The Kato Jug game between crosstown rivals Mankato West and Mankato East is always a special night but there was a little more buzz this year.
Vice presidential candidate Governor Tim Walz was in town for the game. He talked with West players at their school during the day and conducted the coin flip that night at Blakeslee Stadium.
The son of a JCC graduate scored Class 5A No. 9 West’s final touchdown in a 28-7 Scarlets victory over the Class 5A No. 7 Cougars.
Hudson Clarksean, listed as a 6-foot-2, 200-pound sophomore tight end-linebacker, scored on a 28-yard run early in the fourth quarter. He’s the son of JCC grad Dallas Clarksean and his wife, Nikki, and the grandson of Charlie and Linda Clarksean of Alpha.
West has won 19 straight games in the series so it’s doubtful that East has won the game in the lifetime of any student who attends school there.
Charlie attended the game as you can see in the picture at the top of this newsletter. Thanks to cub reporter Shane Drahota for the photo.
West has a 4-3 record, with those losses coming to Class 5A No. 3 Owatonna, Class 5A No. 4 Andover and Class 5A receiving votes Chanhassen.
Walz was a defensive assistant coach at West for several seasons, including 1999.
That season, the Scarlets were 2-4 heading into the Jug game. West beat the Cougars 21-0 to win the Jug.
That was the first of eight straight wins for the Scarlets, culminating in a 35-28 win over Cambridge-Isanti in the state championship game.
7-0 start
JCC is 7-0 after its 38-0 win at Luverne Thursday. It’s the eighth time in school history that the Huskies have started the season with seven wins.
Here are the seasons the Huskies have started 7-0 with the final record that year in parenthesis.
1997 (13-1)
2000 (10-1)
2003 (10-1)
2016 (10-1)
2019 (11-1)
2022 (12-1)
2023 (11-1)
2024 (?)
Win streak reaches 24
Jackson County Central has won 23 straight regular season games, extending the school record.
JCC won its final regular-season game of the 2021 season and went 8-0 in both 2022 and 2023.
It’s the sixth time in school history that the Huskies have had a regular season winning streak reach double figures.
The list:
24: 2021-2024
16: 2015-2017
12: 1997-1998
12: 1999-2001
11: 2002-2004
10: 2018-2019
Shutouts
Jackson County Central’s 38-0 win over Luverne Thursday marked the third shutout of the season for the Huskies and the 49th in school history.
It’s the third straight season and sixth overall that the Huskies have had three shutouts in a season. The others are 2000, 2009, 2011, 2022, and 2023.
JCC has had four shutouts in a season twice, 2001 and 2010. The record for most shutouts in one season in school history is eight by the first Huskies team in 1997.
South (Central-Silver) District
Standings
Jackson County Central 2-0
Luverne 2-0
Pipestone 2-1
Redwood Valley 0-2
Minnesota Valley Lutheran 0-3
District games only
Wednesday, Oct. 16
Pipestone at Jackson County Central
Luverne at Redwood Valley
Maple River at Minnesota Valley Lutheran
Section 3AA
Jackson County Central will compete in Section 3AA in postseason play.
Here’s how the teams did this week and what’s ahead next week. Won-loss records are in parentheses.
Jackson County Central (7-0): Defeated Luverne 38-0; vs. Pipestone (6-1)
Pipestone (6-1): Defeated Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial 19-7; at Jackson County Central (7-0)
Redwood Valley (5-2): Defeated Minnesota Valley Lutheran 27-12; vs. Luverne (6-1)
Windom (4-3): Lost to Class 1A Sleepy Eye United 20-12; at Class 1A No. 2 Springfield (7-0)
Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial (3-4): Lost to Pipestone 19-7; vs. LeSueur-Henderson (3-4)
Minnesota Valley Lutheran (2-5): Lost to Pipestone 19-7; vs. Maple River (3-4)
Le Sueur-Henderson (3-4): Defeated Blue Earth Area 56-32; at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial (3-4)
Sibley East (0-7): Lost to Maple River 47-0; at Blue Earth Area (0-7)
Section 3AA playoffs
There is a change to the Section 3AA playoff format this season as only the top six teams as seeded by the coaches will compete.
The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds will receive first-round byes.
The No. 7 and No. 8 seeds will not participate in the section playoffs but will play each other to finish their season.
Section 3AA schedule
Tuesday, Oct. 22
First round
No. 5 seed at No. 4 seed, 7 p.m.
No. 6 seed at No. 3 seed, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 26
Semifinals
No. 4-5 winner at No. 1 seed, 3 p.m.
No. 3-6 winner at No. 2 seed, 3 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 1
Championship
At SMSU
Semifinal winners, 2 p.m.
Top 10 list
Here are this week’s results for the top 10 teams in last week’s media state Class 2A football rankings, along with next week’s schedule. New ratings are due to be released on Tuesday.
1. Barnesville (7-0): Defeated Crookston 78-0; vs. Frazee (3-4)
2. Chatfield (7-0): Defeated Class 3A Lake City 48-20; vs. No. 7 Cannon Falls (6-1)
3. Eden Valley-Watkins (6-1): Lost to No. 9 Kimball Area 28-20; vs. No. 10 Holdingford (6-1)
4. Jackson County Central (7-0): Defeated Class 3A Luverne 38-0; vs. Pipestone (6-1)
5. Caledonia (5-2): Lost to Triton 21-20; vs. Class 3A No. 9 Pine Island (6-1)
6. Norwood Young America (6-1): Defeated Class 1A Mayer Lutheran 50-0; vs. Class 1A Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop (2-5)
7. Cannon Falls (5-1): Defeated Dover-Eyota 36-20; at No. 2 Chatfield (7-0)
8. Barnum (7-0): Defeated Class 1A Ely 50-0; vs. Class 1A South Ridge (2-5)
9. Kimball Area (7-0): Defeated No. 3 Eden Valley-Watkins 28-20; vs. Class 3A St. Cloud Cathedral (5-2)
10. Holdingford (6-1): Defeated Paynesville 66-8; at No. 3 Eden Valley-Watkins (6-1)
State leaders
JCC remains first among Class 2A teams in both points scored and points allowed.
The Huskies have outscored their seven opponents 378-36 for an average of 54.0-5.1 per game.
Here are the top five teams in the state in each category according to statistics on Minnesota-scores.net.
Points for
54.0: Jackson County Central
48.0: Norwood Young America
45.7: Barnesville
42.9: Kimball Area
41.1: Rush City
Points against
5.1: Jackson County Central
8.1: Barnum
8.6: Staples-Motley
8.9: Kimball Area
9.3: Norwood Young America
Last game
Martin County West may have played its final home game on the football field on the west side of the high school in Sherburn.
Following the approval of a bond referendum in May, a new school will be built to condense the district into one pre-K-12 grade building at an estimated cost of $64.7 million.
Among the items in the plan is a new football field and track, likely on the east side (closest to Highway 4) side of the current building.
It appears that the Mavericks are heading for the No. 5 seed in the Section 3A playoffs and a quarterfinal game on the road at the No. 4 seed, either Sleepy Eye United or Murray County Central.