Friday Night Lights III: Jaguars WIN

The Jaguars gather on the north end of Kimball's field after earning their first win of the season, while Coach Gossen talks about the game. Both Gossen and Coach Moscho stressed to the team that as great as it was to win, they had a lot of work to do if they want to continue improving this season.

Down 6-0 at halftime, the Jaguars football team knew they had to turn it on in the second half or go home with an 0-3 record. And turn it on they did while scoring the last 14 points of the game in a 14-6 win. The Jaguars ran for 239 yards on the ground.

With 6:05 left in the first quarter, the Cubs scored on a 32-yard pass reception by Jarred Merchant. Their PAT kick sailed wide left to make it 6-0 Kimball. The Jaguars had numerous drives going in the first half but continually shot themselves in the foot, mostly due to three lost fumbles before halftime. They were 0-for-5 on third-down conversions in the first half.

B-B-E tied it up on a spectacular 66-yard touchdown run by Tanner Heinsius with 3:24 left in the third quarter. The PAT kick was short, making it 6-6 as the fourth quarter approached. It wasn't much later in the game when Tommy Cebulla busted loose while following great blocking and scoring on a 49-yard touchdown run with 9:28 left in the fourth quarter. Heinsius ran wide left for the two-point conversion, lowering his helmet against a Cubs tackler at the goal line to make it 14-6.

The Jaguars made countless great plays in the second half. One that stood out in my mind was on one of the game's last plays while the Cubs had a last-ditch effort with the clock winding down. Their star wide receiver, Merchant, caught a pass near the sideline on a second-down play with nine yards to go and under two minutes left. He appeared to try to get out of bounds, but B-B-E's Josey Tensen ran up and had a spectacular "takedown" move on the much larger Merchant to keep him in bounds and the clock running. Hey, Josey, Coach Vos would be proud of that move!!! Great job.

Next is a home game with Holdingford, who lost 26-7 to sixth-ranked (Class 3A) Pierz tonight to fall to 1-2 overall. The Cubs are 0-3 heading into their game at Rockford Area in week four. Eden Valley-Watkins and Pierz are tied for first in the CMC at 2-0 each. The Jaguars are in a four-way tie for third place in the CMC with HL-W-W, Maple Lake and Holdingford all having 1-1 league records with B-B-E. Rockford and Kimball Area are both 0-2 in the CMC and tied for seventh place.

The season started with five CMC teams ranked in the state polls. After two games, four held state rankings: Pierz, Eden Valley-Watkins (sixth, Class 2A), HL-W-W and Maple Lake. The Lakers were 11th and Irish were 12th in the latest Class 2A poll.

Here's a short video clip from the first quarter at Kimball. The Jaguars were driving down on their second possession of the game and were knocking on the door of taking an early 6-0 lead...that didn't materialize.


Central Minnesota Conference football week three scores:
Maple Lake 51, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 6
Eden Valley-Watkins 19, Rockford Area 14
Maple Lake 26, Holdingford 7

Area week three football scores on September 12:
Blooming Prairie 41, #6-ranked Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity 6 (Awesome Blossoms' quarterback threw for 275 yards on 13-of-16 passing marks with six touchdowns)
Upsala/Swanville Area 41, New York Mills 12
Browerville 29, West Central Area 0 (Tigers head coach Wayne Petermeier gets his 100th career win)
Ottertail Central 48, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 6
Osakis 33, Prairie Valley 7
Albany Area 21, St. Cloud Cathedral 14
Norwood-Young America 28, Mayer Lutheran 7 (Raiders are 3-0, winning as many games as they did last year when they finished 3-8)
Paynesville Area 44, Melrose Area 0 (ouch!)
Minnewaska Area 44, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 8
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 53, Yellow Medicine East 14
Montevideo 21, Sauk Centre 14
BOLD 44, Benson 0
Hutchinson 47, Glencoe-Silver Lake 0
Holy Family Catholic 26, New London-Spicer 16
Canby 27, MACCRAY 12
Dawson-Boyd 61, Murray County Central 13
Royalton 48, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 6
Sartell 49, Willmar 14
Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 29, Cedar Mountain/Comfrey 22
Minneapolis North 41, Minneapolis Washburn 0 (Wow! Washburn is a Class 5A team that went 8-2 last year and was 2-0 heading into tonight's game)
Ortonville 20, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 14 (Trojans get first-ever win over neighboring CGB)


More to follow later.

8th grade football is 6-0

The 8th grade football Jaguars beat Benson 34-22 today to improve to 6-0 on the season. Their 7th grade counterparts shut out Benson in the second half while scoring six points, but they lost the first half by a 3-0 margin in touchdowns. The Junior High football Jaguars host Kimball Area this Thursday at 4:30pm.

Here's a little action from the 4th quarter of the 8th grade game tonight:


I heard that the 7th grade volleyball Jaguars took their first loss of the season by a 2-3 margin against Osakis last night in Osakis. Tonight they came out strong on the home court and whitewashed the Paynesville Area Bulldogs 5-0 in games.

What a convincing win to open the playoffs!

The sight on the scoreboard at the B-B-E football field following last night's playoff win.

Here are the statistics for 5th-ranked Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity from their playoff opener against Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart last night. They piled up 341 yards of rushing offense along with 150 yards through the air while absolutely crushing the Mustangs. LP/HT scored on a kickoff return, an interception return and an offensive touchdown all in the first minute of play.

The Bulldogs (8-1) host B-B-E on Saturday night in Lester Prairie in the Section 4A semifinals. Exactly 52 weeks prior from then, the Jaguars lost 22-21 in a playoff heart-breaker to the Bulldogs on the same football field. LP/HT ultimately won Section 4A and then lost a nailbiter 35-34 to fellow Gopher Valley 'A' Conference rival Blooming Prairie in the Class A state quarterfinals.

LP/HT team statistics vs. BL-H-S - First downs: 14 … Rushing: 4-341 … Passing (com-att-yds-int.): 9-12-150-0 … Fumbles lost: x … Penalties: 5-50. Individual statistics - Rushing: Joe Madsen 11-76, Matt Alberts 10-63, Heigl 4-43 … Passing: Alex Heigl 9-12-150-0 ... Receiving: Machemehl 4-67, Spencer Radtke 2-46.

Austin Kollman scoring an 11-yard touchdown only three minutes into the first quarter vs. MACCRAY.

Brian Goodwin scores in the latter part of this video clip...

Let's keep it going, Jaguars! Bring back some of the magic from 2010 when they beat LP/HT 41-6 in the semifinal round while earning their 2nd overall section final appearance in school history.

Friday Night Lights Part VIII - Jaguars whip the Cubs 26-6

Kyle Rosengren and Connor Goodwin (#61) bring the heat on the Kimball quarterback in the third quarter, after the Jaguars took a 7-0 lead to start the second half of play tonight.

In a must-win situation to end the regular season, the Jaguars football team overcame a sluggish, error-prone first half to defeat the host Kimball Area Cubs 26-6. The win puts the Jaguars at 2-6 overall heading into the playoffs. Below is a Section 4A update and the playoff schedule.

The first half of play was very ugly on both sides of the ball, as the score stood at 0-0 at halftime. The Jaguars' first nice drive almost ended in a touchdown, but the ball was fumbled right on the goal line. That set the tone for the first two quarters.

The Jaguars came out firing in the second half and lit up the scoreboard on their way to a 26-0 lead.

The Jaguars celebrate the win after a post-game huddle with the coaches. It was good to finally get a win after six losses in a row.


Results in games involving Section 4A teams:
Minnewaska Area 31, A-C-GC 22 (Falcons blow a 22-6 halftime lead)
Providence Academy/Heritage 49, Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity 6
St.Agnes 34, West Lutheran 14

Here is the Section 4A standings heading into playoffs...this is the seeding:
1st - ACGC
2nd - LP/HT
3rd - B-B-E
4th - St.Agnes
5th - West Lutheran

Section 4A round one next Tuesday will involve West Lutheran traveling to St.Agnes for the quarterfinal round (their third meeting of the season).

Section 4A round two will involved the Jaguars traveling to Lester Prairie on Saturday, October 30 for one of the semi-final games. The other semi-final game will involve the St.Agnes/West Lutheran winner traveling to #1-seed A-C-GC in Grove City.

The two winners will meet in the Section 4A championship at the highest seed remaining. That game will be held on Saturday, November 5 at 7:00pm.

• A few notes on Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity... the LP/HT Bulldogs have been in a precarious situation, with their athletic conference (MN Christian Athletic Association) dropping football programs in grand fashion this year, now down to a total of five. They have had to play some of their conference opponents twice this year, plus schedule Minneota in Week Seven, just to fill out the schedule.

Their losses have been to quality teams. (Much like the Jaguars' losses to Pierz, EV-W, etc.) Against Providence Academy/Heritage, they trailed 7-0 halfways through the fourth quarter in a 20-0 loss in Lester Prairie on Sept. 24. PA/H soundly thrashed LP/HT tonight in a 49-6 outcome, which makes you wonder if LP/HT is in a tailspin or if PA/H is simply that much more improved since Week Four.

Also, another team that blanked LP/HT was New Life Academy, who is 5-1 going into tomorrow's game. NLA barely beat Kimball Area in Week One, defeating the visiting Cubs 7-6.

Then last week, LP/HT was thrashed by defending Class A champion Minneota 62-0.

I'll have more notes on LP/HT going into next week. It's a whole week and a half until the Jaguars will face the Bulldogs in the Section 4A semi-finals.

Central Minnesota Conference results in Week Eight:
Pierz 14, Holdingford 8 (a battle at Pierz)
Eden Valley-Watkins 45, Rockford 19
Maple Lake 20, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 13 (a battle in Maple Lake)

Area football scores in Week Eight:
Albany 35, St.Cloud Cathedral 0
New London-Spicer 44, Foley 22
Yellow Medicine East 32, Paynesville Area 6 (Bulldogs finish 2-6)
BOLD 31, Montevideo 6
Morris Area 62, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 14
Milaca 40, Sauk Centre 22 (Streeters finish 1-7 and miss the 6AAA playoffs)
Willmar 49, Fergus Falls 14
Browerville 20, Osakis 6
Royalton 42, Parkers Prairie 7
Upsala/Swanville Area 47, United North Central 12
Benson 7, Lac qui Parle Valley 6
Melrose Area 23, Mora 12
Wheaton 77, Ashby 16 (ouch!)
Minneota 65, Ortonville 7
Glencoe-Silver Lake 37, Hutchinson 7 (a rough border battle for the Tigers)

Some random football notes after the regular season is completed... Paynesville Area finished a rough 2-6 season, with their highlight being a 34-22 win over Class 3A Montevideo in Week 5 on their home field. They will open Section 5AA playoffs by driving 10 miles down Highway 55 to Eden Valley, where the Eagles will soundly whip them.

Hutchinson has had 38 seasons in a row where they have finished either 5-5 or better. This is only the second time in the past 38 seasons where they have finished 4-4 in the regular season. They are a sophomore-dominated lineup and will certainly be a force next season. The Tigers, who were beat up on by their neighboring rivals (G-SL) in a 37-7 loss tonight, open the Section 2AAAA playoffs at Willmar (5-3) next Tuesday night.

Benson played the spoiler tonight, tearing out the hearts of Lac qui Parle Valley Eagles football fans, as they won on their home Brock Field tonight by a 7-6 score. The Eagles had to settle for a second-place tie in the West Central South Conference at 5-2 (with BOLD). They could have tied Morris Area (6-1 WCCS, 6-2) for the title with a win over the Braves tonight. Benson finishes 3-5 going into the Section 5AA playoffs, which also includes Morris Area and LQPV.

Did you know?...the following Class A teams could actually qualify for 9-man action in the playoffs, due to "free and reduced lunch" students lowering their athletic enrollment classification: Minneota, Rushford Peterson, Randolph, Sleepy Eye, Parkers Prairie, Dawson-Boyd, Fulda, Sleepy Eye St. Mary's, and Wabasso. For a variety of reasons, all of them have chosen to "opt up" to Class 1A.


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A nice feather in first-year head coach Chris Moscho's hat - the Jaguars football roster totals 55 young men battling through pre-season practices

...Okay Coach Moscho probably never wears a cap, at least I've never seen him wear one...but if he did wear a hat it would have a nice feather included based on turnout for pre-season practices!

Not since the early 1990s has turnout numbered as high as 55 on the Jaguars football team. Not only do they have a turnout of 55, but 12 of them are seniors who are ready to lead the team to its first winning season since 1997.

Last year they had 54 guys on the team. It's come a long ways since the 2004 season, when the program was down to only 35 in the 9th-12th grade ranks.

I'll be looking back in the archives to see what the highest turnout was for football at B-B-E since the 1988 pairing.

Look for more preview information on the Jaguars football team in next week's local newspapers.

Jaguars football opener is September 3 at Barrett, MN vs. the West Central Area Knights

Chris Moscho, who takes the reigns of the Jaguars football program this summer, is shown leading some pre-game drills.


Led by first-year head coach Chris Moscho, the Jaguars football team will open the 2010 season at Barrett on September 3, taking on the host West Central Area Knights. Moscho, who served as assistant coach the previous two years and is a 2002 Melrose Area High School graduate, will also have a new group of assistant coaches to work with.

WCA, who features 1,000-yard passer Colton Blascyk, senior, finished the 2009 campaign with an overall record of 4-5, including 0-1 in the Section 6AA playoffs. They finished 2-4 (4th place tie with Pelican Rapids) in the Heart O' Lakes Classic conference.

Click here to read a story on the Knights' 48-12 playoff loss to Pierz in the Section 6AA quarterfinals: http://craigolsonsports.com/newsarticle.php?yid=0910&tid=222&sid=1230444&nid=33565 It was a game that played out just as many meetings the Jaguars have had with Pierz, as WCA fell behind 14-0 only 80 seconds into the game and trailed 28-0 after the first quarter.

The Knights graduated two of their four top running backs from '09. One of the backs returning (quarterback Blascyk) ran for 265 yards and four touchdowns. Their top running back in 2009, Cole Amundson, ran for 700 yards but is one of the two who graduated.

The biggest change for West Central Area is in their coaching staff, which has been revamped in similar fashion to what has happened to the Jaguars. Their previous head coach who took over their program in 2007, Tim Pattrin, has been replaced by David Drexler. Two of their four assistants will also be new.

Drexler is a 2001 WCA graduate. I just did some quick research and saw that he was the Heart O' Lakes Conference MVP during his senior year in which the Knights went 7-3 overall and were runners-up in the HOL. He passed for 1452 yards his senior year, and had a 51% completion rate. He also ran for 6 touchdowns and passed for 13. As PAT kicker, he tallied 23 points his senior year as well.

More noteworthy was Drexler's junior year in 1999, when the WCA Knights went all the way through playoffs to the Prep Bowl, where they lost to a very tough Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Buccaneers team. WCA went 13-1 that year, including an 8-0 regular season and an HOL conference championship. Drexler was the featured quarterback that season as well, and he finished with 1270 yards and a 52.8% completion rate. That year the Knights were a run first, run second, and then think about passing team led by senior Jake Sternhagen, who finished with 1,902 yards on 348 carries (5.5 yard average) and 27 touchdowns.

The Jaguars went 2-7 last season, including a 2-5 mark in the Central Minnesota Conference. They hosted WCA in the season opener and fell 20-7, as the Knights were on their way to a 4-2 start to the season before dropping their final three games.

Here's my early prediction: if the Jaguars have a solid turnout for pre-season practices and then turn that into a win in the season opener against WCA, they have a real shot at finishing 4-4 or 5-3 overall heading into the Section 4A playoffs.

That would be terribly exciting!

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