Friday Night Lights X: Jaguars put up a fight, simple physics said no (VIDEOS*)

Saturday note: this blog post is being updated today.

It had the makings of a David vs. Goliath-style fight, and at times there were glimmers of hope, but the B-B-E Jaguars football team suffered a 54-12 loss at the hands of Upsala/Swanville Area today and finish second in Section 5A. The Jaguars had 26 players suited up for the game, and they were warriors from start to finish. The Jaguars fell behind 8-0 in the first quarter before scoring one touchdown to make it 8-6. A Patriots scoring rampage of 22 unanswered points followed before halftime.

Beginning the game with one starting lineman on the injured reserve list, the Jaguars battled valiantly against a wave of pressure applied by a deep and supremely talented U/SA squad. The physics said No. It was not happening today.

A quick glance at the U/SA roster shows 53 players, including 19 juniors. From a central Minnesota football perspective, it is terrific to see a small school football program have over 50 players in grades 9-12. We need more of that.

For the Jaguars, the future is bright in coming years. The JV unit had a stellar 5-1 record this season. Their lone loss was by a 40-30 score to U/SA. The junior high football team had 19 players, and the grades 5-6 youth tackle team had 26 players.

Here's a video featuring the playing of the National Anthem today plus the kickoff and opening minutes of the game:


The first quarter...
B-B-E had a nice 20-yard kickoff return by Kameron Hiltner to set up good field position at their own 39-yard line to start the game. The Jaguars went 3-and-out, however, punting on 4th-and-5.

The Patriots mounted a 62-yard scoring drive that used 6 plays to get 1st-and-goal at the B-B-E one-yard line. Frankie Meagher then ran a quarterback sneak, and the 2-point was good for an 8-0 score with 8:13 left in the opening quarter.

The Jaguars struggled on their second drive and punted on 4th-and-12 with 5:54 left.

U/SA started on their 40 after the punt, and the Jaguars held strong to force a punt on 4th-and-9.

The Jaguars started their 3rd series from their 31 with 4:32 on the clock. They used just 2 plays to move 59 yards with back-to-back catches by Kameron Hiltner and Taylor Pieper. With goal-to-go at the U/SA 10, Jesse Niklaus and Aiden Mueller ran for 5 total yards. Kaden Kollman then caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Mueller deep in the left corner of the endzone. The extra-points throw had too much oats on it, so with 2:52 left, the Jaguars trailed 8-6.

Here's a video featuring the last few plays of that scoring drive:


It was at this point in the first half when the Jaguars needed a stop, but that did not happen. After a small kickoff return, U/SA started on their 35-yard line. B-B-E committed an offsides penalty, however, and the defensive series did not improve from there. The Patriots needed just 3 plays to get 1st-and-goal on the B-B-E 5-yard line. The Jaguars stuffed a run play for a one-yard gain, but U/SA scored and got the conversion to go ahead 16-6 with 1:17 left on the clock.

Taylor Pieper's 11-yard kickoff return put B-B-E at their 29 to begin the 4th series of the game. A facemask penalty against U/SA on the first play moved the Jaguars to their 44. They had a false start, however, and a 2nd-and-12 pass attempt was incomplete to bring third down. U/SA's Noah Ripplinger had a pass breakup on a nice Mueller throw to force a punt near the end of the first quarter.

As the second quarter got underway, the Jaguars came up with a stop with 2 run plays for 4 yards and then an incomplete pass. The punt with 11:10 left sailed high at midfield, and it took a huge B-B-E bounce after landing and rolled to the U/SA 39. The Jaguars had momentum and put it to use with 3 straight running plays, with 4 yards from Noah DeRoo followed by 2 by Radermacher and then 2 more by DeRoo. The 4th-and-2 conversion attempt was stopped for no gain, however, giving U/SA the ball with 9:15 left at their own 31.

The Jaguars gave up one first down before holding U/SA to a 3rd-and-2 play. On that play, their running back used a great spin move out of two tackles to advance the Patriots to B-B-E's 44. From there, they needed just 2 additional plays to find the endzone. Dalton Welinski ran for 14 yards with 6:28 left for a 22-6 lead. The conversion was good to make it 24-8.

The sixth series for B-B-E was rough, as they lost 5 yards on the first two plays. A third down pass was incomplete, and the Jaguars punted with 5:07 to go.

Starting on B-B-E's 41, U/SA met a fired-up B-B-E defense but ground out multiple plays on the ground for gains primarily between 2 and 5 yards each after they got 7 yards on the first play from scrimmage. After 7 plays, the Patriots ran for 8 yards to get 1st-and-goal at the 7. Ethan Barthel, U/SA's 5'10" 195-pound senior running back (who is also listed as a lineman), ran for 6 yards and then the last yard for paydirt. The conversion gave U/SA a 32-6 lead with 1:37 to go.

Pieper had another 11-yard kickoff return, and the Jaguars started the next series from their 33. Kaden Kollman's 8-yard catch brought excitement to the sidelines, but an incomplete pass and a false start penalty stunted that momentum. The Jaguars punted on 4th down with 1:18 left. The saving grace in the final 78 seconds was the Jaguar defense holding U/SA out of the endzone after they set up their 7th series of the game on B-B-E's 49.

Some light notes from the second half...
After the Patriots took a 32-6 lead into halftime, they added two more scores for a 48-6 lead in the third quarter. They started the third quarter with possession at the 50-yard line after the opening kickoff of the second half. U/SA needed 7 plays to advance to B-B-E's 26-yard line. The last 26 yards were covered in 2 plays, with Barthel running 17 yards wide right for a touchdown with 8:44 left. The conversion made it 40-6.

B-B-E's first series of the third quarter ended fast after they started at their 37. U/SA came up with an interception plus a return to give them possession at B-B-E's 31. Four plays later, they had first down and goal at the 7. With 6:49 left in the third quarter, they scored on the next play and made it a 48-6 lead.

After the next kickoff, the Jaguars started their 9th series of the game from their 36. Three straight running plays gained 18 yards on carries by Mueller, Lance Radermacher and Niklaus. On U/SA's 46, Mueller rolled out and launched a deep pass to Hiltner on the right sideline. Hiltner had an opening between his defender and the sideline and made a great catch for a 30-yard gain. U/SA had pass interference, and 2 plays later, Niklaus converted 2nd-and-2 with a three-yard gain to get goal-to-go at the U/SA five. Noah Kampsen took it from there, running 3 yards up the gut for second down. Kampsen ran again for a 2-yard touchdown with 4:22 left. U/SA 48, B-B-E 12.

More to come much later tonight. It's time to enjoy more of Halloween. Additional video is uploading. This blog post is mostly a wrap!

Light game statistics:
The Jaguars were outrun on the ground by a 329-to-73-yard margin. To be blunt: it was a brutal disparity. Overall, U/SA's offense ran 74 plays for 422 total yards. The Jaguars had some nice gains, and they totaled 186 yards with 113 coming in the air (108 yards by starter Aiden Mueller on 7-of-19 passing). The game was remarkably well played, with just one turnover each, and the penalties were not a factor. Kameron Hiltner was the leading receiver for B-B-E with 3 catches for 62 yards.

In his final game as a Jaguar football player, Kampsen left everything on the field and racked up 7 solo tackles and 5 assists. Noah DeRoo, a promising freshman, also had 7 solos plus one assist. Additional statistics are being reviewed.

Area football section championship results on October 31:
Minneota 42, Dawson-Boyd 16
Murray County Central 31, Springfield 20
Breckenridge 29, Parkers Prairie 14
Holdingford 48, Osakis 14
Eden Valley-Watkins 28, St. Cloud Cathedral 14
Litchfield 23, Albany 6
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 35, Border West 14

GAME DAY! In Cass County, NoDak! (SPORTS SHOW!)

Friday is GAME DAY for the B-B-E Jaguars football team as they wake up bright and early to drive to Cass County, North Dakota. Kickoff at the FargoDome is at 10 a.m. on Halloween Day. The Section 5A championship will be broadcast on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood. They stream online at their website: https://www.kmgk1071.com. Thanks, Brady!

In today's game, Upsala/Swanville Area is the opponent, and the Patriots are 8-1 overall after thrashing Browerville 42-0 in the section semifinals last Saturday in Swanville. U/SA has played in the section championship every year since 2021. In each of the past 5 seasons, the Jaguars and Patriots have met in the playoffs. In 4 of those 5 seasons, the Jaguars and Patriots have played for STATE. This is quite a run by both teams! In 2022, U/SA upset the Jaguars in the section semifinals by a 22-6 win, but they fell 7-6 in the Section 4A championship in Fargo to Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg. U/SA finally punched through to state last year with a 19-12 win over our Jaguars in the section finals. That game tore my heart out. It was by far the toughest football playoff loss I've watched since the 1997 Section 5AA championship (which was exactly 28 years ago today.

Here's my latest installment of a fall sports show. The focus here is on the benefits of youth sports and how it provides kids with purpose, structure and reward! Not necessarily in that order.

Sports show video:


About Upsala/Swanville Area...
Their quarterback is third-year signal caller Frankie Meagher, a senior. He's one of the top small-school quarterbacks in central Minnesota. On defense, the Patriots are outstanding. In Saturday's section semis, they held resurging Browerville to 135 net yards from scrimmage. U/SA had 345 total yards against Browerville, 200 in the air and 145 on the ground. Meagher was 9-of-11 for 131 yards with one touchdown. Their QB2 (Schafer) was 2-for-3 for 69 yards and one touchdown.

Here's a long video from the end of the 2nd quarter last Saturday:


This blog post will include game updates from the FargoDome.

Some light volleyball news...in the Section 6AA championship tonight at St. Cloud Apollo, the Albany Huskies upended previously undefeated Minnewaska Area by a 3-1 margin to advance to the state tournament for the second straight season. For the Lakers, they look to next year with a team that graduates just 2 seniors and just 1 player in their top rotation. In Section 5A, the Swanville Bulldogs saw their season end in a 3-1 loss to perennial power Nevis. This was the state qualifier and was played at Crosby-Ironton. In Section 3A, Minneota ended MACCRAY's season with a 3-1 win for the north sub-section title.

Game updates to follow here after 10 a.m. on Friday...
Kickoff was at 10:02 a.m.

With 1:17 left in the 1st quarter, U/SA score their second touchdown on a one yard run. The extra point conversion run was good for a score of 16-6.

Halftime: U/SA 32, BBE 6. The second half starts at 11:30.

The final score and more will be posted in a NEW blog post.

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.

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.

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.

GAME NIGHT! We are heading to Swift County

For a Week Six game, this is a big one!

In a Mid-Northwest Gold District contest, the B-B-E Jaguars football team travels to Benson for a border battle between two teams that are jockeying for home playoff rights. The Jaguars (3-2 overall) must win this game to preserve their hopes of a No. 2 seed in Section 4A. The Braves (2-3 overall) are fighting to move up in the section standings to solidify their chances of hosting a section quarterfinal game on Tuesday, October 21.

In the latest QRF standings, the Jaguars are No. 29 in Class 1A, while the Braves are No. 30. On paper, the odds are basically a tossup for this evening. Also, please pass the word that the game will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood. Their website has a live stream: https://www.kmgk1071.com. Please pray for the safety of our fans traveling to and from Benson tonight.

UPDATES:

The Jaguars scored first to take an 8-0 lead. Eli Wold ran back a fumble recovery 54 yards for a touchdown.

It's been all Braves since then, however, and Benson is ahead 20-8 at halftime.

Friday Night Lights III: disastrous second half spells doom for Jaguars (VIDEO ADDED)

At halftime tonight in Swanville, the B-B-E Jaguars football team had to feel solid about their chances. They played a strong enough game in the first half to be well within striking distance of the Upsala/Swanville Area Patriots in an early season battle of Mid-Northwest Gold District powers. At halftime, the Patriots held a 14-6 lead.

After scoring with 3:26 left in the first quarter, the Jaguar offense spent the rest of the game unable to get into the U/SA red zone.

Countless mistakes and miscues in the second half fueled what was an unmitigated disaster for the Jaguars, however, as they suffered a blowout 53-6 loss to fall to 2-1 overall.

Here's a video from the West Central Area game; featuring action in the 2nd quarter:


After falling behind 8-0 when U/SA scored on the game's first series, the Jaguars got on the scoreboard with a touchdown by Jesse Niklaus from 5 yards out with 3:26 left in the first quarter. The touchdown was set up by an interception by Kaden Kollman that was returned to the U/SA 11-yard line with 5:21 on the clock. This gave B-B-E first down at the U/SA 11-yard line. Niklaus scored his touchdown on a 4th-and-3 play. The Patriots stopped the 2-point conversion about a yard short of the endzone as they held onto an 8-6 lead.

With 11:48 left in the game, the Patriots scored on a one play, 8-second long touchdown drive of 46 yards. A successful PAT kick gave U/SA a 37-6 lead at that point. Their final touchdown was scored on an interception return from 22 yards out with 53 seconds left in the game. A successful two-point conversion carry lifted U/SA to 53 total points.

U/SA, who won the Section 4A title last November with a heart-stopping 19-12 win over the Jaguars at the FargoDome, appears unstoppable in the district. They sent Benson packing early last week in a 45-8 win over the Braves in Swanville.

The Jaguars can't lick their wounds for too long, though, as they have another tough game ahead with Browerville coming to our house for Week Four. The Jaguars and Tigers kick off at B-B-E high school at 7 p.m. on Friday, September 19. Tonight, Browerville handled West Central Area in Barrett in a 36-14 win to improve to 2-0 in the Mid-Northwest Gold District. WCA is now winless in three games.

Mid-Northwest Gold District scores in Week Three on September 12:
Benson 44, Ashby/Brandon-Evansville 8
Maple Lake 48, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0 (Maple Lake is 2-1 for the first time in the post-COVID era)
Browerville 36, West Central Area 14

Area football Week Three scores on September 12:
Border West 20, Clearbrook-Gonvick 8
Dawson-Boyd 54, Lac qui Parle Valley 6
BOLD 29, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 22
Albany 43, Melrose Area 16
Redwood Valley 44, Paynesville Area 8
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 46, Sauk Centre 7
Springfield 68, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 18
Pierz 30, Minnewaska Area 7
Marshall 41, Willmar 7
St. Cloud Cathedral 55, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 8
New London-Spicer 22, Watertown-Mayer 0
Parkers Prairie 14, New York Mills 6
Bertha-Hewitt 30, Verndale 6

Friday Night Lights II: the Jaguars are 2-0 (VIDEOS**) and a volleyball update

Who else is a believer! YES! BELIEVE!

When the chips were down, the B-B-E Jaguars football team came through with one of their more thrilling come-from-behind wins tonight in their Mid-Northwest Gold District opener. On the road at a traditionally tough stadium to play in, the Jaguars trailed 8-6 going into the 4th quarter against West Central Area in Barrett. The first 3 offensive series of the second half for the Jaguars all failed to produce points.

Finally, on their 10th drive of the game, the Jaguars took advantage of a wildly bad decision by WCA in the 4th quarter as they scored on what was just a 30-yard field. With 5:45 left, the Jaguars used 4 plays to cover the distance. Jesse Niklaus plunged in for a 6-yard touchdown carry with 4:41 to go. The 64-second drive gave the Jaguars a 12-8 lead. Niklaus also ran in the two-point conversion off left tackle to make it 14-8.

Final score: B-B-E 14, West Central Area 8.

How the game turned in B-B-E's favor...
WCA had first down at their own 39-yard line earlier in the 4th quarter. They were held to 4th-and-9 after two incomplete passes. On fourth down, they elected to attempt a fake punt, and it was stuffed for a 9-yard loss. B-B-E earned possession at the WCA 30-yard line with 5:45 left as I said earlier.

The game was a lesson in persistence! The Jaguars struggled in their first series which gained just 3 yards on their first 3 plays before they punted. On their second drive, the Jaguars scored on a distance of 75 yards on 4 plays. The last two were explosive: Aiden Mueller running for 37 yards, and Lance Radermacher catching a 33-yard grab from Mueller for a touchdown. With 5:30 left in the first quarter, the Jaguars led 6-0.

After playing through adversity across most of the second half and struggling offensively, the Jaguars kept at it and wore down WCA when it mattered.

Here's a video featuring one of the more exciting moments in the game, which was in the 4th quarter and the game in the balance:


In the final minutes of the third quarter, the Jaguars had a terrific opportunity to score as they drove into the red zone on a drive that began on their own 40-yard line with 4:35 on the clock. A 15-yard catch by Austin Berge gave the Jaguars first down on the WCA 13-yard line. The drive stalled out on downs, however, on an incomplete pass on 4th-and-10 with 1:24 left in the third quarter.

Here's a video featuring action in the final minute of the game:


How the Jaguars built a 6-0 halftime lead:
B-B-E went to the run on the game's first series, but they went 3-and-out with just 3 yards gained. WCA received the punt and set up at their 30. On a quarterback keeper, Noah Kampsen stopped them with a 1-yard run On 3rd-and-4, WCA converted with a 14-yard catch. An 8-yard run on a sweep followed that, and their quarterback converted 2nd-and-2. Next came an incomplete pass, Kampsen earning a 4-yard tackle for a loss and no gain on third down. WCA punted on B-B-E's 41, but they had a penalty that gave B-B-E possession at their own 25-yard line with 6:30 left in the first quarter.

On B-B-E's second series of the game, they had two short gains on running plays. On third down, Aiden Mueller broke right and sped past numerous WCA defenders down the right sideline for a 37-yard run. On first down, Lance Radermacher caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Mueller with 5:30 left. The conversion failed for a 6-0 lead.

Later in the first quarter, WCA appeared poised to score when they had first down at the B-B-E 25-yard line. After one incomplete pass and a run for no gain, their quarterback threw a long pass to the right flats. Kameron Hiltner stepped in front of the pass for an interception with about a 7 yard return. This gave B-B-E the ball at their own 26 with 1:14 on the clock.

As the first quarter came to an end, the Jaguars drove into WCA territory. A 13-yard reception brought first down at the WCA 36. Two incomplete passes and B-B-E's first penalty of the game thwarted their momentum, however, and they punted from their 39 with 9:51 left before halftime.

Here's a video featuring action in the last 4 minutes of the first quarter:


WCA built momentum after being tagged with Noah Kampsen's quarterback sack on their 3rd series of the game. On 2nd-and-21, they picked up a 38-yard run to midfield. Helped by a WCA delay of game penalty, the Jaguars later stuffed the Knights on a 4th-and-2 conversion at B-B-E's 41-yard line. B-B-E's 4th series of the game was halted on the 5th play, when WCA's Brady Sabolik earned an interception. WCA then had possession at their own 20-yard line. On their next series, WCA was hurt by a false start penalty on their first play. On first down, Noah DeRoo had a pass knock down. On 3rd-and-10, Lance Radermacher and Noah Kampsen stopped a run play with a 2-yard gain. On 4th-and-8, WCA punted with 4:30 left before halftime.

B-B-E's 5th series of the game stalled out at midfield. The Knights then blasted the Jaguars on their second play of the series with a 37-yard catch to gain goal-to-go at the B-B-E 10. After a 5-yard run, Austin Berge had a huge pass knock down, and the Jaguars stopped a quarterback run for no gain on 3rd down. On 4th-and-5, the Knights were stopped cold and suffered a lost fumble. Lance Radermacher recovered it with 1:19 left at B-B-E's 7-yard line. The Jaguars smartly used 3 run plays to close out the first half.

Here's a short postgame interview with senior Nate Geer:


Note: late Saturday morning, this blog post received another update. It will get a 3rd major update on Saturday afternoon.

The second half...
The Knights tied the game in the third quarter on a 70-yard touchdown drive. With 5:01 left, WCA took an 8-6 lead on Hunter Gruchow's 9-yard pass to Austin Bennett.

B-B-E's first drive of the second half (7th overall) started at their own 40. Jesse Niklaus ran for 13 yards on the first play, and Kameron Hiltner later converted 3rd-and-7 with a 16-yard reception. The drive stalled out on downs, however, on 4th-and-10 with 1:24 on the clock.

WCA started their next drive on their own 8, but they later punted on 4th-and-19 on their own 22. The Jaguars had great field position after Mueller's 16-yard punt return to have first down on the WCA 39 with 9:28 left on the game. Two incomplete passes and a quarterback sack halted the drive. WCA then suffered a lost fumble (recovered by Austin Berge) on their first play from scrimmage.

B-B-E went to work starting on the WCA 42 with 7:47 left, but this drive also stalled out on downs with an incomplete pass in the endzone. This led to WCA's costly decision to go for it on 4th-and-9 from their own 40-yard line with just under 6 minutes left in the game.

Some light game statistics:
Overall, the Jaguars outgained WCA 288 to 270. A key to the game was winning the turnover battle, which showed the Jaguars ahead 3 to 1. That was a huge factor in B-B-E's defense stopping WCA from scoring on 9 of their 10 total series in the game Defensively, the Jaguars held WCA to 3.26 yards per carry rushing, while B-B-E's offense earned 5.81 yards per carry.

The quarterback passing marks were fairly close: for B-B-E, 11-for-25 for 131 yards, one touchdown, one interception with the longest pass good for 30 yards; for WCA, 14-for-28 for 156 yards, one touchdown, one interception and the longest pass good for 36 yards.

The win was incredibly exciting to me because it marked a special achievement that I have outlined below. I can recall multiple tough, bitter football losses at B-B-E. Tonight was not a night we were going to get another one!

This is just the 6th time in B-B-E history that the football team has started 2-0. Three of those 6 starts with 2-0 records have been in the last 3 seasons! This means that from 1988 through 2022, the Jaguars had just three 2-0 starts. Those other 2-0 starts were in 1997, 2006 and 2013.

Let's go back to the very first season that Coach Moscho was on our football staff, which was in 2008. In the season opener that year, the Jaguars were stung with a 27-20 loss at WCA. At that time, the Knights were a Class 2A football team. B-B-E fell behind 27-6 in the 4th quarter before they came roaring back. Time ran out on the Jaguars, and they came up short in receiving what would have been extremely valuable seeding points for Section 5A. Fast forward to the playoffs that year, and the Jaguars were the No. 4 seed and got throttled in a 55-6 loss in the semifinals by top-seeded Minneota.

In 2016, when they had a junior-dominated team, the Jaguars suffered a 33-27 loss at WCA in a game they should have won. It would have helped in a huge way for the Section 4A seedings as well, but the Jaguars took a 2-6 record into the playoffs and then lost in the first round.

On Friday night in volleyball action at Marshall...
The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team lost their first match to Wayzata by 25-13, 25-14 scores. The final Friday match resulted in a tough three set loss to Northfield by scores of 19-25, 25-19, 5-15. The Northfield Raiders are very, very good. They were 22-9 last year while winning the Big 9 Conference title with an 11-0 record for the third straight year. In fact, in the post-COVID era, Northfield has only lost one time in Big 9 Conference play.

In Saturday's first match, the Jaguars won in 3 sets by scores of 24-26, 25-23, 15-5 against Class 4A Owatonna. The Huskies were 3-0 coming into the tournament. The Jaguars utilized a balanced attack with 10 kills by Teagan Dingmann, 8 kills from both Kacey Fischer and Kadynce Haider and 3 kills each from Kamie Fischer, Mya Worms and Macey Roering. B-B-E's second match of Saturday is against Class 4A Bloomington Jefferson.

More to come on Saturday afternoon.

Next: the Jaguars travel to Swanville for Week Three; they play there next Friday, September 12 with a 7 p.m. kickoff against Upsala/Swanville Area. The Patriots demolished Benson in their district opener 45-8 in Swanville.

Mid-Northwest Gold District Week One scores on September 5:
Ashby/Brandon-Evansville 18, Maple Lake 16 OT (the Bolts win on their home field in Brandon in overtime)
Upsala/Swanville Area 45, Benson 8
Browerville 28, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0 (sadly, this game was called in the 3rd quarter after LPGE had sustained multiple key injuries)

Area football Week 2 scores on September 5:
BOLD 18, Lester Prairie 16
St. Cloud Cathedral 49, ACGC 8
Kimball 44, Paynesville 0
Litchfield 28, New London-Spicer 8
Canby 10, MACCRAY 6
Osakis 43, Minnewaska Area 15
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 48, Montevideo 0
Redwood Valley 45, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 0
Minneota 37, Eden Valley-Watkins 30

GAME NIGHT! In Grant County (VIDEO)

We have a big, BIG game on hand! Tonight, in Grant County, the B-B-E Jaguars football team looks to hand West Central Area their second loss of the season. The Jaguars and Knights square off at WCA High School in Barrett with a 7 p.m. kickoff. It's going to be a COLD game! At least the wind is dying down. The low tonight is going down to 40 degrees locally. Yikes! As of 5 p.m. in Brooten, the temperature outside is 55 degrees and dropping.

WCA lost 28-14 in their season opener last week at Lake Park-Audubon; however, I expect a tough game tonight. WCA is always strong on their home field.

Here's a video featuring the Jaguars praying The Lord's Prayer before kickoff in the season opener:


Game updates to follow!

Halftime: B-B-E 6, WCA 0. This game is a battle!

In the third quarter, the Knights took an 8-6 lead...with 5 minutes to go. Their touchdown drive was filled with big plays as they drove 70 yards for pay dirt. The Knights overcame a holding penalty early in the drive by using multiple receptions good for 9, 14, 15 and 15 yards plus shorter receiving gains. With 5:01 on the clock, WCA tied the game with an 8-yard touchdown carry. Their 2-point conversion was good via a reception with their receiver all alone in the right flats. The score became WCA 8, B-B-E 6.

It's time to head home. The final score will be posted in the Friday Night Lights II blog post later tonight.

Friday Night Lights I: Jaguars win a thriller vs NYM (VIDEOS**)

For what was a relatively low-scoring game, this was not a game for the faint of heart!

In the season opener tonight on the home field, the B-B-E Jaguars football team played remarkably in the first half while building an 18-6 lead over New York Mills. With a small roster, their smallest in numbers ever in B-B-E history, the Jaguars had to dig deep and play through a challenging second half.

The Eagles earned multiple chances at scoring in the second half, but B-B-E's defense came up with some big-time plays down the stretch as they hung on for an 18-12 win.

Video is uploading, and game notes are being reviewed! This was an incredible win!

I've got more updates to post to this blog post on Friday night.

Here's a video featuring the second touchdown scored by the Jaguars, which happened early in the 2nd quarter:


The two-point conversion attempt after that second touchdown was halted just a yard short of the goal line.

Here's a video featuring the tension in the air (along with the heavy humidity) late in the 3rd quarter tonight:


While the game had what I'll call "multiple critical junctures," one of the biggest was late in the fourth quarter when New York Mills gained possession with 3:33 left after B-B-E punted from their own 10-yard line. The Jaguars were clinging to the narrow 18-12 lead, and the Eagles had possession starting on B-B-E's 18-yard line. They had ample time to punch in a touchdown with a very short field. On first down, NYM's run was stuffed for no gain. Finn Roder, their talented senior running back, carried for 6 yards on second down. On third down, Kaden Kollman came up with a big pass break up near the goal line. This brought 4th-and-4 with about 2 minutes to go. On fourth down, NYM's quarterback sent another pass to the goal line, but Austin Berge (free safety) came up with a pass break up to force a turnover on downs.

The Jaguars were still not out of the woods, though, with 1:56 on the clock and possession back at their own 12-yard line. Jesse Niklaus had a nice 5-yard gain, and NYM called a timeout to stop the clock. On second down, the Jaguars had an incomplete pass, which meant hardly any time came off the clock. On 3rd-and-5, Lance Radermacher bulldozed his way downfield for a huge 33-yard gain. He was tackled just past the 50-yard line. B-B-E called a timeout just near the end of the play clock, and the game clock showed just 52 seconds left. This allowed B-B-E quarterback Aiden Mueller to take a knee twice and seal the big win.

Here's a video from late in the 4th quarter, where the Jaguars were forced to punt from deep in their own territory with under 4 minutes to go:


In a postgame interview, Coach Moscho noted that the win required multiple players making numerous plays, especially on the defensive side, in order to pull out the win. The Eagles hurt themselves with a rash of penalties in the first half, which contributed to their 18-6 deficit on the scoreboard at halftime.

HISTORY was made tonight at B-B-E! Never in school history has the football team won 3 straight season openers. Until tonight! In 2023, the Jaguars traveled to Bagley and won 46-14. Last year, the Jaguars hosted Bagley and won 38-20. I did a bit of digging, and the Jaguars came OH-so-close to winning three straight season openers under Coach Mike Richards. In his second season, the Jaguars won 38-22 at Ogilvie in Week One in 2006 on their way to a 3-7 final record. In 2007, the Jaguars hosted West Central Area in the opener and dismantled the Knights in a 33-8 win; they finished 2-7 overall. The 2008 team, which featured a dynamite offense guided by senior signal-caller Jackson Illies, suffered a tough 27-20 loss to WCA in Barrett in Week One. They finished 5-5 overall after losing in Week Two but then won 4 of the final 6 games of the regular season.

Back to present day, coming in Week Two: the Jaguars need to turn up their level of play a few more notches as they prepare for the first road game of the season. Next week, the Jaguars travel on Friday, September 5 to West Central Area high school in Barrett. The WCA Knights were at Lake Park-Audubon tonight for their season opener. No results have been posted as I type this.

UPDATE at almost midnight...West Central Area suffered a 28-14 defeat at LP-A tonight. I honestly did not see that coming. LP-A was 2-7 a year ago and 4-6 in 2023, although I have no idea how good they are this year.

Let's look at a few game stats from tonight:
B-B-E racked up 386 yards of offense that were almost evenly split with 190 on the ground and 196 coming off the arm of QB1 Aiden Mueller. Mueller's numbers were nothing less than stellar: 9-for-19 passing for 190 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. Overall, B-B-E's running game churned out 8.2 yards per carry.

One statistic jumps off the page: NYM was 0-for-11 on third-down conversions. They made a game of it by going 4-for-6 on fourth down. Overall, having B-B-E's defense stop NYM on every third-down conversion was a key part of the win.

The Eagles had 271 yards overall, with 94 rushing and 177 passing on 6-of-14 attempts. Hurting their cause were two huge B-B-E interceptions, one by Lance Radermacher and the other by Kaden Kollman.

Here's the postgame interview with Coach Moscho:


As I got very little sleep last night due to nerves for this game, I have to turn in earlier than usual. Tomorrow morning, the newspaper's sports department travels to Sauk Centre with the tennis team. They face the Mainstreeters at 9 a.m. Good night, Jaguar Country! This blog post will be heavily updated on Friday afternoon.

Area football scores in Week One on August 28:
Eden Valley-Watkins 54, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 6
Ottertail Central 22, Ashby/Brandon-Evansville 18
Royalton 26, Kimball Area 20
Minnewaska Area 48, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 14
Sleepy Eye United 22, BOLD 14
Maple Lake 30, Menahga 24
Pierz 42, Sauk Centre 12
Melrose Area 42, Montevideo 6
Osakis 46, St. Cloud Apollo 14
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 16, MACCRAY 8
Russel-Tyler-Ruthton 39, Yellow Medicine East 0
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo 32, Ortonville 0
Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop 44, Lac qui Parle Valley 6

Football awards banquet - seniors provide farewell (VIDEO)

At the high school's Olson Auditorium tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars football team held their awards ceremony. The JV and varsity coaches spoke about each of the multiple awards given out, and head coach Chris Moscho finished the program with a 10-minute "farewell" for his 15 seniors. This consisted of each senior player providing a few comments on their gridiron career.

Here's a video featuring the seniors speaking tonight:


Note: on Friday, a video clip featuring comments by Coach Borgerding will be added when she spoke about her seniors at the volleyball banquet on Monday. I have a great deal of catching up to do from work that's been neglected basically this entire month of November. Upon returning from the FargoDome on Friday, November 1, I threw myself at musical coverage for our theater students. It consumed the lion's share of my mental bandwidth.

In other B-B-E sports news!
The B-B-E Class of 2029 girls' basketball team (8th graders) improved to 5-0 today with a convincing 49-24 win at Kimball Area. Coach Gary Rodgers' Jaguars host Paynesville Area in a key Central Minnesota Conference junior high game tomorrow in Belgrade. B-B-E's Class of 2029 team features 11 players on the roster with a 12th player hoping to return to action later in December. Also, due to an extremely thin JV girls' basketball roster, some players on this 8th grade team may be moved up once the varsity/JV season officially begins next week. That will play out with Melrose Area coming to town for the season opener on Tuesday.

Friday Night Lights X: stunned disbelief, hearts are torn in Fargo (VIDEOS added)

There are two things I am sure of with all of my heart: you could not have asked for a better game, and you could not have asked for more out of our team.

In their fourth straight appearance in a state-qualifying game, the Upsala/Swanville Area Patriots put their very best effort up against the very best effort of our B-B-E Jaguars football team for the toughest 48-minute battle you could ask for.

After the teams played to a 6-6 tie at halftime, the U/SA Patriots defeated the Jaguars by a 19-12 score and dashing B-B-E's season-long dream of earning back-to-back appearances in the state tournament. I billed it as one of the greatest high school football games I've ever seen. Unfortunately, we came up short. Season over! A difficult loss to process. It will take days.

Here's a video recorded just before the National Anthem was played at the FargoDome:


For the Patriots, this state tournament berth was in the making for 10 full seasons. Between 2015 and 2023, the Patriots had a record of 0-4 in section championship games.

Football can be a wild sport. Two years ago in this same game, U/SA lost to KMS by 7-6 score. The Patriots have now played in four straight section final games, and they came up with a win this time after losing the last three. And we came that close to sending them to 0-4. Hats off to their team for staying with it. As much as I hate losing, you have to admire what the Patriots have accomplished. Below is U/SA's Section 4A finals history in the last four years, which is now etched into my mind.
2021 section final: B-B-E 52, U/SA 44.
2022 section final: K-M-S 7, U/SA 6.
2023 section final: B-B-E 36, U/SA 12.
2024 section final: U/SA 19, B-B-E 12.

If you look at it cumulatively, across four section final appearances, U/SA was outscored 107-81 across four games where they have a 1-3 record. You can bet your bottom dollar they will make the most of this state tournament berth.

Prior to the COVID season, U/SA was upset by visiting teams in the playoff openers of 2018 and 2019. In 2017, they earned a giant upset of our Jaguars in Belgrade in the Section 4A semifinals by a 20-14 score...a loss that crushed me in so many ways. The Patriots went on to lose 28-0 to Mayer Lutheran in the finals that year. In 2016, U/SA lost 14-0 in the semifinals at Mayer Lutheran. In 2015, U/SA lost 35-6 on their field in Swanville to visiting Mayer Lutheran in the Section 4A semifinals. In 2014, U/SA played in Section 6A and defeated Royalton in the championship game to earn their last state berth. In the 2014 Class 1A state quarterfinals, Braham defeated U/SA in Brainerd. The 2013 season also featured a state tournament berth after U/SA defeated Browerville 35-8 in the FargoDome to win the Section 6A championship. At state in 2013, Mahnomen beat U/SA 28-12 at Bemidji.

In 2012, U/SA was in Class 2A, and they lost to Holdingford 34-0 in the Section 6AA finals in Fargo.

Here's a video featuring action in the later part of the first quarter today in Fargo:


A full review of the game will be posted much later tonight. Now it's time for the Belgrade Commercial Club Purse Bingo at the Belgrade V.F.W. Also, a deejay will be playing at the VFW tonight following purse bingo.

How the game started out...
The Jaguars won the first quarter of the game. Their defense was thoroughly dominant on the first series after U/SA started with great field position at their own 45. On first down, Carson Gilbert knocked down a pass attempt near the line of scrimmage. Second down brought a run for no gain. The third down play brought an overthrown pass. On 4th-and-12, U/SA chose not to punt and failed to convert fourth down. This gave the Jaguars terrific field position at the U/SA 40 with 10:52 left.

On B-B-E's first play from scrimmage, Luke Illies caught a halfback option pass for a 9-yard gain. Jack Lundberg converted on the next play on a reverse to the 20-yard line. He ran for 4 yards on the next play but was stopped for no gain on 2nd down. Brett DeRoo caught a 6-yard pass to bring 4th-and-2, but a fumbled ball was recovered on the next play for no gain.

On the turnover on downs, U/SA started back on their own 13-yard line, and they gained just 3 yards on 3 plays and punted with 7 minutes left.

B-B-E's second possession of the game started on U/SA's 49-yard line with 6:55 left. A 22-yard reception by Ethan Mueller was followed two plays later by a 9-yard catch by Brett DeRoo. On 3rd down, the Jaguars lost 7 yards on a fumble. The 4th-and-8 play had Kameron Hiltner streaking downfield, and he hauled in a perfect pass from Illies at the goal line just ahead of the defender. His 27-yard touchdown catch was followed by a 2-point conversion that was stopped a yard short. With 3:59 left in the opening quarter, the Jaguars held a 6-0 lead.

Here's action early in the 2nd quarter with the Jaguars forcing a turnover on downs:


How U/SA scored their first touchdown...
U/SA came up empty on their first 6 possessions of the game. Their tenacity came on strong, however, on their seventh possession late in the second quarter. With 2:14 left, the Patriots started on their 29, and they gained 17 yards on a catch-and-run reception. The following first down play got just 2 yards, and the next play brought a five-yard catch by Jack Primus. On third down, U/SA converted to the B-B-E 36. U/SA quarterback Frankie Meagher was hurried and threw an incomplete pass on first down. On 2nd-and-10 with under a minute to go, Primus bolted down the right sideline and caught a perfect, on-the-money pass in stride just as he sped past the right pylon. The touchdown reception was good from 36 yards out with 43 seconds to go. B-B-E's defense came up with a huge block on the PAT kick to keep it a 6-6 tie that stood into halftime.

Here's a video featuring that touchdown catch by Primus just before halftime:


I'm not a football expert - obviously - but it does appear that Primus pushed off on Brett DeRoo just before reaching out to catch the touchdown pass from Meagher. What do you see in the video? I have replayed it about 12 times so far to see just how that all went down.

Late Friday night, I have a pile of game notes to review from the second half before I fill out more of this Section 4A championship game review.

Some notes from the second half today...
For U/SA's first five possessions of the second half, they were held to 38 net yards while punting the ball three times and turning it over on downs twice.

A pivotal turnover on downs occurred with just under 6 minutes left in the third quarter, when the Jaguars stalled out at the U/SA 24-yard line after gaining 34 yards on their 9th overall possession of the game.

With the third quarter winding down, the Jaguar defense had to step up in a big way, and they did, while forcing a turnover on downs and holding U/SA to just 4 yards on 3 plays after they started on B-B-E's 40-yard line with 1 minute to go.

U/SA caught a huge, huge break when they earned a fumble recovery during B-B-E's 12th possession of the game. The lost fumble was returned for a touchdown with 8:20 left in the game. Hiltner came up with a huge interception on the 2-point conversion attempt. This made for a 12-6 deficit.

The Jaguars erased the 12-6 deficit on their 14th possession of the game when Hiltner caught a 40-yard touchdown pass from Aiden Mueller with 4:46 remaining in the game. Illies made a valiant effort for a two-point conversion on a broken play, but he was stopped one yard short of the goal line to keep the score at 12-12.

In the closing minute, Primus caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Meagher in the endzone with just 12 seconds to go. The PAT kick sailed straight through the uprights to put their team ahead 19-12. This game-winning touchdown closed out a 50-yard drive that used just 49 seconds of game clock. It was U/SA's 14th possession of the game.

A light web article from this game, with a video from the second quarter, has been added to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://shorturl.at/PNbJx. This web article contains some key plays from the fourth quarter.

Saturday is another busy day for the newspaper. The big event is the funeral in Swift Falls for Harold Jacobson. The Rolling Forks Township dairy farmer served on the Brooten school board from 1974 to 1989. He was one of a kind! Many of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren are either on the B-B-E school staff or are students in the system.

Let's talk musical!!
Here's the link to purchase musical tickets! Musical dates are November 15, 16 and 17: https://our.show/bbeluckystiff. You can see that link and read other information on the musical by clicking over to the "BBE" section at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/section/bbe.

Other Class 1A state-qualifying games:
Section 5A championship in Marshall: Minneota 34, BOLD 28.
Section 8A championship: Mahnomen/Waubun 36, Red Lake County 8.
Section 6A championship: Parkers Prairie 42, West Central Area 12.
Section 3A championship: Springfield 20, Murray County Central 10.
Section 1A championship: Goodhue 52, Fillmore Central 7.
Section 2A championship: Lester Prairie 14, United South Central 6.
Section 7A championship: Deer River 8, Mille Lacs 6.

Area Class 2A and higher section championship final scores on November 1:
Staples-Motley 36, Osakis 30
Barnesville 46, Hawley 22
Albany 29, Minnewaska Area 21
Kimball Area 26, Holdingford 20
Annandale 44, St. Cloud Cathedral 0
Marshall 35, Hutchinson 13
Renville County West 12, New Ulm Cathedral 0 (a 9-man result)
Dassel-Cokato 33, Litchfield 18
Border West 22, Hancock 20 (a 9-man result played on Thursday morning in Fargo)

GAME DAY! in CASS COUNTY! (VIDEO, UPDATES)

GOOD MORNING, Jaguar fans!

This is GAME DAY! And we are in Cass County, North Dakota! Over 130 miles from home...and preparing for the big, BIG game! Did I say this game is HUGE! We have a shot at a third state football tournament, which is incredible! The B-B-E Jaguars football team takes on undefeated and No. 5-ranked (Associated Press) Upsala/Swanville Area at the FargoDome with kickoff at 10 a.m. The Patriots are 9-0 overall, while our Jaguars are 8-1.

The game will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood. They broadcast at 107.1 FM of Glenwood and also online. Their website, which you can tune in from, is https://www.kmgk1071.com.

How's this for excitement! Here's a video from the section semis during the aftermath of Aiden Detloff's 41-yard fumble return for the last touchdown of the game on Saturday...


Game updates to follow here. Share this blog post on social media so others can follow along!

**After the first quarter, the Jaguars have a 6-0 lead. Kameron Hiltner scored on a 27-yard reception.

HALFTIME: B-B-E 6, U/SA 6. It is TIED after 24 minutes. Crazy. With 43 seconds left, Jack Primus caught a touchdown pass for 36 yards. The catch was made just before he crossed inside the right pylon with no room to spare.

The Jaguars blocked the PAT kick to make the first half essentially a draw. This is crazy town!!!

The second half is starting at 11:21 a.m.

****After three quarters, the score is still tied 6 to 6. The fourth quarter is starting at 11:46 a.m..

*MORE to come in the Friday Night Lights X blog post, which is added to this blog on Friday evening after musical practice.

THANK YOU to Fauskee Oil of Brooten and Elrosa Hardware and Lumber for sponsoring this Jaguars Sports playoff post!

Friday Night Lights IX: incredible 2nd quarter lifts Jaguars to section finals! (VIDEOS)

An absolutely incredible second quarter performance today by the B-B-E Jaguars football team launched them into their second straight Section 4A championship berth. The Jaguars led 42-0 at halftime after blistering the Tigers to the tune of 34 second quarter points. Final score: B-B-E 54, Browerville 0.

The final score marks the first playoff shutout win in B-B-E football history, which goes back 36 years! B-B-E improves to 8-1 overall. They have won every post-pandemic playoff opener, now four in a row, going back to 2021. In section semifinal games, the Jaguars have a record of 7-9. This means that this is the 7th time in school history that they will play in a section championship game. The other seasons they've made it to a section football final were 1997, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2021, 2023 and now 2024.

NEXT: the Section 4A championship game is on Friday, November 1, at the FargoDome in North Dakota. Kickoff is at 10 a.m. against No. 1-seeded Upsala/Swanville Area. The U/SA Patriots defeated No. 4-seeded Benson by a 49-6 score today in Upsala. Their overall record is now 9-0. The Braves finish their season 3-7 overall.

This is an eye-popping statistic that describes how the Jaguars won 54-0: the Jaguars earned an average of 12.4 yards per offensive play; the Tigers gained an average of just 1.75 yards per play.

Here's a video featuring the starter introductions, the opening kickoff and the first few minutes of the first quarter:


Before I get into the game review, I have to give a huge shout out to Browerville high school for two things: (1.) the Browerville Pep Band made the one-hour long trip to Belgrade and played during pregame plus at halftime. Kudos to them! (2.) the Browerville high school also sent a large cheerleading crew who displayed what I felt was an outstanding job of cheering throughout the entire game, even as the Tigers fell behind on the scoreboard by a wide margin. It takes great courage and character to continue giving your very best effort in spite of the realization that your team is going to lose.

How the game played out...
The game started with Browerville on offense, but their first series had a net loss of 7 yards on 3 plays. In their first try on offense, the Jaguars started on their own 29, but they had a net loss of 2 yards on 3 plays before punting. The Tigers went back on offense starting on their 33 with 8:14 left. On first down, Brett DeRoo tackled Browerville quarterback Ryan Riedel for a 4-yard loss. On second down, DeRoo had a pass break up, and third down was called dead due to a Browerville false start penalty. On 3rd-and-19, the Tigers gained just 3 yards. On 4th-and-16, the Browerville punt sailed high and landed on the track right in the Browerville cheerleader's section.

B-B-E's second series of the game brought another three-and-out with a punt on 4th-and-5. Luke Illies's punt rolled inside the 20, and Browerville started their third series with 5:54 left. A false start penalty hurt the Tigers on 3rd-and-7, and their 3rd-and-12 play resulted in an incomplete pass.

After receiving the punt, the Jaguars had first down on the Browerville 28-yard line with 3:48 on the clock after DeRoo had a great punt return. B-B-E then needed just 2 plays to punch in their first touchdown, with Jack Lundberg running for 6 yards and then 22 yards with a touchdown. Lundberg ran in the two-point conversion to give his team an 8-0 lead with 3:10 left in the opening quarter.

You can watch that first touchdown drive as part of this video below:


As you can hear in the video, I was jacked sky high! From the moment I ran into the stadium this afternoon, the Modus Operandi was that we had to give 200% all game long! In the instance where I thought the Browerville quarterback committed a grounding penalty, I did not see the nearby receiver just out of my camera view. In that case, it was not grounding, just a great effort by Riedel to get rid of the ball as Ethan Mueller was tackling him.

The Jaguars scored early and often across the second quarter to lead 42-0 at halftime. The onslaught of offense seemed unending, with the Jaguars utilizing numerous big plays to post five additional touchdowns as follows:
Second touchdown: Lundberg with an 87-yard run with 11:38 left.
Third touchdown: DeRoo with a 65-yard reception with 10:58 left.
Fourth touchdown: Kameron Hiltner with a 42-yard reception with 8:25 left.
Fifth touchdown: Lundberg with a 10-yard run with 6:48 left.
Sixth touchdown: Josh Walstrom with an 82-yard reception with 2:33 left.

After Walstrom's big touchdown reception, Lundberg ran in the two-point conversion to make it a 42-0 lead.

In a very classy move, the coaching staffs agreed to play JV squad players right at the beginning of the third quarter. With a six-score deficit, Browerville concluded that it was best to turn the game over to the JV and see how the second half played out. The Jaguars JV offense began the second half with possession, and while they did not score on that drive, they used over 6 minutes of game clock while driving into Browerville territory before stalling out on downs at the 47-yard line with 5:41 left.

Once the second half was complete, the JV defense kept the record-making shutout intact. B-B-E's JV offense scored with 4:09 left in the fourth quarter. Kaden Kollman leaped for a 17-yard touchdown catch in the endzone from quarterback Aiden Mueller. This brought a 48-0 score. After the kickoff, the JV team scored a defensive touchdown when Aiden Detloff returned a lost fumble from a distance of 41 yards in the final two minutes of the game.

For the game, the Jaguars racked up nearly 460 yards of offense. A full review of game statistics won't be completed until later this evening.

Here's head coach Chris Moscho in a postgame interview today:


Game statistics summary:
B-B-E's defense was incredible from start to finish, including in the second half. The Tigers attempted to convert third down 12 different times, and their final conversion rate was 0-for-12. Through 48 minutes, the Jaguars limited Browerville's offense to 96 yards. A total of 21 Jaguars recorded one or more tackles. Kameron Hiltner had the game's only interception, and Aiden Detloff had the game's lone fumble recovery. Browerville's varsity and JV quarterbacks combined for passing marks of 3-for-13 for 8 yards. Browerville ran the ball 38 times for a total of 88 rushing yards.

For their part, B-B-E had 156 rushing yards on just 12 carries. Through the air, Luke Illies and Aiden Mueller combined for 303 passing yards and four touchdowns! Wow! For those who are calculating, that comes out to a quarterback passing rating (combined) of 126.36.

More to come. Video is uploading. Plus, I have a big event tonight in Padua with the Bonanza Valley Royal Strutters Gun Blast!

Don't forget! the St. Francis de Sales Catholic church holds their fall pancake and sausage supper on Sunday (tomorrow) from 2 to 6 p.m. at the parish center on Martin Avenue. Also, a fall sports show was recorded tonight, and it will get posted in a new blog post on Sunday after church.

Area football scores (section semifinals) on October 26:
Holdingford 34, Eden Valley-Watkins 14 (the Huskers avenge a Week 8 loss by a 24-6 score in Eden Valley)
Kimball Area 37, Royalton 0
Mahnomen/Waubun 43, Polk County West 0
Barnesville 58, Frazee 6
Parkers Prairie 22, Breckenridge 12
Border West 51, Ottertail Central 8
Hancock 56, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 28
Osakis 16, Pillager 15
Renville County West 41, Red Rock Central 8
Minnewaska Area 26, New London-Spicer 22 (a huge win for the Lakers football program just a year after they went 2-7; they are now section finals bound)
Two Harbors 21, Pierz 20
Litchfield 44, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 27
Marshall 20, Willmar 6
Minneota 62, Canby 0
Mille Lacs 24, Braham 8
BOLD 41, Dawson-Boyd 20
Alexandria 38, Bemidji 13
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 31, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 27 (MA/CA drops a tough one at Big Cat Stadium in Morris)
Hutchinson 21, St. Peter 0
Albany 44, Sauk Centre 8
Pipestone Area 23, Redwood Valley 14
West Central Area 42, New York Mills 18
Springfield 27, Sleepy Eye United 6

GAME DAY! At OUR house! At the Jaguar stadium (VIDEO, UPDATES!)

Game updates to be posted here this afternoon! The game is not on the radio. It's partly cloudy, temps in the 50s...some south wind! Let's GO JAGUARS!

Post-game in Murdock!


GAME UPDATES...

After the first quarter, the Jaguars have an 8-0 lead.

Early in the second quarter, Jack Lundberg scored on an 85 yard touchdown run with 11 minutes and 38 seconds on the clock. This made it 14-0.

Halftime: BBE 42, Browerville 0. Yes, indeed!

**In the other semifinal game, the Patriots are ahead 49 to 6 with about 3 minutes left in the game.

Section playoff semifinals set (VIDEOS*)

A video was added here late on Wednesday afternoon...

The last four teams standing in Section 4A are now set. In tonight's quarterfinal round, the Browerville Tigers defeated visiting Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 43-14. This means that our B-B-E Jaguars football team knows its opponent for their playoff opener. The Jaguars (7-1) and Browerville (6-3) will meet in the Section 4A semifinals this Saturday, October 26 at 2 p.m. at our house at the B-B-E high school football stadium.

Here's a video from the first quarter during Friday Night Lights VIII in Murdock:


I posted that video last weekend, but it hasn't gotten many views yet. Now I return to publishing the October 24 newspaper issue. Additional notes will be added to this blog post on Wednesday morning.

**Here's action from the third quarter against K-M-S last week...


The Jaguars were on defense at the beginning of that video.

**Also! there is not radio coverage for the volleyball match on Wednesday night. The match starts in our house at 7 p.m.!

State tennis tournament updates:
At the Class 1A state tournament today, the Litchfield Dragons girls' tennis team defeated Montevideo 5-2. In another quarterfinal state match, the Crookston Pirates defeated Providence Academy 5-2 (way to go public schools!)...now Litchfield and Crookston will meet in the semifinals tomorrow morning at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis. Litchfield is the No. 3 seed, while Crookston is the No. 2 seed.

Area football playoff opener scores on October 22:
West Central Area 40, Pine River-Backus 8
Parkers Prairie 62, Brandon-Evansville/Ashby 6
Benson 47, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 6
Royalton 22, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 14
Holdingford 42, Paynesville Area 2
Renville County West 46, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 8
Sauk Centre 16, Melrose Area 8
Willmar 28, New Ulm 6
New London-Spicer 50, Montevideo 7

In Murdock for the Section 5AA playoffs, Royalton trailed 14-0 before scoring a touchdown before halftime to trail 14-6. They scored 16 unanswered points in the second half to end K-M-S's season. Jett Olson carried the ball 31 times for a whopping 233 rushing yards, but it was not enough to overcome three lost fumbles.

Friday Night Lights VIII: defense rules the night, Jaguars win border battle (VIDEOS!)

This was not a game for the faint of heart!

While it did not technically go down to the wire, the B-B-E Jaguars football team did not have the game in hand against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg until quarterback Luke Illies took a knee in the final minute of the fourth quarter. They had just scored 14 unanswered points across the final 26 minutes of the 48-minute-long border battle. A game ruled by defense and offensive miscues was won by the Jaguars by a 14-3 score at Murdock.

Here's action from late in the 1st quarter last night (Wednesday) in Murdock:


More to come. I have many pages of notes to review from the game!

How the game developed...
The flow of the game was outlined soon after the game's opening kickoff. B-B-E started on their own 32-yard line, and Ethan Mueller caught an 8-yard pass. Good! On the next play, the Jaguars lost a fumble, which gave K-M-S the ball on B-B-E's 39-yard line with 11:16 left in the first quarter. On K-M-S's first series, they gained one net yard on three plays but got off a great punt. The chess match was underway, as the Jaguars started their second series back on their own 14-yard line. Two plays later, the Jaguars lost possession on another fumble.

Back on defense, the Jaguars got tough again, but K-M-S had advantageous field position with their second drive starting on the B-B-E 10-yard line. A solo tackle by Ethan Mueller on first down brought a 5-yard loss. Next was an incomplete pass, but quarterback Tyler Engelke got those yards back with a carry on the next play. This set up 4th-and-10, and the Fighting Saints elected to kick a field goal. The kick was just on the mark, barely, as the ball fell on the goal post and rolled over to the ground. K-M-S 3, B-B-E 0 was the resulting score.

Over 16 minutes of scoreless football went by after that field goal. The Jaguars swiped the lead away from K-M-S with 1:11 left before halftime when lineman Noah Kampsen earned an interception and ran it back for a 68-yard Pick Six touchdown. The resulting 6-3 score stood to halftime.

Here's a video featuring how that Pick Six went down...


The second half...
Two false start penalties hampered K-M-S on the first series of the third quarter. The Fighting Saints had driven just into B-B-E territory, but they later punted on 4th-and-14 on their own 48-yard line with four minutes gone. The first drive of the third quarter for the Jaguars ended after three plays by an interception near midfield. K-M-S had possession at their own 45-yard line, but their drive lasted just three plays and ended on a lost fumble which was recovered by Brett DeRoo with 5:08 left in the third quarter.

This put the Jaguars back in the driver's seat with just 44 yards to go. On second down, Jack Lundberg caught a 16-yard pass. Brett DeRoo followed that with a 9-yard catch, and the Fighting Saints then committed a dead ball penalty to convert 2nd-and-1. Now at the K-M-S 19, the Jaguars had all the momentum. DeRoo caught an 11-yard pass and had a bead on the end zone before being stacked up one yard short. With first down on the K-M-S one-yard line, a costly lost fumble stopped a great opportunity to score the game's first offensive touchdown. Instead, the Fighting Saints took over possession with 1:46 left in the third at their own 2-yard line.

Later in the game...K-M-S had possession for the 10th time of the game early in the fourth quarter. Near midfield, Brett DeRoo grabbed an interception with an 8-yard return. This gave B-B-E possession at K-M-S's 42-yard line with 7:04 left in the game. Nine plays later, DeRoo caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Luke Illies in the right corner of the endzone after he got a couple steps ahead of his defender. Harley Weber powered in the two-point conversion, and the Jaguars held a 14-3 lead with 2:47 to go.

After the kickoff that followed, the Fighting Saints reset their offense on their own 25-yard line. Their attempt for a big play on first down ended quickly when Kameron Hiltner grabbed an interception at the K-M-S 43-yard line.

Game statistics...
Luke Illies earned 10-of-18 passing marks for 114 yards. DeRoo caught 5 of those 10 receptions for 51 yards. Overall, B-B-E gained 219 yards with 105 of them on the ground. Their defense held the Fighting Saints to 115 net yards, 89 on the ground. Through the air, the Fighting Saints had 2-of-9 marks for just 26 yards.

Three Jaguars earned interceptions: Kampsen, Brett DeRoo and Kameron Hiltner. Hiltner's interception all but sealed the win for the Jaguars with 2:35 left in the game.

Mid-Northwest Gopher Gold District football scores in Week 8 on October 16:
Browerville 43, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 14
Benson 42, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 0
Upsala/Swanville Area 37, West Central Area 14

Breaking news!
The Section 4A seedings have gone final this afternoon, and the Jaguars are the No. 2 seed for the upcoming playoffs. Both the Jaguars and top-seeded Upsala/Swanville Area received first-round byes. B-B-E's playoff opener is on Saturday, October 26 on the home field.

Section 4A football seedings:
1. U/SA
2. B-B-E
3. Browerville
4. Benson
5. Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City
6. Long Prairie-Grey Eagle

Friday updates:
A light recap of the past week in football news has been posted to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://shorturl.at/p6XNr. Also! Don't forget tonight's supper and auction at Big Grove Lutheran Church in North Fork Township! The fun begins at 5 p.m. with their supper (serving Padua Pub beef sandwiches) plus the auction at 7 p.m.

The Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's website community calendar has been updated as of this morning. I cleared out old events and added a couple new and updated the school board meeting date. They will meet on Tuesday, November 12, the day after Veteran's Day. You can find that website calendar by clicking on this short link: https://shorturl.at/wgmJ4. If you haven't bookmarked that webpage, please do so! It will quickly inform you on a host of upcoming LOCAL events across the Bonanza Valley area and Jaguar Country.

In volleyball news...the Jaguars are seeded No. 1 in Sub-Section 6A-South. Great! They open the playoffs on Wednesday, October 23 with a home match at 7 p.m. I'll get full details posted in a new blog post later tonight.

Area football scores in Week 8 on October 16:
MACCRAY 42, Yellow Medicine East 0
BOLD 66, Canby 20
Parkers Prairie 57, Pine River-Backus 0
Hancock 42, Ottertail Central 6
Royalton 42, Paynesville Area 8
Rock Ridge 19, Duluth East 14
Osakis 52, Maple Lake 8
Albany 52, Montevideo 7
Minneota 54, Dawson-Boyd 0
Kimball Area 42, St. Cloud Cathedral 7
Rockford 20, Sauk Centre 0
Border West 65, Brandon-Evansville/Ashby 18
Mountain Lake 52, Renville County West 13
Lakeview 20, Lac qui Parle Valley 19
Minnewaska Area 56, Melrose Area 14
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 20, Pierz 18
Annandale 35, New London-Spicer 3
Eden Valley-Watkins 24, Holdingford 6