Week 3 football was tough (VIDEOS)

I have never seen a coaching staff get as much out of a team as I've seen this fall with the B-B-E Jaguars football team. It is truly remarkable where we sit after the first three weeks of the season. Yes, it's true that multiple difficult games are in front of the Jaguars. At this point, to hold a 2-1 record is a huge achievement!

For the Week 3 contest, the Jaguars hosted No. 4-ranked Upsala/Swanville Area. B-B-E's roster features 22 players, and two of them are on the injured reserve list. The Patriots have 48 on their roster, including 19 seniors.

It took at least an hour until the game was over before I sat down at Lucky Shots Bowling Alley in Brooten and took my first look at the Associated Press football state rankings. My! Oh my! Little did I know that after the first two weeks, the Jaguars were sitting in a tie for 11th place! Goodness! Meanwhile, U/SA was a Top 5 team.

Here's a video from the second quarter against U/SA:


Here's another second quarter video:


More to come after I review more game notes. Additional video is uploading.

How the second half played out against Upsala/Swanville Area...
With a 22-7 lead, the Patriots opened the third quarter with their 7th drive of the game while starting at their 37-yard line. On the first play, U/SA gained 12 yards. On the next play, with first down at their own 49, U/SA ran for one yard with B-B-E's Aiden Mueller earning a solo tackle. The Jaguar defense did the same thing on the next play, bringing a 3rd-and-8 try. U/SA quarterback William Schafer had a 4-yard run. At B-B-E's 45, the Patriots converted a 4th-and-4 try. A 13-yard run came next, with Austin Berge making a touchdown-saving tackle at the 18. On the next play, Baron Breitbach and Noah DeRoo earned assisted tackles with a one-yard loss. B-B-E's defense held and stopped U/SA on 4th down at the 10-yard line. With 6:49 left in the third quarter, the Jaguars had the ball.

B-B-E's drive gained 4 yards on 3 plays, and they punted with 5:20 left. This gave U/SA the ball at B-B-E's 46. The Patriots had more momentum at this point than when the 3rd quarter started, and they got a 21-yard reception on the first play. Three run plays followed that gave U/SA first down at B-B-E's 13. At about the 3:40 mark, Mason Douvier came up with an interception, which he returned to B-B-E's 20. After three straight incomplete passes, however, the Jaguars punted with 3:26 left.

U/SA's ninth possession of the game started on their 47. Shafer had back-to-back quarterback runs, the first for 7 yards and the next with no gain. On 3rd-and-3, U/SA's junior running back Dalton Welinski had a 5-yard run. The 4th play of the drive was on 1st-and-10 at B-B-E's 41. Senior running back Carson Primus ran for 13 yards. With 28 yards to go, the Patriots had to battle both a penalty bug and a toughening Jaguar defense. A total of 7 plays and 2 penalties later, U/SA scored on a 4-yard run by Primus with 11:34 left in the fourth quarter. The 2-point conversion was stuffed, making it a 28-7 score.

B-B-E's 9th drive of the game was set up by a nice kickoff return by Douvier to the 43-yard line. A 15-yard catch by Grayson Rooney converted 3rd-and-9 to advance the Jaguars to U/SA's 41. A 2-yard run by Noah DeRoo plus two U/SA penalties advanced the Jaguars to the 12-yard line. On 2nd down, Berge hauled in a 7-yard catch. Two plays later, the Jaguars turned the ball over on downs at the 5-yard line.

The final minutes of the 4th quarter saw U/SA attempting to march downfield. They faced a Jaguar defense determined to keep them from scoring again. At the 5-minute mark, Welinski's 11-yard run advanced the Patriots to their own 42. Later, with just over a minute to go, the Patriots took a knee in a classy move to wind out the game.

In volleyball news...
Tonight, I glanced at the latest QRF rankings in Class 1A. Our B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team has climbed from No. 6 in the Section 6A standings to No. 3 out of 20 teams. On the QRF scale, they are rated 29th out of 145 teams. Sitting far above them in the section rankings are Underwood (8th in the state rankings) and Henning (19th in the rankings). B-B-E's firepower will be put to a major test tomorrow, when the Jaguars travel the short trip north to face Highway 71 rival Sauk Centre. The Mainstreeters are having a terrific season and are currently 11-2 overall while on an 8-match winning streak.