Jackson County Central’s appearance in Friday’s Section 3AA football championship game in Marshall will be the school’s 19th appearance out of 24 section final games since becoming a school district in 1997.
It’s also the ninth straight year that the section playoffs were played to a conclusion that the Huskies have made it to the championship game.
Those statements do come with a disclaimer.
You may recall that in 2020, the Section 3AAA bracket was altered after the first round.
With six teams in the bracket, No. 1 seed Luverne and No. 2 Sibley East drew first-round byes.
Two first-round games were scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 17.
No. 3 seed JCC defeated No. 6 seed Worthington 28-6.
No. 4 seed Tri-City United was not able to play its first-round game vs. No. 5 seed Fairmont due to Covid protocol.
Then the day after the first round of the playoffs, Gov. Tim Walz announced that high school sports would be put on a pause starting that Saturday, when the section semifinal games were scheduled to be played.
That meant that Friday, Nov. 20 was the last day games could be played.
At that point, most sections around the state determined that the highest two seeded remaining teams would play for the championship that Friday night.
In Section 3AAA, that meant No. 1 Luverne hosted No. 2 Sibley East, a game the Cardinals won 44-6.
The JCC-Fairmont game was not played. The Huskies would have been playing a second game in four days and third in nine as they had defeated the Cardinals 22-7 in Fairmont the previous Thursday.
9 different opponents
Jackson County Central has changed classes three times since 1997. The Huskies started in Class 3A, went to Class 2A in 2007, then went back to Class 3A in 2015 and returned to Class 2A again this season.
There were six classes of football in Minnesota through 2011. The seven-class format started in 2012.
JCC has played nine different opponents in section championship games.
Here are the scores of the section championship games JCC has played in:
2019 - Jackson County Central 36, Fairmont 12
2018 - Fairmont 35, Jackson County Central 18
2017 - Fairmont 29, Jackson County Central 21
2016 - Jackson County Central 21, Fairmont 14
2015 - Jackson County Central 35, Fairmont 12
2014 - Pipestone 42, Jackson County Central 16
2013 - Jackson County Central 23, Maple River 7
2012 - Jackson County Central 35, Luverne 28
2010 - Luverne 35, Jackson County Central 23
2009 - Luverne 21, Jackson County Central 17
2007 - Luverne 27, Jackson County Central 6
2006 - Blue Earth Area 24, Jackson County Central 21
2003 - Redwood Valley 19, Jackson County Central 6
2001 - Jackson County Central 21, Kasson-Mantorville 0
2000 - Glencoe-Silver Lake 12, Jackson County Central 10
1999 - St. Peter 36, Jackson County Central 28
1998 - Jackson County Central 28, Glencoe-Silver Lake 7
1997 - Jackson County Central 24, Glencoe-Silver Lake 0
Record vs. opponents (alphabetical)
Blue Earth Area 0-1
Fairmont 3-2
Glencoe-Silver Lake 2-1
Kasson-Mantorville 1-0
Luverne 1-3
Maple River 1-0
Pipestone 0-1
Redwood Valley 0-1
St. Peter 0-1
CLASS 2A SECTION CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES
Numbers in parenthesis indicate seed number, won-loss record
Section 1AA
Friday
At Kasson
Chatfield (1, 9-1) vs. Goodhue (2, 7-3), 7 p.m.
Section 2AA
Friday
At Janesville
Blooming Prairie (1, 10-0) vs. Maple River (2, 9-1), 7 p.m.
Section 3AA
Friday
At Marshall
Pipestone (1, 10-0) vs. Jackson County Central (2, 7-3), 7 p.m.
Section 4AA
Friday
At Crown College
Minneapolis North (1, 8-1) vs. St. Agnes (2, 9-1), 5 p.m.
Section 5AA
Friday
At St. John’s
Royalton (1, 8-1) vs. Eden Valley-Watkins (2, 8-1), 7 p.m.
Section 6AA
Friday
At Fargo
Osakis (1, 8-1) vs. West Central/Ashby (2, 8-1), 3 p.m.
Section 7AA
Thursday
At Esko
Moose Lake/Willow River (1, 7-0) vs. Mesabi East (3, 5-4), 6 p.m.
Section 8AA
Friday
At Fargo
Barnesville (1, 7-2) vs. Pelican Rapids (2, 7-2), 8 p.m.
CLASS 2A STATE PLAYOFFS
Quarterfinals
Upper bracket
Thursday, Nov. 11
Section 8AA vs. Section 5AA at Alexandria, 7 p.m.
Section 4AA vs. Section 1AA at Rochester Mayo, 7 p.m.
Lower bracket
Thursday, Nov. 11
Section 7AA vs. Section 6AA at Brainerd, 7 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 12
Section 3AA vs. Section 2AA at Hastings, 7 p.m.
Semifinals
At U.S. Bank Stadium
Thursday, Nov. 18
Upper bracket winners, 2 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 19
Lower bracket winners, 11:30 a.m.
Championship
At U.S. Bank Stadium
Friday, Nov. 26
Semifinal winners, 1 p.m.