longer description later. In a nutshell, a rash of ill-timed penalties along with one gut-punching type of a holding penalty call all but removed the odds of winning from the Jaguars.

Final: Maple Lake 14, B-B-E 12. The Irish scored the go-ahead touchdown with 6:54 left in the game, and two late B-B-E possessions were unsuccessful to regain the lead.

Light game statistics:
The Jaguars had 361 yards of offense compared to 294 by the Irish. The airways were tough for both teams, with the game featuring 32 total pass attempts and just 9 of them being completions. For B-B-E, Jesse Niklaus ran for 124 yards. B-B-E's offense was generated by 190 rushing yards and 171 passing yards.

In a fitting and touching gesture of kindness and wonderful sportsmanship, the postgame handshakes became a lengthy meet-and-greet with hugs between Maple Lake and B-B-E players as the Irish players and coaching staff shared words of comfort at midfield after the game. Yes, some things are far bigger than sports.

Next: the Jaguars travel to Benson (2-3) next week for another district game. I am exhausted. Before I do anything tonight, I am going to enjoy some fresh watermelon from my garden.

Here's a video to take our minds off of sports for a moment; this is from today's Homecoming pep fest:


Let the record show that the student council put together a terrific pep fest today. It was what the students needed to help close out the end of the final school day of Homecoming week. More to come. Game stats are being reviewed.

Here's a video featuring the 4th quarter touchdown that was erased by a controversial holding call:


Here's a video added on Saturday afternoon.

From the last 3 minutes of the 3rd quarter against Maple Lake:


For the game, the Jaguars had 361 yards of offense, while Maple Lake had 297 yards. B-B-E had 190 rushing yards, and Aiden Mueller passed for 171 yards.

More to come on Saturday morning, when this blog post will be extensively revised.

Saturday update: the funeral for Levi Adrian will be on Thursday, October 2, 2025 at 2 p.m. at Peace Lutheran Church in New London. Click here for more information at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper: https://shorturl.at/djTwR.

Mid-Northwest Gold District Week Five scores on September 26:
Upsala/Swanville Area 38, Browerville 8
Benson 36, West Central Area 0
Ashby/Brandon-Evansville 46, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0


Area football scores in Week 5 on September 26:
Holdingford 39, Minnewaska Area 6
Springfield 54, BOLD 6
Paynesville 52, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 12
New London-Spicer 55, Montevideo 0
Dawson-Boyd 53, Canby 13
Melrose Area 43, Royalton 22
Dassel-Cokato 42, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 28
Dawson-Boyd 53, Canby 13
Murray County Central 64, Lac qui Parle Valley 6
Willmar 29, Hutchinson 23
Parkers Prairie 31, Frazee 12
Hancock 36, Underwood 15
Eden Valley-Watkins 18, St. Cloud Cathedral 12
Kimball Area 48, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 0
Lake Park-Audubon 20, New York Mills 14
Minneota 64, MACCRAY 0
Eden Valley-Watkins 18, St. Cloud Cathedral 12