Jackson County Central will host Minnesota Valley Lutheran in the semifinals of the Section 3AA football playoffs this (Saturday) afternoon.
The forecast for the 3 p.m. kickoff at Swearingen Field calls for 31 degrees with an 80% chance of snow. Less than an inch of white stuff is called for.
Minnesota Valley Lutheran
HEAD COACH: Jim Buboltz
MSHSL ENROLLMENT: 211
STATE APPEARANCES: 5
STATE TITLES: 0
RECORD: 4-5
STREAK: Won 1
LAST GAME: Defeated Sibley East 16-0
POINTS FOR: 22.6 ppg
POINTS AGAINST: 27.7 ppg
Jackson County Central
HEAD COACH: Tom Schuller
MSHSL ENROLLMENT: 288
STATE APPEARANCES: 9
STATE TITLES: 1
RECORD: 8-0
STREAK: Won 8
LAST GAME: Defeated Pipestone 48-14
POINTS FOR: 41.7 ppg (not including forfeit)
POINTS AGAINST: 7.6 ppg (not including forfeit)
Series highlights
Series: Jackson County Central leads 1-0
Regular season: Jackson County Central leads 1-0
Postseason: First meeting
Current streak: Won 1
Scores
All-time scores in the JCC-MVL series.
2023: Jackson County Central 47, Minnesota Valley Lutheran 6
Season results
Minnesota Valley Lutheran
Thurs., Aug. 31: Sibley East, W 34-6
Fri., Sept. 8: at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial, W 23-0
Fri., Sept. 15: LeSueur-Henderson, W 54-16
Fri., Sept. 22: Luverne, L 36-0
Fri., Sept. 29: at Pipestone, L 34-16
Fri., Oct. 6: Jackson County Central, L 47-6
Fri., Oct. 13: at Redwood Valley, L 27-6
Wed., Oct. 18: at Maple River, L 37-6
Tues., Oct. 24: Sibley East, W 16-0
Sat., Oct. 28: at Jackson County Central, 3 p.m.
JCC football schedule
Fri., Sept. 1: Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial, W 42-13
Fri., Sept. 8: at Worthington, W 43-0
Sat., Sept. 16: Blue Earth Area, W 49-6
Fri., Sept. 22: at LeSueur-Henderson, W 2-0 (forfeit)
Fri., Sept. 29: Redwood Valley, W 29-14
Fri., Oct. 6: at Minnesota Valley Lutheran, W 47-6
Thurs., Oct. 12: Luverne, W 34-0
Wed., Oct. 18: at Pipestone, W 48-14
Sat., Oct. 28: Minnesota Valley Lutheran, 3 p.m.
Lucky 13
Jackson County Central will play a section semifinal football playoff game for the 13th straight year that the playoffs have been played to a conclusion. In the COVID year of 2020, the playoffs were canceled after the first round.
The Huskies host Minnesota Valley Lutheran at 3 p.m. Saturday at Swearingen Field.
Since JCC became a school district in 1997, the Huskies have lost in the first round of section play only three times, 2004, 2005 and 2008.
JCC has bounced back and forth between Class 3A and Class 2A through the years.
In their 22 semifinal game appearances, the Huskies have won 20 times.
Further, only three times has JCC had to play a semifinal game on the road.
The Huskies are 2-1 in those games, winning at Glencoe-Silver Lake in 1999, losing at LeSueur-Henderson in 2002 and winning at Luverne in 2014.
Here are the scores of their section semifinal games:
Section 3AAA
1997: Jackson County Central 35, Blue Earth Area 0
1998: Jackson County Central 44, LeSueur-Henderson 6
1999: Jackson County Central 49, Glencoe-Silver Lake 15
2000: Jackson County Central 27, Blue Earth Area 15
2001: Jackson County Central 21, St. Peter 0
2002: LeSueur-Henderson 22, Jackson County Central 16 (OT)
2003: Jackson County Central 28, Minnewaska Area 0
2006: Jackson County Central 43, Fairmont 14
Section 3AA
2007: Jackson County Central 37, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 29
2009: Jackson County Central 30, Windom 3
2010: Jackson County Central 42, Windom 0
2011: Luverne 12, Jackson County Central 0
2012: Jackson County Central 49, Maple River 15
2013: Jackson County Central 51, Martin County West 12
2014: Jackson County Central 23, Luverne 16
Section 3AAA
2015: Jackson County Central 44, Sibley East 13
2016: Jackson County Central 42, Sibley East 14
2017: Jackson County Central 28, Tri-City United 6
2018: Jackson County Central 30, Tri-City United 9
2019: Jackson County Central 35, Luverne 0
Section 3AA
2021: Jackson County Central 38, Redwood Valley 12
2022: Jackson County Central 34, Redwood Valley 7
Windom wins
Windom’s football program continued to trend upward Tuesday when the Eagles held off Pipestone 18-14 in the first round of the Section 3AA playoffs.
It was Windom’s first postseason win since a 33-18 victory at Martin County West to open the 2015 Section 3AA playoffs. That year, the Mavericks had defeated the Eagles during the regular season.
Windom coach Adam Farag told Joel Alvstad of the Cottonwood County Citizen after the win over the Arrows that the last time the Eagles won a playoff game four members of the coaching staff were playing for Windom.
Quintin Tietz was 19-for-31 passing for 246 yards. Kevin Bleess caught eight passes for 143 yards and Tucker Renquist had three catches for 59 yards.
The Eagles, 3-6, are at Redwood Valley (6-3) in the semifinals Saturday.
Section 1AA
The Section 3AA champion will play the Section 1AA champion in the opening round of the state Class 2A tournament on Thursday, Nov. 9.
The schedule for the Section 1AA playoffs was altered due to the weather. First-round games were delayed from Tuesday to Wednesday and the semifinals were changed from Saturday to Monday.
In the semifinals Monday, top-seeded Caledonia (8-0) hosts fourth-seeded Lewiston-Altura (4-5) and second-seeded Dover-Eyota (5-3) is at home vs. third-seeded Chatfield (7-2).
Caledonia and L-A did not meet during the regular season. D-E beat Chatfield 20-8 on Oct. 13.
The championship game is next Friday at a site to be determined.
State Class 2A tournament
Thursday, Nov. 9
Quarterfinals
Upper bracket
Section 3AA vs. Section 1AA at Rochester Mayo
Section 6AA vs Section 8AA at Alexandria
Lower bracket
Section 4AA vs. Section 2AA at New Prague
Section 7AA vs. Section 5AA at Forest Lake
Friday, Nov. 17
Semifinals
At U.S. Bank Stadium
Upper-bracket winners, 9 a.m.
Lower-bracket winners, 11:30 a.m.
Friday, Nov. 24
Championship
At U.S. Bank Stadium
Semifinal winners, 1 p.m.
Opting out
After taking a glance around minnesota-scores.net, it appears that six teams in the state did not participate in their section playoffs.
Here’s the list:
Section 2AA: Medford, Waterville-Elysian-Morristown
Section 3AA: LeSueur-Henderson
Section 6 9-player: Laporte
Section 7 9-player: Bigfork
Section 8 9-player: Lake of the Woods