Four turnovers and having the opposing team recover two onside kicks is not generally a recipe for success against any football team, especially one that is state ranked.
But, Jackson County Central was able overcome those miscues and pick up a 21-18 win over Class 2A 9th-ranked Redwood Valley Friday at Inglis Field in Redwood Falls.
"You've gotta be so much better than a team to give up two onside kicks, four turnovers, one of them a fumble for a touchdown and win," said JCC coach Tom Schuller. "When talent is equal those things are really difficult to overcome. We had 300-some yards rushing and we came away with a nailbiting three-point win. I'm not really elated I have to be honest because we just continue to do these things and we have to find a way for these kids to play better mentally."
The Huskies, now 3-2, had three starters return to the team who hadn't played the week before due to injuries, including one who hadn't played since the season opener.
"On defense it really was almost like our first game," commented Schuller. "And on 9 out of 10 plays we did really well. But unfortuanetly the 10th play can't just be a bad play it's gotta be just a really bad play where somebody makes a 50-yard error, the free safety jumps a bubble in which he's playing on the hash mark 12 yards deep backpeddaling and he has no business looking at it. That's the kind of stuff we do for mistakes unfortunately."
JCC took an 8-0 lead on its first possession as Gabe Wolff scored on a eight-yard run and also ran in the two-point conversion.
Redwood scored with :41 remaining in the first quarter, recovered an onside kickoff and scored again on the first play of the second quarter for a 12-8 lead.
Jackson County Central would lead 15-12 at halftime as Roman Voss went in from one yard out with 5:57 remaining and Ulises Boukham kicked the extra point.
The Cardinals regained the lead at 18-15 with 7:54 remaining in the third, but JCC answered right back.
Travis Rogotzke took a late option pitch from Voss and went in to score the touchdown to complete a 14-yard play drive that gave JCC a 21-18 lead with 3:56 remaining in the third quarter and there was no more scoring the rest of the way.
"That was a big play," Schuller said. "I thought (Voss) did give the ball. It was a great ride. They were out of guys. They had one guy left to play them both and Roman did it right. He drew the guy and pitched it to Rogotzke and that was a big play for us.
"We made big plays and when it really, really counted at the end we were able to run the clock out and that is a big deal. We got a stop and they punted and took over with 4 or 5 minutes left and we were able to run out the clock so I was real pleased about that."
Jackson County Central used its wishbone formation much of the time starting in the second quarter, running the ball 61 times for 372 yards. Voss was 2-for-6 passing for 23 yards.
"When you start making so many mistakes you get nervous and you get real conservative," said Schuller. "The field was getting slippery and we'd already fumbled. Wade (offensive coordinator Wade Wacker) asked if we could pass and I said no. With the ball being slippery I was afraid of the catastaophic mistakes. I at least wanted the defense on the field if they got the ball back."
Jackson County Central had two rushers reach 100 yards for the second straight game as Levi Lindley had 117 yards on 22 carries and Wolff had 100 yards on 14 tries. Will Freking had 16 carries for 68 yards.
The Huskies limited Redwood Valley to 167 total yards, 27 on the ground and 140 in the air.
JCC will host Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial in its homecomimng game next Friday. The Knights are 1-4 after losing 33-6 at Pipestone on Friday.
Section 3AA
JCC is a member for Section 3AA for postseason play. Here's this week's results for section teams. Records are in parenthesis.
Jackson County Central (3-2): Beat Redwood Valley 21-18
Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial (1-4): Lost to Pipestone 33-6
Minnesota Valley Lutheran (3-2): Beat Adrian/Ellsworth 16-15
Pipestone (5-0): Beat Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial 33-6
Redwood Valley (3-2): Lost to Jackson County Central 21-18
St. James Area (0-5): Lost to Springfield 44-6
Sibley East (1-4): Lost to Blue Earth Area 35-7
Windom (1-4): Beat LeSueur-Henderson 28-0
JCC football schedule
Thurs., Sept. 2 - Maple River, L 35-8
Fri., Sept. 10 - Luverne, W 36-16
Fri., Sept. 17 - at Blue Earth Area, L 48-14
Fri., Sept. 24 - Windom, W 50-6
Fri., Oct. 1 - at Redwood Valley, W 21-18
Fri., Oct. 8 - Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial, 7 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 15 - at Pipestone, 7 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 20 - at St. Peter, 7 p.m.