Future is Alipate's, but it's Eagles' night

Thursday night's season opener might have seemed a little familiar, if not a lot scary, to Bloomington Jefferson football fans. That's because for the third consecutive game, the Jaguars' opponent was ... cue the theme from "Jaws" ... Eden Prairie.

A year ago, Jefferson ended the regular season with a 52-17 loss to Eden Prairie. Six days later the Jaguars' campaign came to an 0-9 close against those same Eagles. That score was 48-6, making for a 2006 grand total of Eden Prairie 100, Jefferson 23.

Eden Prairie, of course, went on to become the undefeated heavyweight champion of big-school football in Minnesota. This season the Eagles have new artificial turf in their stadium (plus new turf on two practice fields at a total price of $1.6 million). Not new are eight returning offensive starters and five on defense ... to the opposition, that combined number is a very unlucky 13.

Thus: trepidation in the Jefferson crowd.

Total score through Game 3: Eden Prairie 149, Jefferson 33. Do the math, and you'll see that Thursday's final was 49-10.

However -- and this is a big, tall, strong however -- there is reason for hope in Jag Land. Jefferson quarterback Moses Alipate is a 6-6, 235-pound junior who has "big time" written all over him.

Before taking a snap as an 11th-grader, the kid was offered a scholarship by Gophers coach Tim Brewster. Alipate has talked to UCLA and Cal and he will attend the USC-Nebraska game in Lincoln on Sept. 15. Miami and Texas Tech have requested film of Alipate, whom the Gophers and Wisconsin are recruiting for basketball as well as football.

(Here's a note from the "go-figure" department: Jefferson coach Jon Leverenz, who was an all-Big Ten linebacker for the Gophers, suffered a knee injury in the 1988 season opener against Washington State. Playing linebacker for Washington State was Alipate's father, Tuineau Alipate. "We always joke about that," Moses said.)

Leverenz, asked a few days ago about the ceiling for his young quarterback, smiled and offered a kind of wistful, "Oh-to-have-his-future" expression.

"He's got good feet, good balance, he's strong, he's tall, he's good-looking, he's got a great smile," Leverenz said. "If he keeps his head on straight, the sky's the limit."

The youngster had several views of the evening sky Thursday. Unfortunately, that was because the Eagles put him on his back too many times. With Willie Mobley, a supersized All-Metro defensive lineman leading the chase, there was simply too much pressure for Alipate to get into a rhythm. He completed eight of 15 passes for 37 yards.

Another problem for the Jaguars was special teams. Eden Prairie returned two of Alipate's punts for first-quarter touchdowns. A 99-yard fumble return by Jefferson's Anthony Howard made the score 28-7 at halftime before the Eagles blew off the roof in the third quarter.

After Alipate missed the target on a pass early in the third quarter, Leverenz yelled, 'Moses! Settle down! You have plenty of time!"

Sadly for the Jags, that wasn't the case much of the night. But taking a long view, Alipate indeed has time on his side.

John Millea • jmillea@startribune.com