extended sports coverage for the B-B-E community brought to you by the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper in Brooten, MN. (Address: P.O. Box 250, Brooten) http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. ALL VIEWS posted are strictly and without exception the opinions of the newspaper owner and no one else; they're written in first hand format. Please submit feedback in writing to the address posted above. **This is Minnesota's oldest varsity high school sports blog. We hope to keep it going into the future!
Monday, November 04, 2024
The musical is coming! the Musical is coming! (VIDEO)
This blog post will be expanded out tonight and tomorrow (Tuesday) to promote B-B-E's fall musical called 'Lucky Stiff' - coming to the Olson Auditorium theater stage at B-B-E high school on Friday, Saturday and Sunday - November 15, 16 and 17. You can purchase tickets and read more on the musical by clicking over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://shorturl.at/x1LQC.
The easiest response to someone asking, "What's the musical about?" is to tell them that it's a high school musical version of the hit 1989 movie "Weekend at Bernie's" that grossed a whopping $30 million that year on a $15 million production budget.
Here's a video clip featuring a glimpse of musical rehearsal back on Friday, October 25:
I strongly encourage you to come out and watch at least one of their shows! If you don't take in any of the musical nights, you are cheating yourself and the musical students! Don't be that person!!
Tuesday updates...ELECTION DAY!
My Bonanza Valley Voice SmugMug events albums are being updated this week. I'm getting mostly caught up through a couple weekends ago...you can see local events (community and school-related) photo albums by clicking here: https://bonanzavalley.smugmug.com/2024-B-B-EBonanza-Valley-area-events.
I have a whopping 12 event folders of separate, distinct events that have taken place across the past couple of weeks that I want to get included in this week's issue. That's about as high as I've ever seen it. October included a crazy number of local events. We are lucky to live in an area with such a high level of activities that we can participate in!
TUESDAY NIGHT election results...
You can follow local election results at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website...click on this short link to redirect your web browser to my election night article: https://rb.gy/99srez.
While it is painful that we will not be part of either of them, here's a brief overview of the state quarterfinals coming this week for football and volleyball. It pains me that this will be the first fall since 2017 (not including 2020, when there was no state tournament for any sports) that B-B-E will not have a fall state tournament team. That is a stretch of 7 years!
State volleyball...
In the Class 1A state volleyball pairings, West Central Area (27-4) earned the No. 4 seed and will open at 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 7 in the quarterfinals. Last night in the Section 6A championship, WCA swept Hillcrest Lutheran Academy to earn back-to-back state trips. The MSHSL website has not posted set scores from the match yet. At state in the opener, WCA will face No. 5-seeded Kittson County Central, who won the Section 8A championship in a four-set win over Ada-Borup West.
Incredibly, New Life Academy of Section 4A earned the No. 3 seed at state. They were ranked No. 19 in the QRF rankings and have an 18-12 record. In the Skyline Conference, NLA tied for fourth place with Maranatha Christian. From my view, WCA was robbed in the state seedings and should have been seeded No. 3.
New London-Spicer is back at the state volleyball tournament for the first time since 2009, when Mimi Knutson coached the Wildcats into the state tournament with a 29-1 record. At state this year, the Wildcats are the No. 8 seed and open up with No. 1-seeded Albany in the quarterfinals at 1 p.m. on Thursday, November 7.
State volleyball seedings:
1. Mayer Lutheran
2. Minneota
3. New Life Academy
4. West Central Area
5. Kittson County Central
6. Fillmore Central
7. Ely
8. Sebeka
State football...
In the Class 1A state football pairings, Upsala/Swanville Area earned the No. 1 seed in the North half of the state field. The state tournament was split into "south" and "north" divisions for the first time ever. (A good move.) For U/SA, they open with No. 4-seeded (North) Parkers Prairie on Thursday, November 7 with a 6 p.m. kickoff at Rock Ridge high school's football stadium, which is located between Eveleth and Virginia. The Rock Ridge high school opened up in 2021, and their football stadium is impressive. My stepson Jack (Class of 2025) played two years of varsity football there with the Class 4A Rock Ridge Warriors.
In Class 2A, Kimball Area will play in the state tournament as the No. 1 North seed. They open state on Friday, November 8 with kickoff at Brainerd high school at 7 p.m. against No. 4-seeded Moose Lake/Willow River. This is Kimball's first football state tournament of this century, and I am unaware of when they may have played at state in the 20th century.
Section volleyball championship match scores on November 2: Section 5AA championship: Annandale 3, Maple Lake 1 (a tough loss marking the end of the season for 6 seniors on Coach Kiebel's Irish squad) Section 7A championship: Ely 3, Bigfork 0 Section 1A championship: Fillmore Central 3, Mabel-Canton 1 Section 1AAA championship: Stewartville 3, Byron 2 (after missing state since 2019, Stewartville is back at state for the first time in Class 3A; they were the 2019 Class 2A state champions) Section 3AA championship: New London-Spicer 3, Redwood Valley 0 (NL-S Wildcats are back at state for the first time since 2009; this was NL-S's first section championship berth since 2014) Section 6A championship: West Central Area 3, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 0 Section 3A championship: Minneota 3, Westbrook-Walnut Grove 1
Section volleyball championship match scores on November 1: Section 4A championship: New Life Academy 3, West Lutheran 1 Section 8A championship: Kittson County Central 3, Ada-Borup West 1
Section semifinal (sub-section finals) match scores on October 31:
Westbrook-Walnut Grove 3, Russel-Tyler-Ruthton 1
Mayer Lutheran 3, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 0
Annandale 3, Watertown-Mayer 2
Mabel-Canton 3, Kenyon-Wanamingo 2
Sebeka 3, Pine River-Backus 1
New London-Spicer 3, Paynesville Area 1
Alexandria 3, Rocori 1
Minneota 3, Canby 1
Albany 3, Sauk Centre 2
Maple Lake 3, Providence Academy 1
Record for state-qualifying games at B-B-E (VIDEOS added)
A few additions were posted on Sunday to this blog post including video from Fargo...on Sunday afternoon, I am actually taking it easy!! For once.
This is mostly a "placeholder" blog post. I randomly thought about this and decided to flush it out tonight. Before I get to what I'm talking about, I'd like to encourage you to go back and review the Friday Night Lights X blog post. I added a video and some other updates on Saturday.
Overall, in B-B-E Jaguar athletic history, not including golf teams, a total of 55 teams have competed in state-qualifying contests. That is crazy!!!! Wow! It took about a half hour, and I found myself making a couple mistakes while doing it. This is what I came up with: between 1995 and yesterday, the Jaguars have had 21 teams win state-qualifying games, also known as section championships. Another 34 teams competed in section championship games but fell short of the big show. It is really mind boggling for a small school. Think about that! A total of 55 teams have made it all the way to section championship games.
Then add in numerous boys' and girls' golf teams who competed at the state meets (all between 2019 and 2023), and you have an impressive string of success for our small school!!!
The 21 non-golf teams who have competed at state all made it to the big show between 2005 and 2024. Between 1995 and 2005, the Jaguars had 11 total teams all fall short of the state tournament by one game. I personally witnessed 9 of those 11 section final losses. Teams losing in section championships from 1995 to 2005 included girls' basketball, boys' basketball, football, wrestling and volleyball teams. After the boys' basketball team lost in the 2005 Section 5A championship, the volleyball team won the Section 6AA title in November of 2005 to become B-B-E's first team at the state tournament.
Here's my total for state tournament teams by sport: volleyball with 7 state teams, boys' basketball with 4 state teams, wrestling with 4 state teams, girls' basketball with 3 state teams, football with 2 state teams and baseball with one state team. Add it up! That's 21 state tournament teams not including boys' or girls' golf (who have 5 cumulative state trips). I hope I'm not missing anything there. If something pops up, I will update this blog post.
Sunday...don't forgetthe Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic church ham and egg breakfast! They serve from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.!! (Ad on page 2 this week in The Voice.)
**Added on Sunday after church...here's the first 3 minutes of the Section 4A championship, with the video beginning with the opening kickoff:
As I wrote on Friday night, the Jaguars started out on fire on defense. They were LIGHTS OUT for those first three plays while holding the Patriots to a net negative two yards while forcing a punt.
Here's a video from the second quarter in the FargoDome on Friday...
Remember...church breakfast in Elrosa on Sunday!
Here's a video from late in the 3rd quarter with just over 3 minutes to go...the Jaguars are on defense near midfield:
State tournament updates...
In the Class 1A state volleyball pairings, West Central Area (27-4) earned the No. 4 seed and will open at 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 7 in the quarterfinals. Last night in the Section 6A championship, WCA swept Hillcrest Lutheran Academy to earn back-to-back state trips. The MSHSL website has not posted set scores from the match yet. *GRRRR!!
In the Class 1A state football pairings, Upsala/Swanville Area earned the No. 1 seed in the North half of the state field. The state tournament was split into "south" and "north" divisions for the first time ever. (A good move.) For U/SA, they open with No. 4-seeded (North) Parkers Prairie on Thursday, November 7 with a 6 p.m. kickoff at Rock Ridge high school's football stadium, which is located between Eveleth and Virginia. The Rock Ridge high school opened up in 2021, and their football stadium is impressive. My stepson Jack (Class of 2025) played two years of varsity football there with the Class 4A Rock Ridge Warriors.
I'll get a NEW blog post added later on Sunday night after taking an actual break from work!
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)
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!
The Voice Fall Sports Show No. 11! and...Box Score Sports Episode 5! (VIDEOS)
How's this for timing! Here you can get a double dose of...me!
Here's my 11th fall sports podcast of the season, recorded late last night:
And I was thrilled to be a guest on the B-B-E high school's Box Score Sports podcast, which was recorded this week and posted online this morning.
Here's Austin Berge and Aiden Mueller hosting Box Score Sports Episode 5 for the 2024-2025 school year:
Just for FUN! How about THIS for a throwback! Here's my blog post written on Saturday, October 28, 2006...a few hours after the Jaguars lost 14-7 in the Section 5A football semifinals in Murdock. It was an incredible game. Losses like them stick with you: https://bbejaguars.blogspot.com/2006/10/jaguar-football-we-were-robbed.html.
It's still Thursday morning...but it is time to begin preparation for the FargoDome! My list has about 100 items on it for today. The very first on the list is to hang a garbage bag on our "Back the Blue" sign in our front yard. I won't explain here why I'm doing that, but some of you reading this may get it. As I type this, we are just 24 hours away from KICKOFF! The pressure is ON!!
Late Thursday night...
I'm happy to announce that the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's sports department arrived in Fargo right around 10 p.m. tonight! We quickly settled into our hotel room at the Quality Suites near the West Acres Shopping Mall. I have to say that this is SO worth the expense! The FargoDome is just four miles away, which means we can essentially "sleep in" tomorrow, enjoy a free hotel breakfast and then gear up for the big football game! Just being able to have a hearty breakfast basically a little over an hour before kickoff is a HUGE money-saving bonus. The breakfast itself can wipe out at least one-third of the hotel room's price. Add in the ability to have a low-stress Friday morning, and this has wins written all over it.
Now that November is...tomorrow! It is time to dramatically ramp up pre-musical coverage for the upcoming B-B-E Theater's production of Lucky Stiff at Olson Auditorium's stage. If you want to learn more about what the musical is about, you can visit Music Theater International's official website: https://www.mtishows.com/lucky-stiff. The show is PG-rated and takes place across two acts. I've posted a short web article online that features a video clip from their October 25 rehearsal. You can see that by clicking here: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com.
Step III: a dream cut short, five-game thriller goes to the Knights (VIDEOS*)
Time for a "post makeover" on Wednesday night! Tonight, Wednesday, I am struck a bit by straight up fear at getting through the next 48 hours. The next 48 hours involve a drive to Fargo, North Dakota, and the biggest football game since last year's state semifinal contest in Minneapolis. The pressure is on at full strength after I remake this blog post, which will bring you a full recap of the sub-section championship. I have added a sports podcast recording at the end...
This will be brief! I have a long drive ahead.
Trailing 6-1 in game five, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team picked themselves up and made a battle of it with West Central Area. In the end, the Knights had too much at the end and advance with a 15-12 win. B-B-E cut an 11-6 deficit down to 13-10 late in the final game.
The Jaguars won game FOUR by a 25-20 score. It is time to head home.
Here's an overview of how Tuesday night played out for the Sub-Section 6A-South volleyball championship in Fergus Falls.
In a heavyweight battle between Top 10 teams in Class 1A, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team had revenge on their minds with No. 8-ranked West Central Area. The Knights, who entered the night ranked No. 12 in Class 1A by QRF, faced a Jaguars team that was No. 2 on that same scale. Both teams bring back a long list of returning talent from their 2023 squads that also met in the same match that precedes the state qualifier, the Section 6A championship. In 2023, the Knights prevailed by a 3-1 margin against a B-B-E team that featured numerous newcomers to the varsity level but had a stellar regular season where they earned a solo conference crown.
In a match reminiscent of the 2021 Section 6A championship, during which our Jaguars suffered a five-set loss to Breckenridge and fall one win short of state, the West Central Area Knights prevailed 3-2 to claim their second straight sub-section title. Game scores vs. WCA: 17-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-20, 12-15. The Jaguars finish a spectacular season 27-4 overall after going 23-7 a year ago.
Game five lasted a full 15 minutes, and you can read about all five sets further below on this blog post...first, here's some video plus other notes I posted last night before preparing the October 31 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice for the printing press.
Here's action from early in game two where the Jaguars were trying to right the ship after fading in a game one loss:
*Here's video in game 4 tonight featuring the end of that set:
The clip begins with the Jaguars ahead 23-18. That fourth set was polished off by a big middle attack for a kill by sophomore Teagan Dingmann.
It's nearing 23:00 tonight, and I'm back in the saddle in the comfort of my home office. It's GOOD to be home! I topped out at around 220 action photos tonight. GOOD grief!
It will take a day or two to really let tonight's volleyball match soak in. It truly was a remarkable, thrilling, exciting, heartbreaking night. As it is common knowledge by this point, B-B-E's senior setter and third-year starter, Kylie Weller, suffered a knee injury last week and was unable to play tonight. She bravely poured herself into supporting her team sitting on the bench with crutches next to her. It was tough. Real tough. I told her dad tonight that once she is back from whatever surgery she may face, she will be tougher because of what she went through. I can speak to that after having one of my own daughters face an extremely tough surgery and recovery one year ago.
To add to that difficult adversity that our Jaguars faced this week, a big scare came over everyone on our side when junior outside hitter Kacey Fischer collided with the left volleyball post. She was down for about two minutes before getting tended to by our fearless trainer. At that point, our Jaguars held an 18-15 lead in game two. INCREDIBLY, with Kacey on the bench and freshman reserve Macey Roering taking her spot, the Jaguars INCREASED their lead to 21-16! It was INCREDIBLE!! Did I say that it was INCREDIBLE! Kadynce Haider smoked an attack to make it 21-16. Somehow, also incredible...the WCA Knights fought back with a noteworthy amount of perseverance and took a 22-21 lead on a 6-0 run. Haider then tipped it for a kill to tie it at 22-22. WCA got a kill, and the Jaguars were called for a lift to bring set point. The Knights were on an 8-1 run. The final point came on a hitting error that gave WCA a 25-22 win and a 2-0 lead in sets.
Kacey Fischer returned to the court for game three, and the Jaguars proceeded to shine at crucial junctures of the next two sets as they forced a game five. She finished with 18 kills on 46 attacks with 17 digs and 2 block assists.
Game one vs. WCA
The lead changed hands when the Jaguars fought back from a 5-3 deficit when Haider's kill put them in front 6-5. Kacey Fischer's right side kill plus her ace serve and a Hagen kill put them ahead 10-6, prompting WCA into a timeout. The Knights scored 3 straight while going on a 9-1 run. The Jaguars got two points on WCA errors, but they had their own string of miscues that helped WCA take a 21-13 lead. Kills from Kamie Fischer, Lieser and Haider were not enough to fuel a late rally.
Game two vs. WCA
The Jaguars had the upper hand early in game two and caught fire with a 5-0 run that put them ahead 7-2. Beginning with a block by Teagan Dingmann, the Jaguars were the aggressors with two kills from Kacey Fischer and two ace serves by Hagen. The Knights clawed back to trail 10 before Lieser's kill brought a side out. Hagen hit consecutive kills to help expand the lead to 17-10. Kacey Fischer went to the bench briefly after colliding with the left volleyball post, but the Jaguars maintained their composure and expanded an 18-15 lead to 21-16. WCA stormed back to gain a 25-23 win as they stunned Jaguar fans with a late 8-1 run.
Game three vs. WCA
Once again, the Jaguars rocketed out of the gate to build a big lead early in game three. An ace tip and a block by Dingmann plus Kacey Fischer's kill made it 7-1. The Jaguars pushed the tempo and led 13-9 before WCA All-State hitter Mya Foslien came alive with five kills that put her team ahead 15-14. Kamie Fischer's ace tip and an ace serve made it a 19-16 lead, but the Knights tied it with 3 straight points. Not wanting to flirt with a loss by sweep, the Jaguars put together their best run of the night while scoring 6 of 7 points in a 25-20 win. Lieser, Kacey Fischer and Hagen all had late kills, with Lieser's kill making it 24-20 before the Knights hit long to end the set.
Game four vs. WCA
The Jaguars came back from a 4-2 deficit in game four and maintained the upper hand with leads of 7-4, 13-7 and 16-11. WCA closed the gap to one point, but the Jaguars were strong down the stretch as Dingmann's kill finished another 25-20 win.
Game five vs. WCA
With Foslien hammering down 4 straight kills and then earning an ace block, WCA was the aggressor to start game 5 with a 5-0 lead. The Jaguars came back from a 6-1 deficit with kills by Hagen and Kacey Fischer plus Abigail Lien's ace serve and Haider's block to make it 7-5. WCA got a right-side block for an 11-6 lead, but Haider had two kills to cut it to 12-9. Down 14-10, Dingmann and Hagen had 2 straight kills to make it 14-12, but that's as close as they got. You can watch the final rally by the Jaguars in game five by clicking over to the Bonanza Valley Voice website: https://tinyurl.com/cy7wh3a9.
The Jaguars were strong at the service line with 94 percent serving and 8 ace serves. Three hitters were in double digits: Kacey Fischer (18 kills), Hagen (15 kills) and Haider (13 kills). Kamie Fischer had 47 set assists, and Deters tallied 19 digs.
Here's the WCA Pep Band playing the National Anthem, the player introductions and the start of game one tonight:
Game stats will not be fully reviewed until Wednesday morning.
In the Sub-Section 6A-North finals tonight at Fergus Falls, the No. 1-seeded Breckenridge Cowgirls suffered a 3-2 loss to No. 2-seeded Hillcrest Lutheran Academy. Crazy. Back-to-back five-set championship matches played tonight in Fergus Falls! The WCA Knights (26-4) will face Hillcrest Lutheran Academy in the Section 6A finals this Saturday night at 7 p.m. back at Fergus Falls.
More to come. I saw Maple Lake beat Kimball Area 3-2 in a giant playoff match in Section 5AA. The Irish were the home team tonight. In the last match of the regular season (October 15), Maple Lake survived a scare at Kimball Area in a 3-2 win that gave them a share of the conference title with our Jaguars. Next for Coach Marty Kiebel's squad is Providence Academy, a team ranked No. 20 in the Class 2A QRF that sports an 18-3 overall record. The Lions were champions of the Independent Metro Athletic Conference. The Section 5AA Final Four features Maple lake, Providence Academy, top-seeded Annandale plus Watertown-Mayer.
Area volleyball sub-section final scores on October 29:
Pine River-Backus 3, Swanville 0 (Swanville's dream season ends in Sub-Section 5A-East; the Tigers, who lost to our Jaguars in the season opener, won 26-24, 25-18, 25-22 to avenge a 2-0 tournament loss on September 14 in Crosby; Swanville finishes 23-4 after one of their best-ever volleyball seasons, while PR-B takes a 19-11 record to the 5A finals against Sebeka)
Sebeka 3, Browerville 0
Sauk Centre 3, Royalton 0 (technically it was simply a Section 6AA semifinal)
Albany 3, Milaca 0
Area volleyball sub-section semifinal scores on October 29:
Canby 3, MACCRAY 0 (the Lancers end MACCRAY's season by scores of 25-18, 25-17, 25-17 in the 3A-North semis)
Minneota 3, Renville County West 0 (the Vikings won 25-20, 25-16, 25-19)
Paynesville Area 3, Eden Valley-Watkins 1
New London-Spicer 3, Litchfield 0
Here's my 11th sports podcast recording of this fall season:
I'll repost that in a new blog post on Thursday. Ironically, I had just a couple brief points I wanted to focus on during what was supposed to be a shorter sports show. In fact, it ended up going 15 minutes long. **A new blog post went live on Thursday morning, October 31.
The first 'SHIP! Volleyball Jaguars set to battle Knights in Fergus Falls (VIDEO, UPDATES)
We have REVENGE on our minds! At top of mind specifically is a rematch with the West Central Area Knights for our Central Minnesota Conference champion B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team, as the two teams will collide at Fergus Falls high school tonight with a 6 p.m. start time. They are the top seeds in the sub-section. Our Jaguars have a 27-3 overall record, while the Knights enter 25-4. This one is going to be an epic battle!!! The Jaguars need to block well and serve well in order to have a chance at advancing!
Tonight's Sub-Section 6A-South championship will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood. (Thanks, Brady!) They stream online! So you can tune in that way: https://www.kmgk1071.com. ...update...Brady re-appeared! So you can tune in via the Glenwood radio station (107.1 FM) via the radio waves or Interwebs.
**Here's a video featuring the end of the subsection semifinals against C-G-B...
Match UPDATES to follow here! Please share this blog link so others can follow along from anywhere!
In game one...the Jaguars jumped out to a nice 10-6 lead, but now the Knights hold a 14-11 advantage after they found success at the service line.
Game one final: WCA 25, B-B-E 17. The Jaguars looked rough, and it was very tough to watch, as the Knights began picking up their back row play and challenging the Jaguar attack. Trailing 14-11, Coach Borgerding called a timeout. They got no closer than 3 points, trailing 16-13, before the Knights had a key 5-0 run to take control and win the opening set.
Game 2 final: WCA 25, BBE 23.
Game 3 final: BBE 25, WCA 20.
UPDATES IN A NEW BLOG POST.
THANK YOU to Bonanza Valley State Bank of Brooten for supporting this sports playoff post! And all the work we do at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper 365 days of the year.
Oh, man, did I bury myself on Saturday. I just checked the camera card: 338 pictures taken on Saturday afternoon at the football game. Now the uphill climb begins for picking what gets published in the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper! Oh, boy!
I'm also working on a cross country story on senior Taylor Nelson, who was a leader at the Section 6A meet on the Paynesville/B-B-E boys' cross country squad. In last Thursday's state qualifier, Nelson missed advancing to the state cross country meet by just two places. It was a heartbreaking end to what was a short but outstanding cross country career.
Football and volleyball are clearly, and with good reason, the big talk of the community this week. We have two big match ups ahead of us for both teams! Have you made your plans yet for carpooling to Fergus Falls tomorrow night?
More to come tonight. Soon it's time to get ready for the B-B-E Music Boosters Halloween Spooktacular!
BIG announcement for volleyball fans:
Ticket sales are online only. Which I absolutely despise...but I am powerless to change that. So, for the Tuesday volleyball match in Fergus Falls, you have to go to this website and purchase whatever tickets you need: https://gofan.co/event/2039633?schoolId=MN16848. Adults are $10, and students are $5 each.
Here's a video from game 2 of the subsection semifinals last Friday:
