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Jaguars stun No. 2 Spirit Lake

GOWRIE — On paper, Southeast Valley was the underdog against No. 2 Spirit Lake on Friday night.

But in the Jaguar locker room, they weren’t about to let any rankings do the talking.

Southeast Valley senior Kyler Fisher had a career performance and helped carry his squad to a 48-41 upset over the previously-unbeaten Indians (5-1 overall, 1-1 district).

“A lot of people thought we were underdogs,” Fisher said. “We knew that we were good enough to beat them, though.

“We just had to prove it.”

The victory over the Indians was the highest-ranked win for the Jaguars since the consolidation of Prairie Valley and Southeast Webster-Grand.

“It’s just special to beat a team that is ranked second and unbeaten,” said SEV head coach Mike Swieter. “It was an up and down battle, it was just unreal.

“We’ve had a lot of big wins over my years, but beating a team that dropped down from 3A, hadn’t lost a game and was supposed to beat us is just great. As the Jaguars, we’ve never beaten a team ranked this high.”

Fisher, who leads Class 2A in rushing touchdowns and scoring, did exactly that. Southeast Valley’s Homecoming king last week, proved to be the king on the field on Friday.

“Kyler had an unbelievable game,” Swieter said. “He and the entire team played at a whole new level. He’s running as hard as I’ve ever seen him, and everyone blocked well.

“They were all feeding off of him.”

The senior tailback accounted for six touchdowns — four on offense and two on defense. Fisher rushed for 269 yards on 44 carries and three scores.

He had touchdown runs 14, 10 and five yards. He also caught a 37-yard TD pass from Hunter Kruse.

On the defensive side of the ball, Fisher picked up two fumbles and returned them for touchdowns of 27 and 34 yards.

Was this best game of his career?

“Probably,” Fisher laughed. “It was a really good one. I got some key blocks that opened everything up.

“I’ve been feeling better every week, trying to be a leader on the field and help our team get better.”

With fourth-ranked Algona winning big (65-22) over Clarion-Goldfield/Dows on Friday, both the Bulldogs and Jaguars are 2-0 in Class 2A, District 2.

“We don’t want to get too cocky,” Fisher said. “We know we beat a good team, but we have to keep going and finish the season strong.”

Kruse finished the night 7-for-13 passing for 166 yards. He also hooked up with Nyles Johnson from 75 yards for his second TD.

The Jaguars (4-2, 2-0) will travel to Garner-Hayfield-Ventura next week, then finish at home with Estherville-Lincoln Central and Algona.

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