The 27th season of Jackson County Central football came to a close Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium with the Huskies’ 38-23 loss to Barnesville in the state Class 2A semifinals.
It was JCC’s 10th state berth in those 27 years and the second straight. It’s the fourth time the Huskies have gone to the state tourney.
Jackson County Central has never qualified for state three straight years.
Another successful season
JCC reached double figures in wins for the 12th time in school history. The Huskies have also had four nine-win seasons.
Jackson County Central has had only one season where it finished the season under .500 (2005).
Record by year
The year-by-year won-loss record for Jackson County Central.
1997: 13-1
1998: 12-2
1999: 8-3
2000: 10-1
2001: 13-1
2002: 7-3
2003: 10-1
2004: 5-4
2005: 3-6
2006: 9-2
2007: 8-3
2008: 5-4
2009: 9-2
2010: 9-2
2011:7-3
2012: 10-3
2013: 10-2
2014: 6-4
2015: 10-3
2016: 10-1
2017: 8-3
2018: 9-2
2019: 11-1
2020: 4-3
2021: 7-4
2022: 12-1
2023: 11-1
Total
236-66, a .781 percentage.
Two coaches
JCC has had two head coaches in its history.
Tom Schuller 211-63, a .770 percentage.
Darren Baartman 25-3, a .893 percentage.
The Huskies have an average of 8.44 wins per season under Schuller in a sport where a team plays eight regular-season games.
JCC averaged 12.5 wins per season in the two years Baartman was at the helm. Schuller was on the coaching staff for those two seasons and had previously been on the Jackson High School coaching staff.
Baartman was the head coach of the Blue Jays in their final season in 1996 and has coached at Breckenridge, Pipestone and Russell-Tyler-Ruthton since leaving Jackson County Central.
Back-to-back trips
As mentioned, JCC has gone to the state tourney in back-to-back seasons four times:
1997 (Class 3A runner-up)-1998 (Class 3A runner-up)
2012 (lost in Class 2A semifinals)-2013 (lost in Class 3A quarterfinals)
2015 (Class 3A runner up)-2016 (lost in Class 3A quarterfinals)
2022 (lost in Class 2A semifinals)-2023 (lost in Class 2A semifinals)
Critical success
Also enjoying great success this fall was the critically acclaimed ‘Yes, Nolan is Wearing Shorts’ featured that appeared on my Twitter (I still call it Twitter) and Facebook page.
Thanks to the cast and crew, and with special thanks to Carrie Schuller.
Carrie not only had to deal with a temperamental star but helped out with photography on a couple of occasions when I wasn’t able to make it to the game.
Here’s one of the more popular episodes from this season. It quacked people up (get it?).
Working on the chain gang
Mike Carey, formerly of Jackson and now living in Panora, Iowa, was a member of the chain game for the eight-player and Class A state championship football games last week at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.
Algona Bishop Garrigan defeated Bedford 39-30 in the eight-player game and West Hancock edged Woodbury Central 30-28 in Class A.
ICYMI, Spirit Lake made it to the Class 2A semifinals, losing to eventual champion Central Lyon/George-Little Rock 28-14.