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!

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.

Four Jaguars earned interceptions: Kampsen, Ethan Mueller, 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 both get first-round byes. B-B-E's playoff opener is on Saturday, October 26 on the home field.

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 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