Three games into its 2024 schedule, the Jackson County Central football team had been dominant, winning all three and outscored their opponents 169-7.
Still, the Huskies seemed to hit a higher gear in their homecoming contest vs. Le Sueur-Henderson Friday at Swearingen Field.
JCC scored five first quarter touchdowns and made all five two-point conversions on its way to a 61-14 win over the Giants to advance to 4-0 for the third straight season. The third quarter was reduced in length to three minutes using regular timing rules and the fourth quarter was 12 minutes, but running time was used.
“We were real physical,” said Jackson County Central coach Tom Schuller. “Our strength, our depth and our speed all showed up. It was just a physical mismatch. We got guys into the open field, and they just couldn’t catch us.”
Clay Malchow scored three touchdowns for the Huskies via three different methods. He scored on a nine-yard run, returned a punt 87 yards and caught a screen pass and went 71 yards for a score. For good measure, Malchow also ran for three two-point conversions.
Homecoming King Ben Dahlin had a pair of long TD runs, coming on plays of 67 and 51 yards.
Also, Roman Voss ran 57 yards for a touchdown on the game’s first play, Isaac Hesebeck returned an interception 80 yards for a TD and Tavion Diggs scored from eight yards out.
Grant Freking hauled in a pair of two-point conversion passes from Voss, Diggs ran for another conversion and Ben Gallagher was 1-for-2 on extra point kicks.
Jackson County Central had 456 yards offense (351 rushing and 105 passing), while Le Sueur-Henderson had 148 yards (106 and 42).
And while the playing time for some was a little shortened due to the condensed second half, every player on the roster spent some time on the field. A total of 11 players had at least one rushing attempt.
“It was a big challenge,” Schuller of getting everyone some time. “We even got Big Mike (Hansen) a couple of carries and got (Logan) Henderson a carry on the goal line. We got everybody in and that’s a great positive.
“I thought we played well. We just gotta keep building this thing to get to where we want to go, which is a state title.”
The Huskies start the second half of their regular-season schedule Friday at Redwood Valley. The Cardinals are 3-1 after a 28-6 loss at Pipestone on Friday.
LSH 7 0 0 7 – 14
JCC 40 21 0 0 – 61
Scoring plays
First quarter
JCC – Roman Voss 57 run (Clay Malchow run) 11:42.
JCC – Clay Malchow 9 run (Grany Freking pass from Roman Voss) 8:33.
JCC – Isaac Hesebeck 80 interception return (Clay Malchow run) 7:36.
JCC – Tavion Diggs 8 run (Grant Freking pass from Roman Voss) 4:43.
JCC – Ben Dahlin 67 run (Tavion Diggs run) 2:35.
LSH – Brody Berndt 2 run (George Doherty kick) :16.
Second quarter
JCC – Ben Dahlin 51 run (Clay Malchow run) 11:49.
JCC – Clay Malchow 87 punt return (Ben Gallagher kick) 10:14.
JCC – Clay Malchow 70 pass from Roman Voss (kick failed) 8:14.
Third quarter
No scoring
Fourth quarter
LSH – Mason Johnson 2 run (George Doherty kick) 3:20.
Individual statistics
Offense
Rushing
LSH: James Wagner 1-55, Brody Berndt 4-23, Mason Johnson 4-18, George Doherty 7-7, Walyon Thieke 6-2, Liam West 6-1; JCC: Ben Dahlin 2-118, Roman Voss 2-105, Tate Phillips 2-52, Clay Malchow 4-38, Tavion Diggs 3-20, Isaac Hesebeck 3-17, Michael Hansen 2-6, Sulaimon Olasebikan 1-1, Logan Henderson 1-0, Brett Bartholomaus 1- -1, Ronqueall Kyle 1- -5.
Receiving
LSH: Joseph Hutton 3-14, John Fuhrman 1-23, Waylon Thieke 1-4, Nolan Weber 1-4; JCC: Clay Malchow 2-90, Ben Dahlin 1-9, Carter Buhl 1-6.
Passing
LSH: Brody Berndt 6-13-0-42; JCC: Roman Voss 3-8-1-99, Carson Doescher 1-1-0-6.
Defense
Fumble recoveries
JCC: Gage Johnson 1.
Interceptions
JCC: Isaac Hesebeck 1-80.
Team statistics
First downs: JCC 6, LSH 5.
Rushing: JCC 20-351, LSH 28-106.
Passing: JCC 4-9-0-105, LSH 6-13-0-42.
Fumbles-lost: LSH 3-1, JCC 0-0.
Penalties: LSH 1-5, JCC 7-60.
JCC FOOTBALL SCHEDULE/RESULTS
Friday, Aug. 30: at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial, W 44-0
Friday, Sept. 6: Worthington, W 62-7
Friday, Sept. 13: at Blue Earth Area, W 63-0
Friday, Sept. 20: Le Sueur-Henderson (homecoming), W 61-14
Friday, Sept. 27: at Redwood Valley, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 4: Minnesota Valley Lutheran, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 10: at Luverne, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 16: Pipestone, 7 p.m.
