The Jackson County Central football program received a sizeable donation at halftime of Friday’s game vs. Le Sueur-Henderson and there is the potential for more down the road.
“We got $5,000 for the program and that’s awesome and a great thing for our program,” said Huskies’ coach Tom Schuller. “And we’re still in the hopper for more. That would be great to get that.
“We don’t charge kids for anything, and we provide a lot of stuff. That helps with pizza and all the other stuff we do for them. It’s much appreciated. It capped off a real fun night for the guys.”
According to a press release from T-Mobile:
Friday Night 5G Lights will culminate in an extraordinary $2 million grand prize to upgrade one small town’s pride and joy: its high school football field. The grand prize includes a $100,000 cash grant, a new teched-out scoreboard, 5G network upgrades, the ultimate tailgate party for the whole community, a 5G-powered halftime drone show and a special gift from Gronk: an upgraded weight room from GronkFitness.com. The 16 finalists will each receive a $25,000 cash grant.
The 16 finalists will be announced in October. The JCC football program has information on its Facebook page or don’t be afraid to contact someone with the program. To be honest, I’d start with Nolan or Carrie Schuller though.
4-0 starts
This is the third consecutive year JCC has started the season with a 4-0 record and the 13th time overall.
Years in which the Huskies have started 4-0:
1997
1998
1999
2000
2003
2006
2009
2016
2018
2019
2022
2023
2024
60-plus points
Jackson County Central scored 60-plus points for the third consecutive week Friday. That makes 15 times that the Huskies have scored 60 points or more in a game.
Here is the list with year, opponent and score.
2019: Worthington 76-6
2019: Windom 73-7
2015: Martin County West 69-6
2012: Windom 67-13
2018: St. James Area 67-17
2002: Windom 63-27
2024: Blue Earth Area 63-0
2016: Martin County West 62-23
2022: Windom 62-28
2024: Worthington 62-7
1998: Sibley East 61-12
2015: St. James Area 61-3
2018: Martin County West 61-21
2024: Le Sueur-Henderson 61-14
2019: St. James Area 60-13
Win streak reaches 21
Jackson County Central has won 21 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:
21: 2021-2024
16: 2015-2017
12: 1997-1998
12: 1999-2001
11: 2002-2004
10: 2018-2019
The streak
Here are the wins in the 18-game streak:
2021
Jackson County Central 26, St. Peter 20
2022
Jackson County Central 30, Maple River 27
Jackson County Central 24, Luverne 0
Jackson County Central 34, Blue Earth Area 26
Jackson County Central 48, Windom 6
Jackson County Central 35, Redwood Valley 0
Jackson County Central 2, Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial 0 (forfeit)
Jackson County Central 12, Pipestone 7
Jackson County Central 28, St. Peter 7
2023
Jackson County Central 42, Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial 13
Jackson County Central 43, Worthington 0
Jackson County Central 49, Blue Earth Area 6
Jackson County Central 2, LeSueur-Henderson 0 (forfeit)
Jackson County Central 29, Redwood Valley 14
Jackson County Central 47, Minnesota Valley Lutheran 6
Jackson County Central 34, Luverne 0
Jackson County Central 48, Pipestone 14
2024
Jackson County Central 44, Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial 0
Jackson County Central 62, Worthington 7
Jackson County Central 63, Blue Earth Area 0
Jackson County Central 61, Le Sueur-Henderson 14
South (Central-Silver) District standings
Luverne 1-0
Pipestone 1-0
Jackson County Central 0-0
Minnesota Valley Lutheran 0-1
Redwood Valley 0-1
Friday, Sept. 27
Jackson County Central at Redwood Valley
Blue Earth Area at Luverne
Pipestone at Minnesota Valley Lutheran
District games only
Section 3AA
Jackson County Central will play in Section 3AA in postseason play.
Here’s how all the teams fared this week and what’s on the agenda for next week.
Jackson County Central (4-0): Defeated LeSueur-Henderson 61-14; at Redwood Valley (3-1)
Minnesota Valley Lutheran (2-2): Lost to Luverne 35-0; vs. Pipestone (4-0)
Pipestone (3-0): Defeated Redwood Valley 28-6; at Minnesota Valley Lutheran (2-2)
Redwood Valley (3-1): Lost to Pipestone 28-6; vs. Jackson County Central (4-0)
Windom (2-2): Defeated Tracy- Milroy-Balaton 54-42; vs. Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (1-3)
Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial (1-3): Defeated Sibley East 58-6; vs. Maple River (1-3)
Le Sueur-Henderson (0-4): Lost to Jackson County Central 61-14; vs. Sibley East (0-4)
Sibley East (0-4): Lost to Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial 58-6; at Le Sueur-Henderson (0-4)
How they fared
Here’s how the top 10 teams in this week’s state Class 2A football rankings fared this week and what’s on the agenda for next week.
1. Barnesville (4-0): Defeated Hawley 46-21; at Warroad (1-3)
2. Eden Valley-Watkins (4-0): Defeated Paynesville 46-16; at Royalton (1-3)
3. Chatfield (4-0): Defeated Dover-Eyota 43-22; vs. Triton (4-0)
4. Jackson County Central (4-0): Defeated Le Sueur-Henderson 61-14; at Redwood Valley (3-1)
5. Cannon Falls (3-1): Lost to Caledonia 42-20; vs. Class 3A Rochester Lourdes (2-2)
6. Caledonia (3-1): Defeated Cannon Falls (3-0) 41-20; vs. Class 3A La Crescent/Hokah
7. Triton (4-0): Defeated La Cresent/Hokah 34-13, at Chatfield (4-0)
8. Holdingford (4-0): Defeated Maple Lake 56-0; at Osakis (0-4)
9. Norwood Young America (4-0): Defeated Randolph 42-32; vs. Class 1A RV Lester Prairie (4-0)
10. Barnum (4-0): Defeated Braham 34-8; at Class 1A East Central (1-3)
Jumping jacks
JCC’s high-scoring offense has made for some work for the Huskies’ cheerleaders this season, who after each Huskies’ score do the corresponding number of jumping jacks.
They did 284 Friday in the victory over Le Sueur-Henderson and have now done 1,090 halfway through the regular season.
By game:
156: Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial
318: Worthington
332: Blue Earth Area
284: Le Sueur-Henderson
State leaders
JCC is first in points scored among Class AA teams and is second in points allowed.
The Huskies have outscored their four opponents 230-21 for an average of 57.5-5.2 per game.
District and section rival Pipestone is now fourth in points allowed.
Here are the top five teams in the state in each category according to statistics on Minnesota-scores.net.
Points for
57.5: Jackson County Central
46.5: Rush City
45.4: Kimball Area
45.0: Holdingford
42.5: Cannon Falls
Points against
3.5: Holdingford
5.2: Jackson County Central
6.5: Kimball
8.5: Pipestone
9.5: Norwood Young America
Schuller 11th on list
Jackson County Central coach Tom Schuller remains 11th among active high school football coaches in the state in career wins.
He’s now at 216 career wins. Schuller hasn’t been able to gain ground as the two coaches directly ahead of him on the list are also 4-0 this season.
Schuller’s record is 215-54, a .799 percentage. A win next week at Redwood would put him at ,800.
Here are the top dozen active coaches in the state in career wins through Week 4 of the regular season.
435: Mike Mahlen, Verndale
403: Dwight Lundeen, Becker
390: Mike Grant, Eden Prairie
279: Terry Bahlmann, Marshall
256: Dean Aurich, Mayer Lutheran
230: Andy Rostberg, Hutchinson
225: Dave Louzek, Moose Lake-Willow River
220: John Clark Jr., Mahnomen/Waubun
218: Chad Johnston, Minneota
218: Jeff Erdmann, Rosemount
215: Tom Schuller, Jackson County Central
214: Joe Scoblic, Lester Prairie
Schedule change
After thinking they would have only one game under the Friday night lights at Swearingen Field during the regular season, the Huskies will now have three.
It was announced last week that there’s been a schedule change for the Huskies’ next home game vs. Minnesota Valley Lutheran has been moved to 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4.
It had been scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 5.
The game with Le Sueur-Henderson had also originally been scheduled for a Saturday afternoon.