Step III: Jaguars earn statement win, sweep Comets! Heading to the 'Ship! (VIDEOS)

This is the time of the year you want to be peaking!

Facing the powerful, senior-laden Hillcrest Lutheran Academy Comets, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team put the hammer down in a big way to claim a 3-0 sweep in the Section 6A semifinals.

Tough, terrific serving was a key factor in the win, as the Jaguars kept the Comets out of system for a majority of the first and third sets. B-B-E won game one 25-16 after they initially trailed 5-2. Kamie Fischer's ace serve tied it at 5-5. The Panthers later held a 9-8 lead, but the Jaguars surged ahead to grab leads of 12-9 and then 18-10. The Comets were unable to close the deficit below 7 points.

HLA had a strong game going in the second set, and they took early leads of 5-4 and 7-5 before coming on strong to lead 13-8. A kill into a block by Macey Roering tied the set at 15-15. Her ace block then put the Jaguars up 16-15 for their first lead since they were up 4-3. The Comets pulled ahead 19-18 and then 21-19, but that faded quickly as Kacey Fischer's ace block gave the Jaguars a 22-21 advantage. Final in game two: B-B-E 25, HLA 22.

Here's a video from the middle of game 1 tonight:


That video begins while the Jaguars are ahead 11-9.

To close out the night in game 3...
The Jaguars blew the Comets away in game three, building a lead as wide as 18-8 and 21-10. HLA appeared shell shocked at times and were unable to overcome an initial 5-0 deficit. A mild let up on the gas by the Jaguars made for a somewhat closer final score, but B-B-E finished out the 1 hour, 10-minute match with a 25-14 win.

Here's a 5-minute video from game 3 tonight:


The tape started rolling in that video with the Jaguars ahead 18-8.

NEXT: the Jaguars (23-6) advance to the Section 6A championship match, which is at 7 p.m. on Saturday, November 1 back in Fergus Falls at Kennedy High School's Gold Gymnasium. Now we wait for the outcome of the other semifinal match, which featured Parkers Prairie and West Central Area.

UPDATE!...we will have a true No. 1 vs. No. 2 seed section championship! Also, the section will have a new champion! Two-time defending Section 6A champion West Central Area went down in a 3-1 loss to No. 2-seeded Parkers Prairie in the other semifinal. The Knights have been a juggernaut, and playing in the West Central Conference certainly prepared them for the Class 1A playoffs. Their season ends with a 15-15 overall record. Parkers Prairie improves to 26-4 overall. They lost a nailbiter on their home floor to our Jaguars back on Monday, September 8. The Jaguars trailed 2-1 in sets that night, but they lit up the Panthers in game 4 by a 25-13 score. The fifth game was close, but the Jaguars squeezed out a 15-12 win. Overall, the Panthers are 1-3 in five-set matches. They lost to conference rival Battle Lake 3-2, beat Underwood 3-2 but lost 3-2 to Henning in the final regular season match. Parkers Prairie is stacked with 8 seniors and "loaded for bear" - Saturday night is going to be a giant match! The Panthers featured a super tall lineup: three of their seniors are 5'10" or taller. Two more seniors are listed at 5'9", and one of their sophomores is a six-foot middle blocker. Wowza!

Parkers Prairie's win tonight avenges their loss by a 3-0 sweep to WCA in last year's Sub-Section 6A-South semifinals. That was also the outcome of the 2023 playoffs, when the Panthers lost in the same round to the same team in the same gymnasium (Barrett). In the past 2 seasons, Parkers Prairie has gone 43-15. In 2022, K-M-S won an upset playoff opener by a 3-2 margin at Parkers Prairie. In 2021, B-B-E bounced the Panthers from the playoffs in the subsection semis in Brooten. I went back to 2014, and their current playoff run is their volleyball team's deepest in that span. I am not sure when Parkers Prairie last played in a state-qualifying match.

CALLING ALL Jaguar fans! Now is the time to plan your trip to Fergus Falls on Saturday! We have twice the driving than our opponents do! This is an extra burden that we will overcome! The distance from Parkers Prairie high school to Kennedy high school is 44 miles. From our high school, it's an 85-mile drive that lasts 1 1/2 hours. We got this! Spread the word. Plan your carpools! Fill your seats! That's the plan for our Chevy Suburban!

Here's a post-match interview with Coach Borgerding tonight at Kennedy high school:


I have to tip my hat to Coach Borgerding! I was in a rush to get that interview taped, and she did a terrific job speaking about the teams in the other semifinals. I greatly appreciate any chance to interview our players or coaches at B-B-E. We are blessed with outstanding students and adults throughout our athletic program!

Some light match statistics vs. HLA:
The Jaguars dropped 113 attacks on the Comets and hit with a strong 22.1 hitting efficiency. Kamie Fischer ran 37 of the 42 set assists for the night, and a whopping 12 block assists were also a huge part of the win. At the service line, the Jaguars went 68-for-73 (93%) with 3 aces. They will need to improve that 93 percent mark just a bit to keep this playoff push going.

The Comets end a fine season with a 23-7 overall record. They were co-champions of the Little Eight Conference with Parkers Prairie and were gunning for their second straight trip to the section finals. It was not meant to be.

In a Section 6AA semifinal match tonight, Minnewaska defeated Sauk Centre in straight sets by scores of 25-21, 25-22, 25-20. The Mainstreeters blew an 18-11 lead in game three while trying to avoid a loss by sweep.

This blog post is on pause as of now until the morning. I'll get other scores added tomorrow. I need to get the newspaper ready for press and get adequate sleep. Tomorrow night, I have a trip to Rochester Mayo on my schedule. Good night!

GAME DAY! In Otter Tail County (VIDEO)

We are gearing up for a 1 1/2 hour drive to the county seat of Otter Tail County! These are exciting times in Jaguar Country as we have two of our fall teams still going strong in the playoffs. Our B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team (22-6) faces No. 4-seeded Hillcrest Lutheran Academy (23-6) tonight at 6 p.m. at Kennedy High School in Fergus Falls. That match will be followed in the same gym by the other Section 6A semifinal, which features No. 6-seeded West Central Area against No. 2-seeded Parkers Prairie.

Here's a video from the final points scored in the Park Christian match on Friday:


The Hillcrest Lutheran Academy Comets were co-champions of the Little Eight Conference with Parkers Prairie. They each had 8-1 league records. Last season, HLA went 27-4, defeated Breckenridge 3-2 in the Sub-Section 6A-North championship and then lost 3-0 to West Central Area in the state-qualifying section finals.

More to come.

**Tonight's volleyball will not be on Smooth Magic FM. If I find out about a Fergus Falls station, I will post that.  

Updates to follow!

In other school-related news...

Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa Fellowship of Christian Students paused until...TO BE DETERMINED. Hopefully paused until November 14.
The weekly Fellowship of Christian Students will not be held on Friday this week due to the football game in Fargo. The Fellowship of Christian Students is held at Grace Lutheran Church. This is open to all students regardless of denomination. Breakfast and a short Gospel message will be shared at these Friday morning gatherings.

MATCH UPDATES from Kennedy Gymnasium:
Game one: BBE 25, HLA 16. The Comets led 5-2 out of the gate.

Game 2: the Jaguars are trailing 13-8. *The Jaguars tied the set at 15-15, and it was a grinder the rest of the way.  FINAL: BBE 25, HLA 22. The Comets led 21-19 late in the set.

The FINAL score of game 3 and more will be posted in a NEW blog post. Hit refresh!

Catching up, gearing up! (VIDEOS)

Sunday is catch up and gearing up day! Gearing up for a BIG week!

The Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's sports department photo gallery from the fall season is being updated. You can find that by clicking here: https://www.smugmug.com/app/organize/BBE-Fall-Sports-2025.

To see the general, non-sports events folder for 2025, you can find that here: https://bonanzavalley.smugmug.com/2025-B-B-EBonanza-Valley-area-events.

Here's a video from the most recent Fellowship of Christian Students gathering, which was on Friday morning:


And hats off to Grace Lutheran Church of Belgrade for hosting this each Friday morning.

On Sunday, we had quite strong sunshine, moderate winds out of the south plus a high of about 63 degrees in Brooten. It was a marvelous day for outdoor work.

Here's a video from the middle of game 3 against Park Christian last Friday:


The Jaguars had a rough patch in the beginning of the video, but after the Falcons cut a deficit down to 17-11, the Jaguars scored two straight. Teagan Dingmann had a nice attack on the right side.

About Hillcrest Lutheran Academy's volleyball team...
I'll probably move this small scouting report to a new blog post later tonight.

Senior Ella Knutson (5'10" MH/OH) had a career-high 20 kills against Underwood in the playoff opener last Wednesday. She also racked up 12 ace serves and 2 blocks. Their setters, Stella Moline and Brooke Swedberg, had 24 and 16 assists, respectively, running the 6-2 offense. Moline was perfect on 16 serve attempts.

Sophomore Elsa Retzlaff (5'10" OH) had 21 digs, and libero Chloe Walkup (5'6" senior) had 13 ace serves with errorless serving. The Comets totaled 81 digs, 48 kills, 10 blocks and 43 set assists.

ON MONDAY...
The Brooten city council meets in regular session on Monday night, October 27 at 7 p.m. The meeting agenda can be found at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's editor's blog: https://shorturl.at/Parav.

I am in a high-pressure race to get this week's newspaper ready for the printing press. I have to shorten up the hours I can spend on it to accommodate two major tasks: (1.) get ample sleep tonight and Tuesday night; and (2.) make the trip on Tuesday to Fergus Falls. The paper may suffer! But I can't help it. On Wednesday night, I have a trip to Rochester Mayo looming. That is the big one, and it's right ahead of a Fargo trip! Yikes!!

I'll write a little more on this in my newspaper column this week, but I want to give a huge shout-out to Principal Trent Johnson for the concern and effort he is putting into this year's Veterans Day program at the elementary school. This program, led by the Brooten American Legion and Legion Auxiliary, is on Tuesday, November 11 at 9:30 a.m. in the elementary gymnasium. In recent conversations about Veterans Day, Johnson talked about the importance of Veterans Day and the importance that children learn about this event, its history and about properly honoring our veterans.

While I'm giving shout outs, here's a shout out for B-B-E Class of 2024 graduate Brooklyn Fischer, who is a standout volleyball player for the St. Cloud Technical and Community College Cyclones. She is one of eight sophomores on the team. On Saturday, SCTCC hosted Western Technical College in a conference match and won in 4 sets. During that match, Fischer broke her college's career kills record. In a 2-1 weekend where the Cyclones beat Rochester Community in 5 sets and lost to Ridgewater College in 5 sets, Fischer had 45 kills, 102 digs and 12 ace serves. Those stats led those categories for her team. The Cyclones are 16-13 overall and 10-6 in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference South Division.

Friday Night Lights IX: Jaguars earn 8th section final trip! (VIDEOS**)

After 22:00 tonight...more updates being added to this blog post. This was SUCH AN EXCITING game!

In the postgame huddle today, Coach Moscho leads a round of applause for the performance of his linemen in the section semifinal win.

For the 8th time in program history, the B-B-E Jaguars football team will play in a state-qualifying game. Each time has been special, and this one may rate as one of the best out of them all. It has been a tough season full of mental and emotional challenges. I am proud to say with great confidence that the Jaguars have persevered! It's been 28 years since the Jaguars advanced past a section semifinal game for the first time ever. That season, the Jaguars played Eden Valley-Watkins in the Section 5AA championship game and lost a heartbreaker 14-12.

In today's Section 5A semifinal game, the Jaguars won 6-0 against Ashby/Brandon-Evansville. The final score was also the halftime score, and their overall record improves to 6-3. This brings the Jaguars to the section championship game for the third straight year and the fourth time in the past 5 seasons.

Ashby/Brandon-Evansville sees their season finish with a record of 5-5. The Bolts will endure huge graduation losses with Zach Crane, Royce Aasness, Justin Thoennes and Colton Breitkreutz as key playmakers in their senior class, which has 12 football players. However, in spite of those losses, I expect them to come back next year and remain a factor in the district and section title races.

B-B-E's other section championship trips have all been in Section 4A. Those seasons were in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2021, 2023 and 2024.

Here's a video recorded before the game today:


Game statistics are being reviewed!

SPREAD THE WORD! the Jaguars now make a repeat trip to the FargoDome! They head to Fargo on Halloween morning, Friday, October 31. Kickoff at the FargoDome is at 10 a.m. The opponent will be top-seeded and defending section champion Upsala/Swanville Area. The Patriots improved to 8-1 overall with a 42-0 against Browerville in the other Section 5A semifinal this afternoon. That game was played in Swanville.

Here's a video from the 1st quarter today as A/B-E was driving into B-B-E territory:


How the first half played out today...
The Bolts earned an interception on B-B-E's first possession with a big return. That set them up with 1st down on the B-B-E 18 yard line with just over 10 minutes on the clock. Fortunately for the Jaguars, the Bolts committed a holding penalty on their first play from scrimmage. This made it 1st-and-21. Three plays later, the Bolts turned the ball over on downs after the series lost a net 14 yards. Tyler Myers and Eli Wold earned assisted tackles with an 8-yard loss on 4th-and-16. This gave B-B-E the ball again with 8:05 left from their own 32-yard line.

Both teams traded possessions throughout the rest of the first quarter. Early in the second quarter, with 9:44 on the clock, the Jaguars forced a punt with A/B-E at midfield with 4th-and-15. This punt pushed the Jaguars back to their own 10-yard line. They dug in and went to work, grinding away and moving the chains. After 7 plays, they were in Bolts territory with 1st down on the A/B-E 48. Helped by a Bolts offsides penalty, the Jaguars later gained 1st down at the 25. Another Bolts offsides penalty helped the Jaguars gain 1st down at the 12. Three plays later, the Jaguars had 1st-and-goal at the one. A/B-E committed their third offsides penalty of the drive, and the Jaguars punched through with Aiden Mueller's quarterback sneak. The conversion was stopped one yard short, and the Jaguars led 6-0 with 2:16 left before halftime.

And the epic dog fight that was the second half...
The Jaguars knew what was coming.

Ashby/Brandon-Evansville started the third quarter with the wind in their favor. The Jaguars had "good" kickoff return coverage, and the Bolts began what was their 6th overall possession of the game at their 30. What followed were two rushes for 2 yards and zero yards. On 3rd-and-8, Eli Wold earned a solo tackle...for no gain! With 9:40 left, the Bolts punted. This set B-B-E up at their own 33. The Jaguars hurt themselves with an illegal-man-downfield penalty. The Jaguars got a 9-yard catch by Noah DeRoo on 2nd-and-13, but they later punted on 4th-and-4.

A/B-E started their 2nd series of the 3rd quarter (7th overall) at their 34. Seth Thoennes ran a reverse carry and picked up 6 yards. He ran again for 2 yards, and Royce Aasness converted third down to the B-B-E 49. The Bolts were later held to 4th-and-3, but Zach Dingwall connected for a 9-yard reception to give them first down at B-B-E's 27. Austin Berge had a pass breakup on 2nd-and-9, and the Bolts then had a false start penalty. Dingwall ran for 3 yards on a broken play to get 4th-and-11. After A/B-E's second timeout of the series, they had their biggest offensive play of the game when Thoennes caught a pass over the middle for a 21-yard gain. With goal-to-go at the B-B-E 7 and the clock under 1 minute in the third quarter, Dingwall made a sharp pass to the endzone. Kameron Hiltner caught an interception to end the threat, and he immediately took a knee right under the goal post. This gave the Jaguars first down at their 20-yard line with 31 seconds left.

On the last play of the 3rd quarter, Jesse Niklaus ran for 11 yards. The Jaguars just survived another A/B-E scoring threat while holding onto their slim 6-0 lead. The drive stalled out, however, with B-B-E punting from their 38 with 10:07 left.

The Bolts started their 8th overall series of the game from their 21. The Jaguars held them to three-and-out, and the Jaguars started their 8th overall series of the game from the A/B-E 47 with 7:38 left. The Jaguars had a holding penalty on this series, though, and they punted on 4th-and-5 with 5:04 left. The punt rolled into the endzone for a touchback. The Bolts once again were held to three-and-out, but they hurt themselves on this series with a false start penalty. They punted at 4th-and-18, and the Jaguars were set up on A/B-E's 38 with just over 4 minutes left.

On this series, which was B-B-E's 9th of the game, they got key gains on the ground and converted 3rd-and-1 and keep the clock running. They gained 1st down at A/B-E's 17-yard line with 1:40 left. Clock management took over at this point, and the Jaguars got an 8-yard run by Lance Radermacher to get the clock under a minute to go. Mueller was able to take a knee to close out the game.

Here's a video from the middle of the 4th quarter while the game's outcome was still in the balance:


I'm heading to Padua shortly for the Bonanza Valley Royal Strutters' big event, their fall Gun Blast fundraiser.

Light game statistics from today:
B-B-E had 198 total yards on 56 plays compared to A/B-E's 104 yards on 46 plays. B-B-E out-rushed the Bolts 156 to 79. B-B-E's Aiden Mueller's passing numbers were 5-of-12 for 42 yards, while A/B-E's Zach Dingwall was 3-of-14 for 25 yards. Each quarterback threw one interception. B-B-E had 11 first downs, while A/B-E had 6. A huge factor in the win was B-B-E's defense holding the Bolts running game to 2.7 yards per carry.

SUNDAY afternoon update...if anyone is still reading this blog post, remember that today is the St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church pancake and sausage supper. They serve until 6:30 p.m. at the Parish Center on Martin Avenue. Don't miss it! The Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's sports department just booked a hotel in Fargo for Thursday night. I think that's better than driving up early Friday morning. It's an easy 2 1/2-hour drive on Thursday night, and then we can wake up refreshed on Friday morning with a free hotel breakfast.

Area football playoff semifinals on October 25:
Thief River Falls 28, Minnewaska Area 21
Border West 16, Hancock 8
Osakis 30, Pillager 22
Holdingford 41, Staples-Motley 0
Litchfield 56, Melrose Area 35
Parkers Prairie 52, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 0
Albany 41, New London-Spicer 0
Rocori 17, Willmar 15
Minneota 62, MACCRAY 0
Dawson-Boyd 49, Lakeview 14
Springfield 43, Sleepy Eye 0
Marshall Area 35, Hutchinson 7

GAME DAY! In Jaguar Country: the calm before the storm (VIDEO)

This is the calm before the storm as a huge, huge playoff game is set on our field today. The B-B-E Jaguars football team will host Ashby/Brandon-Evansville at 2 p.m. in Belgrade in the Section 5A semifinals. The Glenwood radio station will be covering the Minnewaska Area home football game today, which also has a 2 p.m. kickoff. I will do my best to post blog updates here.

About our opponent:
The A/B-E Bolts are 5-4 overall after giving a 42-14 thrashing to West Central Area in Brandon on Tuesday night. That Section 5A quarterfinal had a halftime score of 14-14. In that game, sophomore quarterback Evan Dingwall ran for 112 yards while earning 14-of-22 passing marks for 243 yards with 2 touchdowns. The Bolts were good on 8 out of 13 third down conversion attempts. Those are outstanding figures in a playoff game. Seth Thoennes, their star wide receiver, caught 9 passes for 103 yards. Andrew Scott was another main target for Dingwall, and he had 2 catches for 70 yards.

I have to circle back to button up my last volleyball post before adding to this one.

Here's a video from the first quarter in Week 8 at Brandon on October 15:


Time to pack up for the big game! After a stop at the Trinity Lutheran Church Fall Bazaar in Brooten. That ends at 1 p.m.

**After the first quarter, the score is 0-0.

Halftime: BBE 6, A/BE 0.

 The second half is starting at 15:14.

**This is a nail biter going down to the wire.

FINAL: BBE 6, A/B-E 0.

A new blog post will go up after 5 p m.

Step II: Jaguars earn sweep over Park Christian (VIDEOS)

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team is moving on in the Section 6A playoffs! It never, EVER gets old!

A 3-0 sweep was the result tonight as the Jaguars hosted a quarterfinal match against a very good Park Christian team. In the middle of the opening set, the Jaguars had to fight back from being down 15-13 and 16-14. They later trailed 21-20 before running the table on the Falcons in a 25-21 win.

Here's a video from the middle of tonight's opening set:


And the finish in game one!

Here's the final points scored in game 1 tonight:


And the next two sets...
The Jaguars finished out the sweep with 25-12, 25-17 wins.

Here's video from early in game 2 tonight:


In game two, the Jaguars had an early 5-0 run that started on a kill by Macey Roering and also included 3 kills by Kacey Fischer. The Jaguars led 12-5 on a kill from Mya Worms, and from there, the lead expanded to 18-6 before the Falcons called for a timeout. Park Christian was overwhelmed down the stretch, and the Jaguars essentially named the score in a 25-12 win.

In game three, the Falcons put up a fight early and kept it close with deficits of 6-3 and 9-6. With Makenna Roelike on the service line, the Jaguars rattled off a string of points. Back-to-back ace serves by Roelike made it a 15-6 lead. Kills from Worms and Roering pushed it to 17-7, and the Falcons were unable to come up with much late in the set.

Some light match statistics:
The Jaguars had a strong 24.8 hitting percentage on 117 attacks. Kamie Fischer guided the offense with 36 set assists plus 9 digs and 2 block assists. Kenna Lieser piled up a team-high 15 digs, and she and Macey Roering each had 2 ace serves. Josie Buckentine was 13-of-13 at the service line with one ace, and Roelike also didn't miss at the service line on 9 serving attempts.

More to come. Additional video is uploading, and my match notes are being reviewed! Also, before I get to deep into writing this blog post, I am very anxious to do some research on B-B-E's next opponent.

Park Christian finishes the season 16-9 overall. They were an extremely worthy opponent and challenged the Jaguars with outstanding athleticism that made for a great defense. They did not get the needed touches at the net to slow B-B-E's attack.

Please spread the word! Now it gets even MORE real! The next stop is Kennedy high school at Fergus Falls! NEXT: the Jaguars (22-6) make the 90-mile trip to Ottertail County to face Hillcrest Lutheran Academy on Tuesday, October 28 with first serve at 6 p.m.

The Hillcrest Lutheran Academy Comets won 3-0 against No. 12-seeded Lake Park-Audubon tonight. They tied for first place in the Little Eight Conference with Parkers Prairie. Last season, HLA went 27-4 overall and won the Sub-Section 6A-North title before losing 3-0 to West Central Area in the Section 6A finals.

The Comets have 6 seniors: libero Chloe Walkup, Ruby Walkup, Natalie Maggert, co-captain Kenzie Miller, co-captain Ella Knutson and Maddie Miller.

Here's a terrific post-match interview with senior Ava Lieser; she gave a marvelous review of pre-match rituals for her team:


Thank you, Ava!

No word yet out of Parkers Prairie, where the No. 2-seeded Panthers were hosting Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley. In a noteworthy upset tonight, West Central Area defeated Breckenridge in Breckenridge in a 3-0 sweep. The Knights trailed 23-22 in game two before pulling out a thrilling 26-24 win. They are the No. 6 seed, while the Cowgirls were the No. 3 seed.

Update...
At Parkers Prairie, the Panthers won 3-0 against C-G-B. The Wolverines finish 18-6 overall. They tied for third place with Battle Lake in the Little Eight Conference.

The Section 6A Final Four volleyball brackets are set!
The section final four will be on Tuesday, October 28 at Kennedy High School in Fergus Falls. Let's start rallying for a huge crowd in Fergus that night! It will basically be a home match for Hillcrest Lutheran Academy. We need to show the section teams just what kind of playoff punch that Jaguar Country can bring on the road!

At 6 p.m. on Tuesday: the Jaguars face Hillcrest Lutheran Academy in the first section semifinal. The Comets are very, very good and loaded with great talent in their junior and senior class. Overall, HLA is 23-6. Look for more details in a scouting report this weekend.
At 8 p.m. on Tuesday: No. 2-seeded Parkers Prairie (25-4) will face No. 6-seeded West Central Area (15-14) in the other semifinal.

Area volleyball playoff scores on October 24:
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 3, Paynesville Area 1
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 3, Montevideo 0
Sauk Centre 3, Royalton 0 (Royals finish 20-8 overall)
Frazee 3, Perham 2
Albany 3, Milaca 0
Willmar 3, Mankato East 0
Minnewaska Area 3, St. Cloud Cathedral 0
Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 3, Red Rock Central 0
Rush City 3, Mora 0
PACT Charter 3, Kimball Area 1
Spectrum 3, Maple Lake 1
Eden Valley-Watkins 3, Litchfield 0
New London-Spicer 3, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 1
MACCRAY, Renville County West 1
Swanville 3, Ogilvie 0
Canby 3, Wabasso 0
Central MN Christian 3, Lakeview 1
Minneota 3, Yellow Medicine East 0

GAME NIGHT! Bring on the Falcons! (SPORTS SHOW video!*) (AND MORE)

It's time for another installment of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's sports department's fall sports show. The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team is set to host Park Christian in the Section 6A quarterfinals.

Here's Sports Show No. 8 of the fall season:


More to come. Time to pack up my gear!

UPDATES...
The match started at 19:02. The Jaguars had an 11-8 lead in game one, but the Falcons pushed in front to take leads of 15-13 and 16-14. Final: B-B-E 25, Park Christian 21. The Jaguars scored the last 5 points of the set.

Game two: B-B-E 25, Park Christian 12.

Here's the run in for the Jaguars as they took the court for Park Christian!


More to come in a NEW blog post before 21:00.

Advancing in the playoffs (VIDEO)

While catching glimpses of the Minnesota Vikings stinking up the field in Los Angeles tonight, I've been able to catch up on some sports reporting work. Tonight, I'll turn my attention to the Park Christian volleyball team, who will play our B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team tomorrow night

Here's a video from game 2 last night:


More to come. Additional video is uploading.

In other news...
Click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper to see footage from Big Grove Lutheran Church this past Friday: https://shorturl.at/pYOE3.

Step I: Jaguars sweep Vikings (VIDEOS*)

On Thursday...I won't get back to blogging until later in the day. I've been spending hours under the hood of our family's minivan. It needs to become road-worthy before next week! A second video was added to this blog post. See below.

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team is moving on in the playoffs after a 3-0 sweep on the home court tonight against Pelican Rapids. The Jaguars are 21-6 now as they advance to the Section 6A quarterfinals. The Vikings finish the season 8-18 overall.

Game scores: 25-15, 25-12, 25-14. Video is uploading. A second video will be added on Thursday morning.

UP NEXT: now winners of 6 straight matches, the Jaguars host a section quarterfinal match on Friday this week at 7 p.m. in Brooten. Their opponent will be No. 9-seeded Park Christian, who invaded Wheaton tonight and is probably leaving town by now to head back to Moorhead with a 3-0 sweep. This improves their record to 16-8 overall. Game scores at Wheaton: 25-22, 25-20, 25-22. With this win, Park Christian avenged a 3-2 loss to W/H-N that took place back on September 4 at Park Christian's gym.

Here's a link to see a little postseason girls' tennis coverage: https://shorturl.at/lOW4a.

Here's a long video featuring the National Anthem, player introductions and the first few points scored in game one:


In the Wheaton/Herman-Norcross vs. Park Christian match tonight, the visiting Falcons won the first two sets before facing a stiff challenge in the third set. The Warriors held a 16-11 lead in the third set before Park Christian poured it on down the stretch. After coming back to tie it at 18-18, the Falcons won 25-21 to advance to the next round. Going back about 6 weeks to September 4, W/H-N traveled to Park Christian and won by a 3-2 set margin.

More to come.

In game one tonight, both teams traded punches before the Jaguars turned it on. For B-B-E, the first 5 points scored were all on ace attacks. After the score was tied 4-4, the Jaguars went on a 7-1 run, and the Vikings called a timeout. The Jaguars pushed the lead up to 16-7, and an ace block by Kadynce Haider and an ace serve by Kacey Fischer made it 21-10. After the Jaguars took a 22-11 lead, the Vikings scored 4 straight. Kamie Fischer's tip brought a crucial side out, and Makenna Roelike's ace serve finished the set with a 25-15 score.

In game two, the Vikings kept pace with the Jaguars for just a few points, gaining a 3-3 tie before the Jaguars went on a 7-0 run that began with a kill from Teagan Dingmann. Josie Buckentine then stepped to the service line and fired off two ace serves that were followed by back-to-back kills from Haider. The lead grew to 14-6 and later 17-7. Another kill from Dingmann later ended the set with a score of 25-12.

The Vikings led 2-0 to start game three, but a kill from Mya Worms put the Jaguars ahead 5-4. They never trailed from there, adding a 4-0 run on top of a 7-6 lead. Macey Roering's ace serve made it 14-7, and the Vikings played even up to a score of 19-12. A kill by Dingmann made it 22-13, and the Vikings struggled from there with two late errors handing the Jaguars a 25-14 win.

Match statistics:
The Jaguars had 5 players with 6 or more kills each, and they hit with a strong 27.4 percent hitting figure on 95 attacks. A total of 7 ace serves also helped, with Macey Roering going 14-for-14 at the service line with 4 aces. Kamie Fischer had 34 set assists plus a team-high 13 digs.

Pelican Rapids had 3 regular players out with injury, which greatly hurt their chances tonight. Their starting middle hitter has a fractured wrist and hasn't played in 2 weeks, according to their head coach. The Vikings were scrappy and fought hard defensively, but they were outmatched by B-B-E's taller front line.

*Here's a video from near the beginning of game 2 at Royalton on October 9:


That hot start in game 2 was exactly what the Jaguars needed after they lost game one that night.

Around Section 6A tonight, second-round scores on October 22:
West Central Area 3, Benson 0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-16)
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 3, Underwood 0 (25-23, 25-16, 26-24)
Lake Park-Audubon 3, Henning 1 (25-20, 15-25, 25-19, 25-23)
Breckenridge 3, Hancock 0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-18)
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 3, Battle Lake 1 (25-8, 25-20, 26-28, 25-22)
Parkers Prairie 3, Ortonville 0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-17)

GAME NIGHT! Bring on the Vikings! (VIDEO - SPORTS SHOW!!)

We are navigating into exciting times in Jaguar Country! Playoff season is heating up October. The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team is set to host Pelican Rapids tonight in their playoff opener. It is the second round of the Section 6A tournament. First serve at the elementary school in Brooten is at 7 p.m. B-B-E is the top seed in Section 6A, while Pelican Rapids is seeded No. 16 out of 21 total teams. The Vikings won 3-0 on their home court on Monday this week in their playoff opener against Rothsay.

EXCITING TIMES...here's my 7th sports show of the fall season:


The Vikings (8-17 overall) compete in the tough Heart O' Lakes Conference, which includes Class 1A and 2A schools. In the HOL standings, Pelican Rapids finished 1-7 in a three-way tie for seventh place (10 total teams). Late in the season, they suffered key injuries to both their starting middle hitter and libero. Their reserve players who filled in performed well in a HOL conference match at Breckenridge on October 14. Breckenridge (18-9 overall) is the No. 3 seed in Section 6A and could be a potential future playoff opponent for the Jaguars.

Here's video from the EV-W match on October 11:


Updates to follow!

In game one...the Jaguars pushed a 4-4 tie into an 11-5 lead during the early stages of the opening set. Final: B-B-E 25, Pelican Rapids 15. The Vikings fell behind 22-11 before rallying to close the gap to 22-15. The second set should begin at 19:22.

MORE TO COME in a new blog post, which goes up at 20:40 tonight. It will include the final scores from tonight's match as well as video.

This is football playoff opening night! Updates

It's playoff time for high school football in Minnesota...our team has the No. 2 seed in Section 5A...and therefore, we can enjoy watching games from the comfort of our living rooms! I have the West Central Area vs. Ashby/Brandon-Evansville quarterfinal game pulled up on HUDL right now. It is very convenient to not be in the cold conditions that teams are facing tonight.

Game updates from Brandon - incredible first half plays out!
The Bolts (5-3) took a 6-0 lead in the first quarter. With 10:18 left in the second quarter, WCA (1-7) answered with a touchdown and a 2-point conversion pass. WCA 8, A/B-E 6.

A/B-E then drove down field but was held to 4th-and-2 at the WCA 33 with around 3 minutes left. Quarterback Evan Dingwall ran a terrific play-action move to connect with a well-covered receiver near the goal line. It was an incredible play. The Bolts then punched in a go-ahead touchdown with 2:44 on the clock. On the conversion play, they committed a false start penalty. On the second try, Dingwall rolled right and threw a terrific pass deep to the end zone, where a receiver made a leaping grab. A/B-E 14, WCA 8.

After the kickoff, the Knights started on their own 39 with 2:40 left. On a deep pass, the Bolts committed pass interference, which moved WCA to the A/B-E 46. The Knights advanced to the 28 with under 2 minutes to go, but the 1st down play was blown dead with a penalty with 1:48 to go. The call: holding on WCA.

After the 10 yards were assessed, WCA's quarterback was flushed from the pocket but managed to pull off a running throw to a wide-open receiver on a deep pass. The ball was caught near the 10-yard line, and WCA gained first down at the A/B-E 7-yard line with 1:24 to go.

In a two-tight end formation, WCA ran a draw play, and their quarterback made a move off left tackle for the end zone. He was tackled at the 1-yard line with 58 seconds left and the clock running.

The Knights called a timeout with 43 seconds left. On a quarterback sneak straight up the gut, the Knights scored on the next play with 41.2 seconds to go, but A/B-E stopped the conversion play to keep it at 14-14 tie.

The second half...
WCA started the first series of the third quarter on their 32-yard line. A/B-E came out with fire in the belly and held WCA to a net negative 7 yards on 3 plays. A high punt followed that got a big WCA roll down to the Bolts' 36 with 9:38 left.

A/B-E drove into WCA territory. On 3rd-and-6, Dingwall ran wide right to move the chains. He was pushed out of bounds at the WCA 27. On 2nd down, Dingwall broke loose and ran wide left to the WCA 6-yard line.

A/B-E's senior running back Zach Crane bulldozed his way to the 1-yard line. On 2nd down, Dingwall faked a handoff and ran untouched wide right to the endzone with 6:00 to go. Crane ran off left tackle for the conversion to give A/B-E a 22-14 lead.

A penalty hurt WCA on their next drive, and they later punted on 4th-and-10 from the A/B-E 48-yard line with 5:30 left. The punt got a nice WCA roll, and the Bolts were set up at their own 20-yard line.

On 3rd-and-3, A/B-E's Dingwall ran wide right and was pushed out of bounds at their 41 to move the chains. Now A/B-E had the penalty bug, and they were held to 3rd-and-15. On the third down play, junior receiver Seth Thoennes caught a pick pass and ran past a great block on his defender for a huge gain: first down at the WCA 32 with 2:33 left in the third quarter.

Another A/B-E penalty helped hold them to 3rd-and-10, but Dingwall got free on a run to the right. He slipped a couple tackles right near the first down mark, giving A/B-E a crucial third down conversion as the final seconds were ticking down on the clock. After the chains were set, A/B-E ran the clock down to take a 22-14 lead into the final quarter.

In the fourth quarter...
On 2nd-and-1 at the WCA 10, Dingwall connected with tight end Colton Breitkreutz on a short pass for a touchdown with 11:46 left. I didn't catch who ran in the conversion, but the run appeared to go off right tackle to give the Bolts a 30-14 lead.

WCA later had 1st-and-10 at the 50, but on their next play, they turned the ball over on a lost fumble. A/B-E recovered the pigskin with 9:56 left at their own 42-yard line. The Bolts later had 1st-and-goal at the WCA 4. With 5:16 left, Crane ran in a three-yard touchdown to essentially put it out of reach for the Knights. The conversion run was stuffed a couple yards short for a 36-14 A/B-E lead.

In the last 30 seconds, A/B-E ran back an interception for a Pick 6 touchdown. Final score: Ashby/Brandon-Evansville 42, WCA 14. The rematch is set! The Jaguars host A/B-E on Saturday, October 25 in Belgrade with kickoff at 2 p.m.

In the other Section 5A quarterfinal game tonight...at Browerville, Benson lost 18-16 to see their season end with a 4-5 record. The Tigers (5-4) travel to Swanville this Saturday for their semifinal game.

Belgrade city council meeting is tonight

The Belgrade city council meets in regular session tonight. The meeting agenda can be found here at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's editor's blog: https://lifeinbonanzavalley.blogspot.com/2025/10/belgrade-city-council-agenda.html.

Beyond that, there's lots of other catching-up to do!

Tuesday morning update:
In the first round of the Section 6A volleyball tournament, Pelican Rapids defeated Rothsay last night in a 3-0 sweep. The Vikings are 8-17 overall heading into Wednesday's second-round match against our team. The playoff opener for the Jaguars is Wednesday, October 22 at 7 p.m. in Brooten. Please pass the word!

If the Jaguars (20-6) defeat Pelican Rapids, they will host a Section 6A quarterfinal match on Friday, October 24 at 7 p.m. That match would feature the Jaguars playing either Wheaton/Herman-Norcross or Park Christian. Those two teams play eachother on Wednesday at Wheaton Area high school. On September 4 in a non-conference match, W/H-N traveled to Fargo to Park Christian and won 3-2.

B-B-E Jaguars volleyball nabs #1 seed (VIDEOS**)

It became official this morning: the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team has earned the No. 1 seed in Section 6A.

To open the playoffs, the Jaguars wait for the result of the first-round match between No.-16 seeded Pelican Rapids and the No. 17-seeded Rothsay Tigers. The Vikings compete in the Heart O' Lakes Conference, while Rothsay plays in the Little Eight. Those two teams face eachother in Pelican Rapids at 7 p.m. next Monday, October 20.

The winner between Pelican Rapids and Rothsay will travel to our house for the second round of the Section 6A tournament on Wednesday, October 22. First serve that night is at 7 p.m.

Here's a video with the National Anthem before the Eden Valley-Watkins match:


More to come. The full list of section seeds will be added later.

If the Jaguars win their playoff opener...
If B-B-E wins on October 22, they host a third-round match in the Section 6A tournament on Friday, October 24. The match that night also begins at 7 p.m.

And on Sunday, more content is being added to this blog post.

Here's the end of game 1 against EV-W last Saturday in the makeup match with the Eagles:


The Jaguars won game one by a 25-15 score.

Here's action from early in game two, beginning as the Eagles held an 8-7 lead:


Section 6A volleyball seedings for the fall of 2025; with overall records:
1. B-B-E (20-6)

2. Parkers Prairie (23-4)
3. Breckenridge (18-9)
4. Hillcrest Lutheran Academy (21-6)
5. Henning (17-9)
6. West Central Area (13-14)
7. Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley (17-5)
8. Wheaton/Herman-Norcross (14-9)
9. Park Christian (15-8)
10. Battle Lake (15-9)
11. Benson (10-8)
12. Lake Park-Audubon (12-12)
13. Underwood (9-17)
14. Hancock (10-14)
15. Ortonville (7-13)
16. Pelican Rapids (7-17)
17. Rothsay (5-16)
18. New York Mills (4-23)
19. Brandon-Evansville (5-18)
20. Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal (3-21)
21. Ashby (0-22)

Here's an advertisement for The Spot in Belgrade...
The public is invited to join others at The Spot in downtown Belgrade for the Minnesota Vikings game on Sunday, October 19. Read the details here: https://shorturl.at/j4bLl.

A few additional web articles have been added to the newspaper's website: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. The most recent one added on Sunday night included information on the recent Color Run fundraiser.

Two days "off" (VIDEOS*)

I didn't quite do that, but I took essentially 1 1/2 days off from most newspaper work. In the midst of that, my family enjoyed the joys that come with a successful deer harvest! Now late Friday night, I'll get back in the saddle with sports blogging. The Big Grove Lutheran Church fall supper and auction was highly successful! It was an honor for me to be able to take in the entire auction, start to finish.

Tomorrow, Saturday, we get our first look at the volleyball playoff map. We know the Jaguars will have back-to-back home matches to begin the Section 6A tournament. Based on what I see with the QRF rankings, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team (20-6) will host either Ortonville or Rothsay in their playoff opener, which is on Wednesday, October 22 in Brooten.

Here's one of my videos recorded at Big Grove Lutheran church tonight:


The Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper bid on lefse and earned one bag of the Norwegian delicacy for $45 for one bag.

Over a day later than I usually do this, I finally updated the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's website: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com.

Here's part of the postgame huddle in Brandon on Wednesday night:


The Jaguars held practice on Thursday morning and reviewed game tape and received their marching orders from the coaching staff for the next week. They have a full week of practice before their playoff opener. It will be fun!

Don't forget: the Glacial Ridge A.B.A.T.E. hotdish contest is from 3 to 6 p.m. at Marcia's Bar and Grill in Brooten on Saturday. The full set of details was on page 1 of this week's newspaper.

Now it's Saturday...the volleyball team earned the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. No surprise there. The full seeding has been posted. I'll get to that later in the morning in a NEW blog post.

Friday Night Lights VIII: Jaguars bring home ugly win, and SEEDS are IN!!! (VIDEOS)

BREAKING news the next morning: the Jaguars have earned the No. 2 seed for the second straight year in the playoffs! Read more on that below.

They just about blew it, but in the end, the B-B-E Jaguars football team made the necessary plays to squeeze out a huge road win tonight at Brandon-Evansville high school in Brandon. They displayed a tremendous level of heart on the game's final play to thwart a potential game-tying conversion attempt and preserve the lead.

After posting a 18-0 halftime lead, the Jaguars held on for a 30-28 win against Ashby/Brandon-Evansville to close out the regular season. They take a 5-3 record into the Section 5A playoffs, which starts next Tuesday with the quarterfinals that will include action between the No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6-seeded teams. The top two seeds earn quarterfinal-round byes. It goes without saying that Upsala/Swanville Area (7-1) is the No. 1 seed. They completed the Mid-Northwest Gold District schedule with a 7-0 record for sole possession of the title.

This is rather remarkable. The Jaguars have finished in a five-way tie for second place with a 4-3 district record. I'll write more about the standings tomorrow.

Quick strikes by A/B-E in the final minute, aided by a successful onside kick in the last 10 seconds, helped the Bolts score 12 points to narrow a 30-16 deficit to 30-28. They scored last on a 66-yard pass play with 3 seconds to go. On the two-point conversion play, Noah Kampsen earned a hurry on quarterback Evan Dingwall, whose pass fell just in front of a receiver in the endzone. The ball hit the sod, and all the Jaguars had left to accomplish was recovering the final onside kick (which they did).

The Jaguars piled up 224 rushing yards and held a commanding lead in time of possession tonight. Quarterback Aiden Mueller was 10-of-16 for 94 yards with one touchdown. He also had 6 carries for 27 rushing yards.

A/B-E's Evan Dingwall was 10-of-22 for 153 yards with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. He was 9-of-21 for 87 yards until the final touchdown pass with 3 seconds to go. The Bolts take a 4-4 record into the playoffs. They are looking at a likely No. 3 or No. 4 seed. Honestly, I don't know who would be a tougher opponent for the section semifinals: Benson or A/B-E. Yes, Benson throttled the Bolts in Week 3 at Benson. That was a long time ago. The way things have been going lately, I'd ignore most of the scores from the first half of the season.

Video is uploading. I currently can't tally up the final district standings, because the Minnesota-Scores.net website has incorrect scores posted. As of 11:14 p.m., they show that Benson lost 6-0 at Long Prairie tonight, which can't be right. Benson, A/B-E and B-B-E should all finish in a tie for third place in the district standings with 4-3 records.

Here's the last video I recorded during the game, with A/B-E's final conversion play shown:


Here's a video from early in the first quarter tonight:


How the first half of the game played out...
The Bolts had a tough time out of the gate and had a net gain of no yards on their first 2 plays. A questionable facemask penalty gave them a first down, but their next 3 plays earned a net loss of 3 yards. With 7:57 left, they punted on 4th-and-13 from B-B-E's 49-yard line.

The Jaguars started their first drive on their own 33. Lance Radermacher's 10-yard catch was followed by a 48-yard run by Jesse Niklaus. That long burst gave the Jaguars first down on the A/B-E 11. Three plays later, Niklaus scored on an 8-yard touchdown run. With 4:38 left, the Jaguars had a 6-0 lead.

A/B-E's Dingwall converted one first down for the Bolts on their second series, but the drive quickly fell apart and ended with a punt with 37 seconds left in the 1st quarter. Ultimately, A/B-E ran 6 plays, had one 5-yard penalty all for a net gain of just 2 yards from scrimmage. B-B-E's second series started on their own 48-yard line. They ran 3 plays to close out the first quarter. Kaden Kollman caught a 27-yard pass on the first play of the second quarter. Radermacher ran a 2-yard touchdown with 11:49 left for a 12-0 lead.

Here's a video featuring Lance Radermacher's touchdown:


You have GOT to respect what can play out in a 48-minute football game. In that juncture, when Radermacher scored on that two-yard plunge, A/B-E seemed flat-footed and out of sync. All that changed after halftime.

The Jaguars scored their third touchdown on their third drive of the game and the first half. Austin Berge's 8-yard touchdown catch with 2:55 to go gave the Jaguars an 18-0 lead.

You can watch Berge's touchdown reception take place in this video:


In the second half...
On their second possession of the second half and sixth of the game, A/B-E scored on a 5-yard touchdown with 3:09 left in the third quarter. A conversion pass made it an 18-8 score. Defensively, A/B-E was stuffing the box, using as many as 9 players on the front line, to halt B-B-E's running game.

Quarterback Aiden Mueller went to the air to mix it up, and the Jaguars answered on their next possession. This drive covered 59 yards and started with a 15-yard catch by Kameron Hiltner. Four plays later, the Jaguars scored on Mueller's 5-yard quarterback run with 1:22 left; the lead was 24-8. Early in the 4th quarter, the Bolts scored with 8:22 left in the game. On the conversion, Dingwall ran it in himself to cut B-B-E's lead down to 24-16.

The Jaguars scored with 1:41 left in the game on Noah Kampsen's 3-yard run. Now the Jaguars held a 30-16 lead before the Bolts scored on two short possessions in the game's final minute.

With 1:40 left in the game, A/B-E enjoyed a 48-yard kickoff return to set up a short field. A/B-E then scored on a 29-yard pass to narrow the score to 30-22 with 10 second left. The Bolts then recovered an onside kick to get possession at the B-B-E 40-yard line. It was a low kick, and the ball rolled on the ground for about 15 yards before a Bolts player landed on it. They punched in the final touchdown on a 30-yard pass with just 3.3 seconds left on the clock.

After cutting the score to 30-28, the Bolts attempted a final onside kick, but Lance Radermacher curled around the ball to give B-B-E possession and the win.

Defensively speaking...
Tyler Myers and Noah Kampsen anchored the defense with 5 solo tackles each; Kampsen also had 6 assists, and Myers had a quarterback sack. Numerous Jaguars had 4 solos each: Nate Geer, Austin Berge, Taylor Pieper, Jesse Niklaus and Eli Wold.

This is all I can post for now. I have to help prepare family members for youth deer hunting tomorrow!

A win is a win! This was huge. The Jaguars will end up anywhere from the No. 2 to the No. 4 seed. We won't know until mid-morning tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Breaking, breaking, breaking news!
The B-B-E Jaguars have earned the No. 2 playoff seed for the second straight year. This is absolutely incredible! They graduated 16 seniors from their 8-2 section finalist team of 2024, but they regrouped and forged a 5-3 record and grabbed the No. 2 seed once again. They've now been the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the playoffs for five straight seasons. I got a lot to say about that! I think right now, the biggest message is: don't let it get to your head. They have a LOT of work to do between now and the playoff opener. The No. 2 seed does not matter if you are not prepared for the invasion that's coming in a section semifinal match up.

When is the playoff opener? That's a good question right now, as I'm seeing massively conflicting information about Long Prairie-Grey Eagle. The playoffs begin either on Tuesday, October 21 or on Saturday, October 25. Stay tuned. (I found their school's website posting that says they are forfeiting the rest of their season. This means that B-B-E gets a first-round bye in the playoffs.)

2025 Section 5A playoff seedings:
1. Upsala/Swanville Area
2. B-B-E
3. Ashby/Brandon-Evansville
4. Browerville
5. Benson
6. West Central Area
7. LP-GE


While nothing is official until it's on the MSHSL website, based on all my information, B-B-E will open the playoffs on Saturday, October 25 at 2 p.m. in Belgrade. They will play either Ashby/Brandon-Evansville or West Central Area. As of 11 a.m. on Thursday, this has gone official! B-B-E has a first-round quarterfinal bye in the Section 5A playoffs. Woo Hoo! While I love football games, this bye is important.

The game to scout is in Brandon on Tuesday, October 21, for the Section 5A quarterfinals between host Ashby/Brandon-Evansville and their neighbors to the west, the West Central Area Knights. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. The other quarterfinal game also starts at 6 p.m. that night, and that game is in Browerville with Benson as the opponent.

Mid-Northwest Gopher District scores in Week 8 on October 15:
Browerville 12, Maple Lake 6 (a rather interesting upset win by the Tigers! They scored with 20 seconds left to earn the incredible win)
Benson 56, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 6 (this was a game with JV players)
Upsala/Swanville Area 52, West Central Area 6

Area football scores in Week 8 on October 15:
Minnewaska Area 61, Royalton 0
Breckenridge 46, Menagha 8
Little Falls 9, St. Cloud Apollo 8
Dassel-Cokato 38, Litchfield 8
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 42, Montevideo 6
Osakis 30, Melrose Area 12
Eden Valley-Watkins 30, Paynesville Area 0
Pierz 62, Milaca 6
Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 62, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 0
Holdingford 57, Sauk Centre 0

Willmar 49, Big Lake 16
Kimball Area 44, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 0
Lakeview 26, MACCRAY 6
Minneota 34, Dawson-Boyd 3

GAME NIGHT! In Douglas County

The biggest game of the regular season is tonight. The stakes are HUGE for both teams, as the B-B-E Jaguars football team travels to northwestern Douglas County to face Ashby/Brandon-Evansville in a Mid-Northwest Gold District game.

The Bolts are 4-3 overall and currently hold the No. 2 ranking in Section 5A. They built a head of mid-season steam with a 3-game winning streak before being cooled off at Upsala/Swanville Area (in Upsala) last week in a 44-0 loss.

The third-year pairing of Ashby and Brandon-Evansville has featured a team built around sophomore quarterback Evan Dingwall. He is their leading rusher with 487 yards on the ground with 45-of-85 for 584 yards passing.

GAME UPDATES to follow here after 7:30 p.m...

HALFTIME: BBE 18, A/BE 0.

After the third quarter: BBE 24, ABE 8.

Final: BBE 30, ABE 28.

Fall theater group is rocking it...and volleyball sweeps! CMC champs! (VIDEOS!*)

The 40 students who are part of the fall play at B-B-E high school's Olson Auditorium are rocking it. The show is just a little over 4 weeks away. We are fast and furiously trying to promote it. That effort will increase week by week. The fall play is "The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon" with show dates of November 14, 15, 16. The first two shows are 7 p.m. affairs, and the Sunday show is a 2 p.m. matinee.

Here's a short video from rehearsal last Friday:


As you can see, that isn't an actual rehearsal video. Rather, it's a video clip during a break in rehearsal. Director LaMont likes to keep things light-hearted, and she does an excellent job of it!

And another video from last Friday at Olson Auditorium:


I'll seek out the online link for ticket purchases.

In volleyball news...
The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team, which was ranked No. 7 in the latest Class 1A state QRF rankings, has finished the Central Minnesota Conference schedule with a perfect 7-0 record! They wrapped up sole possession of the CMC title with a 25-14, 25-19, 25-13 sweep tonight at Maple Lake.

B-B-E's offense featured a total of 99 attacks, 36 for kills with a 22.2 percent hitting efficiency. They also piled on 8 ace serves with 40 digs and 6 block assists.

The Jaguars take a 20-6 record into the Sub-Section 6A-South playoffs, which will begin next Wednesday, October 22 at home in Brooten with a 7 p.m. first serve.

Maple Lake finished the CMC schedule with a 2-5 record. They are 11-16 overall heading into the Section 5AA playoffs.

Here's Coach Borgerding in a postmatch interview after the Jaguars beat EV-W on Saturday:


Coach Borgerding's teams have both won CMC titles. Last season, in her first year as head coach, the Jaguars shared the CMC title with Maple Lake with 6-1 records each.

Central MN Conference scores on October 14:
Paynesville Area 3, Holdingford 2
Royalton 3, Eden Valley-Watkins 2

Volleyball team sweeps Eden Valley-Watkins (VIDEOS)

In a makeup Central Minnesota Conference match today on the home court, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team made quick work of a tough, scrappy Eden Valley-Watkins squad in a 3-0 sweep. They improve to 19-6 overall going into the last match of the regular season, which is next Tuesday at Maple Lake.

Stellar hitting efficiecy fueled the win, as the Jaguars hit at 26.7 percent on 90 attacks. They also had 7 ace serves and a combined 10 block assists.

Here's video from the end of today's match:


Game one started out with the Jaguars bashing the Eagles and taking an early 6-1 lead. The Eagles improved their passing out of a timeout and came back to force a 7-7 tie. With Macey Roering serving, the Jaguars rattled off a 8-0 run to build a 21-10 lead featuring back-to-back kills by Teagan Dingmann plus two ace serves by Roering.

An ace block by Kadynce Haider gave the Jaguars a 25-15 win.

The remaining game scores were 25-22, 25-14. In game two, the Eagles took leads of 14-10 and 17-13 before the Jaguars fought back. Back-to-back kills by Roering tied the set at 18-18. An ace block by Kamie Fischer gave the Jaguars a 20-19 lead, and Kamie's kill made it 25-22 to complete the 12-5 run and give the Jaguars a 2-0 set lead.

Here's a video from the latter part of game two today against EV-W:


The Eagles (9-14 overall) had been playing terrific as of late, and they were winners of 3 out of the last 4 matches. In the three wins were two sweeps over Redwood Valley and Kimball Area.

I need to get to Crow River church now! They are likely running low on some of their soup supply. The auction starts at 7 p.m.! Updates to come after 9 p.m. here. I also have some research to do on the Ashby/Brandon-Evansville football team.

Here's a video from game 2 at Royalton:


Here's video featuring the last stretch of game 2 at Royalton:


I'm still working through a huge backlog of video from the Royalton volleyball match and the Benson football game. It is going to take a little more digging to get out from under this.

Central MN Conference standings on October 11:
1. B-B-E (6-0)
2. Royalton (5-1)
3. Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City (4-2)
4. (tied) Eden Valley-Watkins, Maple Lake, Paynesville Area (2-4 each)
7. (tie) Holdingford, Kimball Area (1-4)

Friday Night Lights VII: a Lutheran bowling party, a funeral viewing and a forfeit win

At Parents Night football in October 2019, senior Justin Savage stands with his mom, Heather, and his little brother, Carson. His little sister, Elaina, is also partially seen.

In a nutshell.

The B-B-E Jaguars football team earned a 7-0 forfeit win against Long Prairie-Grey Eagle for their Week Seven match up. The forfeit was announced earlier in the week by Long Prairie-Grey Eagle due to not having enough non-injured and/or eligible players. This moves the Jaguars to 4-3 on the season.

NEXT: the Jaguars travel to Brandon next Wednesday, October 15 to face Ashby/Brandon-Evansville. It can be rated as no less than a playoff game. The stakes are HUGE. Kickoff at Brandon-Evansville high school's stadium is at 7 p.m.

The Big Grove-Crow River-Grace Lutheran church Free Spirit youth group hosted a free pizza and bowling party at Lucky Shots in Brooten for all 7th-12th grade students. The four lanes were packed the whole night, and about half of the football team was there enjoying time together.

Here's the scene at Lucky Shots Bowling Alley in Brooten right about the time when the stadium lights would have been shut off had a football game been played in Belgrade:


The visitation for Justin Savage was held at the funeral home in Belgrade last night. It drew a large number of past and current students. I attended towards the end and was fortunate to get quality time visiting with the family and with Justin's mom, Heather. It's all part of the healing process, but it's still difficult.

REMEMBER! Today...the volleyball team hosts Eden Valley-Watkins with the preliminary matches starting at 3 p.m.

While bowling at Lucky Shots, word broke among the football players - who spread the word to me - that Browerville earned a giant upset win over Benson in their Week Seven game. The Tiger led 8-6 at halftime, and the final score was 8-6. This puts the No. 2 seed in Section 5A back on the table for the Jaguars. I'll get to that later.

Mid-Northwest Gold District scores in Week 7 on October 10:
B-B-E 7, LP-GE 0 (a forfeit win)
Browerville 8, Benson 6
Maple Lake 46, West Central Area 16
Upsala/Swanville Area 44, Ashby/Brandon-Evansville 0

Area football scores in Week 7 on October 10:
Breckenridge 65, New York Mills 6
Cedar Mountain 57, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 7
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 66, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 6
Osakis 34, St. Cloud Cathedral 21
Hancock 32, Rothsay 12
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 28, Watertown-Mayer 21
Alexandria 49, Brainerd 18
Willmar 55, Detroit Lakes 7
Parkers Prairie 54, Wadena-Deer Creek 6
Dawson-Boyd 42, Lakeview 15
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 54, Underwood 6
Redwood Valley 47, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 0
Annandale 56, Milaca 0
Minnewaska Area 34, Montevideo 6
Litchfield 62, Sauk Centre 7
Border West 56, Ortonville 6
Albany 22, New London-Spicer 14 (at Albany; what a game that had to have been! Albany is the No. 10-ranked team in Class 3A by QRF)
Holdingford 61, St. Cloud Apollo 8
Melrose Area 40, Little Falls 7