—Messenger photo by Britt Kudla SOUTHEAST VALLEY'S AARON GRAVES makes a tackle against Estherville-Lincoln Central last season. The Jaguars are 5-0 on the season.

GOWRIE — Heading into the football season Mike Swieter knew he had a good football team — after last Friday everyone in the state knows it.

For the first time in school history Southeast Valley knocked off second-ranked South Central Calhoun, for the Titans homecoming.

“I’m hoping after this game is when we turn the corner and realize we are a good football team,” Swieter said. “I don’t care what our record was last year, this is not last year. This is our team. We knew we had a team that could go in there and beat them.

“This group wasn’t intimidated. We didn’t want Pocahontas Area to beat them earlier, we wanted to be the ones that went in there and ended the streak. That is the mentality of this group.

“This is just a good group of boys who love to play football.”

The Jaguars accomplished a feat that hasn’t been done during the regular season in 31 games in Lake City.

“Beating South Central Calhoun was huge,” Swieter said. “We had to get over the hump. Two years ago when we lost to them we went on to beat Algona and Spirit Lake. It has been one of our biggest obstacles, trying to beat them.

“We are trying to build a program that expects to win and we want to get to that point of where they’re at.”

This was a game Swieter and his group had been waiting for — hoping for.

Both teams had a perfect 4-0 mark and the Titans were ranked second with two first place votes. They went toe-to-toe into the second half after an 8-8 tie in the first 24 minutes.

Behind junior quarterback Kolson Kruse the Jaguars put together a strong final half to hand South Central Calhoun its first regular season loss since 2017.

Even with the big victory, Swieter’s club isn’t hanging their hats on one win, they have bigger things in mind.

“At the same time, we can’t just focus on this win. We have two regular season games left and a chance at a district championship,” Swieter said. “With a district title, we would earn a first round bye and a home game in the next round of the playoffs. So we still have a lot to accomplish.”

The Jaguars are coming off a 5-4 campaign and are two years removed from a postseason appearance. With a lot of uncertainty with the COVID-19 pandemic, Swieter and the Jaguars were ready to move forward and step away from the past.

“The best thing (for success) is when you return experience,” Swieter said. “The other part of it was when we went to 1A instead of 2A. We only graduated six, and playing experience is huge in football. We moved a little personnel around and then here we go.

“Did we think we would be good? Yes. But, how good? We will have to see.”

Through the first five games of the season the Jaguars have averaged 42.8 points per game and have outscored their opponents 214-65.

The Jaguars have had the luxury of a balanced offensive attack to go along with a solid defense, led on the offensive line by Iowa football commit Aaron Graves.

“Not only are we balanced, but we have a bunch of kids that can share the wealth,” Swieter said. “We’ve been fortunate, because you can’t just stop our leaders, we have solid skills guys like Kaleb (Scott), Sam (Hanson) and Tre (Fisher).”

Southeast Valley has rushed for 933 yards and thrown for 687. Junior Lathe Muench has been the groundhog, running for 342 yards on 61 carries. Muench has reached the end zone eight times, giving him 16 in his career.

“Teams aren’t overly prepared for him, because of our balance,” Swieter said. “Against South Central Calhoun especially, but in every game, he runs viciously and runs hard.

“We have a lot of hidden talents on this team.”

Senior fullback Hunter Sorenson has three touchdowns, while junior Kaleb Scott and freshman Andrew Miller have one each.

Kruse has been a force through the air and on the ground. He has thrown for 669 yards and 10 scores. Kruse has been efficient throwing the ball, going 33 of 51. Kruse has thrown touchdowns to five different receivers.

“Kolson has taken control of the offense. His ability to get us out of a jam is uncanny,” Swieter said. “He is our leader on the field as well as Aaron who gives us energy.

“Aaron leads in his play, but we also feed off of his energy.”

Scott has been the biggest beneficiary, catching eight balls for 212 yards and three scores.

Juniors Tre Fisher and Colton Brant, along with senior Sam Hanson all have two touchdowns each. Sophomore Carl Berglund also has a score.

Sophomore Justin Loseke has been a force on the defense, leading the Jaguars with 29 tackles. Sorenson has 22.5 and Graves has 26. The Hawkeye signee has 18 solo tackles, four sacks and nine tackles for loss.

As a team the Jaguars have recovered eight fumbles and have one interception. Sophomore Calvin Riehl and Sorenson have defensive touchdowns. Scott has returned a kickoff for a score.