Yes, the Tigers have a 6-17 record. But forget about that, as the orange and black wrapped up the regular season with a four-match win streak.
Not only that, three of the wins came by decisive sweep! At the very end, we dominated the visiting Silverstreaks of Osakis. The action was Tuesday night at Tiger Center here in Motown.
The 3-0 sweep was a nice crisp performance for Senior Night. It included Brianna Marty delivering ten kills. She also performed 19 digs and three aces. Maddy Grove came on strong with nine kills and 12 digs. Our kmrs-kkok site further reports that Brienna Dybdahl had 25 assists. Cam Ostby added to the mix with seven kills and five digs. Liv Lebrija was reliable with her 14 digs.
All in all, many ingredients to the winning formula in front of the home fans. Osakis has a 9-13 record.
Cross country: conference meet
Gavin Stallman placed 11th for the MACA boys cross country team in the conference meet held Tuesday at Minnewaska Golf Club. Matthew Giese was No. 20 to the finish chute, and Hunter Peterson was close behind in 21st. Charlie Hanson got there 28th.
The champion in the boys race was Landon Kampsen of Sauk Centre. He was joined in the top three by Landon Thompson of Benson and Maeson Tank of Minnewaska. Sauk Centre took top honors among boys. MACA placed fourth.
The girls race saw host Minnewaska as the champion team. Four Lakers were among the top five runners, led by Olivia Danielson. Other 'Waska standouts were Laura Ankeny, Sierra Willmes and Sydney Chevalier. Our Tiger girls placed fourth with our lineup including Meredith Carrington in 8th, Isabel Fynboh in 9th, Caryn Marty in 14th and Hannah Schultz in 16th.
MACA football
We're in that week where high school football is showcased on Wednesday night. It's the annual tail-ender for the regular season. After that it's playoffs, something that did not exist when I was in high school. Stan Kent was cool on the idea of playoffs - he thought it was good enough to play for your conference title. He felt the conference title really meant something and didn't need to be overshadowed by playoffs where every team in the state loses at the end with the exception of the various class champions.
But today we take for granted those playoffs, which often happen when harsh early-winter temperatures are at least hovering.
Tonight's (Wednesday) assignment for the Tigers will be to host Sauk Centre at Big Cat. The Tigers aim to eradicate the turnover problem that hurt them on Friday. Turnovers have been an occasional problem area. You know what the consequences can be. On Friday they contributed to our loss at Paynesville in a high-scoring affair. The Bulldogs prevailed 34-30.
It was a back-and-forth battle, surely entertaining for the fans. The green-themed Bulldogs delighted their home fans by exploiting our six turnovers. The Bulldogs played a sharper game with a mere one turnover. Total offense saw the green crew roll up 443 yards to our 391.
The orange and black was in a hole at halftime, down 28-14. Undaunted, we fought to wrest the lead with two touchdowns in the third quarter. A very exciting pass from Brandon Jergenson to Cole Wente, 49 yards, put us up 30-28. The deciding touchdown was by the Bulldogs as Grayson Fuchs passed to Gus Johnson, 16 yards. No further scoring.
Fuchs had four touchdown passes on the night. A favorite target was Tafadzwa Juma: three receptions, 98 yards, two touchdowns.
Our Jergenson completed ten of 20 pass attempts for 213 yards. He threw for a score but had two passes picked off. Durgin Decker had 154 rushing yards on 35 carries. Two of his carries netted six. He was a force on defense too with his six tackles and two forced fumbles.
Cole Wente picked off a pass. Wente had two pass catches for 53 yards and a touchdown. Tyler Berlinger had a big 70-yard pass reception.
The Tigers enter the MEA week game with a 4-3 record. Paynesville sits at 5-2. Do people still use the "MEA week" term, or has that gone the way of "Christmas concert?" The MEA is, or was, the term for the state teachers union. Do they really need a big annual in-person convention any more, in our age of connectedness? The MEA represents the teachers, it does not represent the students and their families. The convention allows them to plot strategy against the rest of us, I suppose.
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| Your blog host with Chancellor Ericksen |
You saw a photo that includes yours truly if you received the "UMN Legacy" email the other day. I'm with the chancellor or acting chancellor, Janet Ericksen. Remember that it's "en" on the end of her last name, just like you have to be aware that Bryan Herrmann has two n's at the end. Oh, and that it's "Bryan" (the wrong spelling) and not like me, Brian - just kidding.
Janet was awarded her Ph.D. from the U of Illinois.
I strive to keep my family's memory alive at our U of M-Morris. Has "UMM" given way to "UMN?" So many changes out and around in our world of today. I don't even know how to get television anymore. I have no TV but I have a laptop with YouTube. Life is going OK.
It is wonderful that UMM's music department chose to present my father's "UMM Hymn" for its Homecoming concert. To the extent the song is considered for performance in the future, I hope it's based on the song's merits rather than on the Williams Fund. But it's a delight to hear regardless.
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| Dad in 1962 |
Let us acknowledge too, our high school music program where Wanda Dagen is a cog. She directs the wind ensemble which in my younger days was just called "band." When I hear the "wind" term, I can't help but think of Spinal Tap's "Break Like the Wind" tour! Turn it up to eleven! Well, the music was at a most pleasing level for the Monday, Oct. 18, concert at the concert hall. In addition to the wind ensemble, we heard the seventh and eighth grade bands and the concert band. I enjoyed listening to Kaia Anderson on the "euphonium."
Ms. Dagen went through a health challenge last spring, at which time she was still weakened for the spring concert. She was game for handling those duties though - some time spent sitting on a stool - but I recall no stool for the Monday concert which was a total joy. I especially enjoyed "Disney at the Movies." I wish Wanda could find a suitable arrangement of an ABBA medley. I believe ABBA's third new single is coming out this Friday. It's called "Just a Notion" and you can find a pre-existing recording by the ABBA tribute band "Arrival." It's catchy.
Wanda was on top of her game directing her musicians on Monday. She hasn't lost a step from pre-covid. She is also just as attractive as ever, IMHO. Maybe more attractive. I'm entitled to an occasional opinion, aren't I?
Addendum: I wonder if the "mask required" rule might cause confusion so close to Halloween!
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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