Football notes
No matter what classification they’ve been in, the Jackson County Central football team has been a fixture in section championship games throughout its existence.
While bouncing between Class 3A and Class 2A, JCC has now made it to the title game 22 times in 28 years since becoming a school district in 1997.
And this year marks the 12th straight time the Huskies will play in a section championship game in a season where the playoffs were held to their conclusion. The section playoffs in the COVID-altered 2020 season were canceled after the first round.
The last full season that JCC did not reach the championship game was 2011. The other years were 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2008.
Jackson County Central competed in Class 3A from 1997-2006, went to Class 2A from 2007-2014, back to Class 3A from 2015-2020 and has been in Class 2A since 2021.
The Minnesota State High School League reclassifies teams every two years based on enrollment and this is the second of the current two-year rotation.
Here are the championship game scores for JCC:
Section 3AAA
1997: Jackson County Central 24, Glencoe-Silver Lake 0
1998: Jackson County Central 28, Glencoe-Silver Lake 7
1999: St. Peter 36, Jackson County Central 28
2000: Glencoe-Silver Lake 12, Jackson County Central 10
2001: Jackson County Central 21, Kasson-Mantorville 0
2003: Redwood Valley 19, Jackson County Central 6
2006: Blue Earth Area 24, Jackson County Central 21
Section 3AA
2007: Luverne 27, Jackson County Central 6
2009: Luverne 21, Jackson County Central 17
2010: Luverne 35, Jackson County Central 23
2012: Jackson County Central 35, Luverne 28
2013: Jackson County Central 23, Maple River 7
2014: Pipestone 42, Jackson County Central 16
Section 3AAA
2015: Jackson County Central 35, Fairmont 12
2016: Jackson County Central 21, Fairmont 14
2017: Fairmont 29, Jackson County Central 21
2018: Fairmont 35, Jackson County Central 18
2019: Jackson County Central 36, Fairmont 12
Section 3AA
2021: Pipestone 34, Jackson County Central 28
2022: Jackson County Central 31, Pipestone 14
2023: Jackson County Central 38, Redwood Valley 7
Opponents
JCC’s won-loss record vs. opponents in section championship games. Fairmont (five times) and Luverne (four times) are the teams the Huskies have played the most.
Kasson-Mantorville 1-0 1.000
Maple River 1-0 1.000
Glencoe-Silver Lake 2-1 .667
Fairmont 3-2 .600
Redwood Valley 1-1 .500
Pipestone 1-2 .333
Luverne 1-3 .250
Blue Earth Area 0-1 .000
St. Peter 0-1 .000
Waseca-Fairmont IV
Jackson County Central and Fairmont met in the Section 3AAA championship game five straight years from 2015-2019, with the Huskins winning the title and the Old Oaken Bucket three of those seasons. JCC does still have possession of the bucket, winning a regular season meeting 22-7 in Fairmont in 2020.
Fairmont and Waseca will now meet for the section title for the fourth straight year Friday in New Ulm.
The Bluejays will look to pull even in that stretch as the Cardinals have won two of the first three.
Waseca (8-1) won the regular season meeting between the teams on Oct. 16 in Waseca. Fairmont (7-2) also lost to Marshall (8-1) in Week 6. Waseca defeated Marshall in Week 3. The Bluejays’ loss was 24-6 to Class 3A top-ranked Stewartville in Week 1.
The scores of the three section title games between Fairmont and Waseca:
2021: Fairmont 27, Waseca 6
2022: Fairmont 35, Waseca 26
2023: Waseca 21, Fairmont 13 (OT)
Undefeated teams
Heading into section championship week, there are 29 undefeated teams in Minnesota.
Here’s the alphabetical breakdown by class with won-loss records listed:
9-player (7)
LeRoy-Ostrander/Lyle-Pacelli 10-0
Hills-Beaver Creek 9-0
Hancock 9-0
Cromwell-Wright 10-0
Fertile-Beltrami 9-0
Fosson 9-0
Mountain Iron-Buhl 10-0
Class 1A (5)
Goodhue 10-0
Mahnomen/Waubun 9-0
Minneota 9-0
Springfield 9-0
Upsala/Swanville 9-0
Class 2A (6)
Barnesville 9-0
Chatfield 9-0
Jackson County Central 9-0
Kimball 9-0
Norwood Young America 10-0
Staples-Motley 9-0
Class 3A (4)
Albany 9-0
Fergus Falls 9-0
Pequot Lakes 9-0
Stewartville 10-0
Class 4A (3)
Becker 9-0
Princeton 9-0
Totino-Grace 9-0
Class 5A (3)
Moorhead 9-0
Owatonna 9-0
Robbinsdale Armstrong 9-0
Class 6A (1)
Maple Grove 9-0