Friday Night Lights VI: Jaguars give 200-percent effort in close Homecoming loss (VIDEOS added**)

Two things stand out as I settle in and start reviewing Homecoming game notes tonight. On the home gridiron, the B-B-E Jaguars football team gave a 200-percent effort against a bigger, deeper Benson Braves team across the entire 48 minutes of play on Tackle Cancer night. Not a soul in the stadium walked away with the ability to say one team outplayed the other. For the entire 48 minutes, a terrific football game played out. Yes, Benson came to play, but in spite of that 200-percent effort by the Jaguars, the Braves capitalized on a plus-three figure in the turnover department to claim a 24-14 win and improve to 4-2 overall.

The outcome was in doubt until the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. For Benson, this was their fourth straight win. In that span, this was far and away their toughest of all four. Benson has a terrific team with a roster of just 28 players. B-B-E's official roster is 22. In tonight's game, the Jaguars had 20 players dressed, while Benson had 26 players suited up. Benson has 7 seniors.

Four uncharacteristic-like turnovers cost the Jaguars a shot at ending a Homecoming game skid. They've now fallen in three straight Homecoming games, with these latest two being by close margins. Last year, Maple Lake won 14-12 on a night when both the Irish and Jaguars entered the game with identical 4-1 records.

Turnovers are part of the game, and turnovers happen in football. The tell-tale sign is how a team recovers from them, and on this night, the Jaguars almost overcame four turnovers. (Almost) A three turnover game may very well have had a different outcome. Nevertheless, how blessed are we in Jaguar Country! We are extremely blessed to have a group of football players who study and work their tails off while competing at a high level. This continues to be far and away my favorite B-B-E football team. The heart and stamina which they display is something I'll never forget as long as I live.

As for Tackle Cancer night, it was quite special to get a front-row seat to the pregame coin flip. Two guests of the coin flip huddle were Bentley Deters and Easton Rood. Easton is an elementary student at B-B-E who is also a cancer survivor. Bentley Deters is a member of the football team. His mom, Joslyn, is currently receiving cancer treatments. Funds raised tonight are earmarked for the Deters family.

Next: the Jaguars (3-3) have a short week while preparing for their MEA week game. They travel to Long Prairie-Grey Eagle next Wednesday, October 14. In their Week 6 game, the Thunder were defeated 43-0 by West Central Area in Long Prairie. I am sure that WCA was smarting and in a bad mood after getting thrashed by Benson last week at their home stadium in Barrett. They no doubt took out that frustration on LP-GE tonight.

In the Mid-Northwest Gold District standings, the Jaguars hold a 2-3 record and have fallen into a tie for fifth place with Maple Lake. Benson has control of second place with a 4-1 record. State-ranked Upsala/Swanville Area continues in first place with a 5-0 record (6-0 overall). Their district winning streak dates back to October of 2023.

NOTE: this blog post will be fully updated on Saturday. It probably won't be finished until later in the afternoon. The day of Saturday, October 10 is going to be super, super busy.

Here's a video featuring action in the second quarter tonight:


More to come. Video is uploading.

*Here's the final minutes of the second quarter tonight:


If the Jaguars could have narrowed the score to 16-12 or even 16-14 at halftime, the outcome could have been a win. Who knows what would have played out in the second half. It wasn't quite as difficult as last week's loss, but this Homecoming loss was a really tough one to swallow.

Scoring summary:
With 11:54 left in the second quarter, Benson scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak. Adrian Young ran in the two-point conversion. Benson 8, B-B-E 0.
With 6:50 left in the second quarter, Benson scored on Connor Stine's 42-yard carry. Young carried in the conversion play. Benson 16, B-B-E 0.
With 3:54 left in the second quarter, B-B-E scored on a one-yard carry by Noah DeRoo. The two-point conversion pass was incomplete. Benson 16, B-B-E 6.
With 7:38 left in the fourth quarter, B-B-E scored on DeRoo's 10-yard reception. Aiden Mueller ran the quarterback sneak for the conversion play. Benson 16, B-B-E 14.
With 2:13 left in the fourth quarter, Benson scored on Young's 3-yard carry. Ethan Tolifson caught the conversion pass. Benson 24, B-B-E 14.

The dagger...which all but sealed the game's outcome: after Benson scored a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, their kickoff team came up big with a fumble recovery. With just over 2 minutes to go, the Braves ran the ball once. On second down and third downs, Benson quarterback Darin Hippe took a knee in a classy move by the Braves to close out the game.

How the first half played out tonight:
Benson's game-opening kickoff sailed out of bounds as the Braves entered the game knowing B-B-E's kickoff return game was a threat. This set up the Jaguars at their own 40 for their first drive. Three run plays converted a first down, with Noah DeRoo's carry for 5 yards getting the Jaguars to the Benson 48 and moving the chains. Austin Berge's 7-yard catch had the Jaguars moving, but two plays later, the Braves earned a tackle for a four-yard loss to bring 4th-and-6. With 8:17 left, B-B-E punted on Benson's 44.

Benson started their first drive of the game on their own 7-yard line. On the second play, running back Young carried 11 yards. Later, on 3rd-and-7, DeRoo and Aiden Mueller earned assisted tackles with a one-yard loss. With 4:45 left, Benson punted on their own 36.

B-B-E began their second drive on their own 35. A Benson holding penalty helped on a 3rd-and-12 play. On the 3rd-and-2, Lance Radermacher carried for 10 yards to get to Benson's 47. Disaster struck, however, when Benson recovered a lost fumble on a failed pitch. With 2:13 left in the opening quarter, Benson had the ball on B-B-E's 48.

Benson's second drive of the game used 7 plays to cover the distance as the first quarter clock ran to zero. On Benson's first play of the second quarter, quarterback Darin Hippe scored on a one-yard touchdown carry. With 11:54 left, the Braves had an 8-0 lead.

The Jaguars had a good start to their 3rd series of the half when DeRoo carried for 11 yards on the first play. Benson later helped with an offsides penalty, and DeRoo converted 3rd down to get 1st-and-10 on Benson's 39. Two plays later, however, the Jaguars coughed up possession on another lost fumble. With 9:43 left before halftime, Benson had the ball for their third series of the half on their own 46. Young converted 4th-and-2 to get first down at B-B-E's 42. On the next play, Connor Stine ran in the 42-yard touchdown. With 6:50 left, Benson led 16-0.

B-B-E quickly went 3-and-out with just 4 yards gained on 3 plays. Their punt put Benson back in the saddle with 6 minutes to go. On the second play of the next drive, however, Benson lost possession on a fumble near midfield. With 5:30 left, B-B-E started on their own 41-yard line with their fifth possession of the game. On the third play, Berge hauled in a 31-yard reception. On the next play, Aiden Mueller ran for 21 yards and nearly scored before getting tackled just shy of the left pylon. DeRoo then punched in a touchdown on 1st-and-goal. With 3:54 left, the Jaguars trailed 16-6.

Benson's next series, which started on their own 35 after the kickoff, resulted in a three-and-out and a punt. Berge had a 20-yard punt return that gave B-B-E outstanding field position. With 2:14 left, they began their next drive on their 49. Kaden Kollman caught an 11-yard pass on the first play. DeRoo then ran for 13 yards, and Mueller ran for 7 yards to get to Benson's 20. Two plays later, with about 90 seconds to go, Mueller converted 3rd down with a 9-yard carry. Three plays later, the Jaguars had 4th-and-6 with about 30 seconds to go. Their final play of the half resulted in an incomplete pass to bring halftime.

How the second half played out tonight at Homecoming:
Benson opened the third quarter with possession and their sixth overall drive of the game. After starting on their own 23, they were held to 3rd-and-4 before Adrian Young converted with a 7-yard run. Back-to-back tackles for losses brought 3rd-and-15, but the Braves had a 14-yard catch to bring a situation to gamble. The Braves converted 4th-and-1 with Young's 18-yard carry into B-B-E territory. B-B-E's defense once again had two straight big plays that made it 3rd-and-13. The defense continued to shine by causing back-to-back incomplete passes. On fourth down, Mason Douvier earned a knock down to give the Jaguars the ball with 5:49 left at their own 38.

The Jaguars started their first series of the second half with a bang, as DeRoo hauled in a 24-yard pass. Two plays later, DeRoo caught a nine-yard pass for first down on Benson's 28. On the next play, Benson's Bentley Ascheman intercepted a pass but was immediately tackled at Benson's 5-yard line. The Braves had a false start penalty, but two plays later, they moved the chains with a 10-yard run. The next play brought a 15-yard gain on the ground, and the Braves continued moving the ball with short gains before getting first down on their own 42 and then advancing into B-B-E territory as the third quarter closed out.

Near midfield, the Braves lost four yards to start the fourth quarter with Aiden Mueller earning a tackle for a loss. Benson ran the ball twice for a total of 2 yards and then punted on 4th-and-12.

With 9:39 left in the game, the Jaguars started their eighth series of the game on their own 39 in search of their second score. Another big gain on a DeRoo reception moved the Jaguars 17 yards downfield on the drive's second play. Benson held B-B-E to 3rd-and-7, but Lance Radermacher came up big with a 29-yard reception as he bulled his way down the left side for 1st-and-goal at the Benson 10. On 2nd-and-10, DeRoo ran in a touchdown off left tackle. Aiden Mueller ran a quarterback sneak to draw the Jaguars within 16-14 with 7:38 left.

Great kickoff coverage by the Jaguars set up Benson at the 20. The Braves ran the ball 6 times to gain 21 yards. On the seventh play, the Braves ran the ball 9 yards to get first down at the 50. Elliot Spanier's tackle on the next play gave up just 2 yards. On the next play, Benson's Young broke a handful of tackles while running down the right sideline to B-B-E's five-yard line.

With 2:30 left, B-B-E's Coach Moscho called a timeout with Benson having 1st-and-goal. On 3rd-and-goal, Young carried in a three-yard touchdown with 2:13 left. Sophomore Ethan Tolifson caught the conversion pass from Hippe for a 24-14 score.

Next, the dagger was delivered in B-B-E's hopes with the lost fumble on the ensuing kickoff.

Some light game statistics:
The Jaguars continue to play outstanding high school football. They racked up nearly 250 yards of offense, which is remarkable playing with such a short roster. Statistics show 245 yards gained on 49 plays. For Benson, they had 317 yards on 60 plays. Benson managed to gain 317 yards with just two completed passes, a 14-yard catch and a 13-yard catch. The Braves had just one lost fumble compared to three by the Jaguars.

I continue to be amazed at B-B-E's diversity on offense. Quarterback Aiden Mueller was 13-of-24 for 143 yards while connecting with five different receivers tonight.

DON'T forget! Saturday night this weekend: the Crow River Lutheran supper and auction (4 to 9 p.m.) plus the Elrosa Fire Department steak fry (4 to 8 p.m.)! Please spread the word.

Mid-Northwest Gold District Week 6 football scores on October 9:
Ashby/Brandon-Evansville 16, Browerville 8
West Central Area 43, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0
Upsala/Swanville Area 55, Maple Lake 12

Area Week 6 football scores on October 9:
Menahga 46, New York Mills 6
Pierz 79, St. Cloud Apollo 7
Dawson-Boyd 28, MACCRAY 7
Russel-Tyler-Ruthton 47, BOLD 0
Royalton 36, Osakis 34
Hancock 58, Fertile-Beltrami 8
Albany 35, Little Falls 20
Dassel-Cokato 57, Montevideo 6
Litchfield 62, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 35
Alexandria 41, Bemidji 21
Minnewaska Area 37, Sauk Centre 16
Minneota 47, Lac qui Parle Valley 8
Willmar 62, St. Cloud Tech 14
Paynesville Area 26, St. Cloud Cathedral 7
Melrose Area 38, Holdingford 27
Eden Valley-Watkins 54, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 8
New London-Spicer 47, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 21
Redwood Valley 38, Kimball Area 18
Red Rock Central 27, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 24
Canby 21, Lakeview 20
Hutchinson 37, Detroit Lakes 12
Maple River 47, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 14
Menagha 46, New York Mills 6