Matinee high school football is normally reserved for the postseason, but Jackson County Central will host Redwood Valley at 1 p.m. Saturday at Swearingen Field.
The Huskies are undefeated with a 4-0 record, while the Cardinals are winless at 0-4.
He’s a football coach so he’s conditioned to talk this way, but Tom Schuller means it when he says Redwood is a dangerous opponent for JCC as it starts the second half of its regular-season schedule.
“They have steadily improved this season and are capable of beating us,” Schuller said. “They had a couple of close games to start the season and played Pipestone to an extremely close game until the end. It was a close game in the third quarter. The score is a little deceptive.”
The Arrows won 35-7 last week in a game the Cardinals led 7-6 at halftime. In its first three games, Redwood lost to Luverne 21-20, Norwood Young America 30-22 and Maple River 32-13.
It was a bit of an unusual site last week at Redwood Falls as the Cardinals had a player (Tyson Irlbeck) wearing a jersey with No. 55 playing quarterback.
Irlbeck threw a touchdown pass to Cam Enright, who is listed as a quarterback on the roster for the Cardinals’ lone score.
Irlbeck is now listed as No. 11/55 on the Redwood Valley roster.
Schuller hopes the Huskies’ defense will keep the number of times that the Cardinals kick off low, but JCC will have to be alert when they do.
“Last year they onside kicked a bunch of times and they’re kind of in that mode again,” he said. “They don’t have a guy that can kick real deep. Sometimes you make the decision if you can only kick the thing 25 yards, what’s the difference and you may as well onside kick and try to get the ball back.”
With that in mind, Schuller does hope will help his team be more mentally ready to play a football game on Saturday during homecoming week than the traditional Friday night.
“The positive is that we avoid the recess of Friday and all that stuff that goes with it,” he commented. “We don’t have to play with a day of school that’s not regular. Teenage boys don’t handle that well. On Saturday maybe they can get their mind right, just get up in the morning and go play a football game.”
On the flip side, the time before next Friday’s game at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial (1-3) is a little shorter.
“It kind of crowds you a little bit for your next game for prep time but the positive outweighs the negative on that,” Schuller said.
After the game with the Knights, JCC has two home games to close out the regular season, hosting Pipestone (4-0) on Friday, Oct. 14 and St. Peter (1-3) on Wednesday, Oct. 19.
Second Saturday game
This is the second time Jackson County Central has played a regular-season game on a Saturday.
The first was on Sept. 6, 2003 when the Huskies won 27-7 at the old Mattke Field in Marshall.
The temperature that day in Marshall was brutal for playing football as the thermometer reached 94 degrees.
That was the front end of a high school-college doubleheader that day. Southwest Minnesota State beat Waldorf 84-7 in Waldorf’s first game as a four-year program.
Series highlights
Series: Jackson County Central leads 23-4
Regular season: Jackson County Central leads 23-3
Postseason: Tied 1-1
First meeting: Jackson County Central 20, Redwood Valley 14 (1997)
Last meeting: Jackson County Central 38, Redwood Valley 12 (2021)
Current streak: Won 2
Longest Huskies win streak: 14 (2004-2017)
Longest Cardinals win streak: 1 (4 times)
Most Huskies points: 49 (1998, 2012, 2015, 2019)
Most Cardinals points: 28 (2004, 2011)
Huskies shutouts: 1998, 2000
Cardinals shutouts: 2018
Scores
All-time scores in the JCC-Redwood Valley series.
1997 – Jackson County Central 20, Redwood Valley 14
1998 - Jackson County Central 49, Redwood Valley 0
1999 - Jackson County Central 47, Redwood Valley 24
2000 - Jackson County Central 38, Redwood Valley 0
2001 – Redwood Valley 22, Jackson County Central 15
2002 - Jackson County Central 34, Redwood Valley 30
2003 - Jackson County Central 18, Redwood Valley 13; Redwood Valley 19, Jackson County Central 6 (Section 3AAA championship)
2004 - Jackson County Central 31, Redwood Valley 28
2005 - Jackson County Central 42, Redwood Valley 14
2006 - Jackson County Central 31, Redwood Valley 13
2007 - Jackson County Central 15, Redwood Valley 13
2008 - Jackson County Central 35, Redwood Valley 13
2009 - Jackson County Central 33, Redwood Valley 20
2010 - Jackson County Central 46, Redwood Valley 6
2011 - Jackson County Central 42, Redwood Valley 13
2012 - Jackson County Central 49, Redwood Valley 28
2013 - Jackson County Central 26, Redwood Valley 2
2014 - Jackson County Central 41, Redwood Valley 12
2015 - Jackson County Central 49, Redwood Valley 7
2016 - Jackson County Central 35, Redwood Valley 7
2017 - Jackson County Central 26, Redwood Valley 14
2018 – Redwood Valley 7, Jackson County Central 0
2019 - Jackson County Central 49, Redwood Valley 12
2020 – Redwood Valley 28, Jackson County Central 14
2021 - Jackson County Central 21, Redwood Valley 18; Jackson County Central 38, Redwood Valley 12 (Section 3AA semifinals)
Section 3AA standings
Listed are team, won-loss record and QRF number.
Jackson County Central (4-0) 58.5
Pipestone Area (4-0) 38.7
Minnesota Valley Lutheran (3-1) 30.9
Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial (1-3) 15.0
Sibley East (0-4) 8.1
Redwood Valley (0-4) 7.8
Windom Area (0-4) 6.8
St. James Area (0-4) 4.6
If the playoffs started today
St. James Area (8) at Jackson County Central (1)
Sibley East (5) at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial (4)
Windom Area (7) at Pipestone Area (2)
Redwood Valley (6) at Minnesota Valley Lutheran (3)
State QRF standings
Listed are team, won-loss record and QRF number.
1. Minneapolis North (4-0) 79.4
2. Concordia Academy (4-0) 64.8
3. Barnesville (4-0) 62.2
4. Jackson County Central (4-0) 58.5
5. Chatfield (4-0) 55.2
(tie) Eden Valley-Watkins (4-0) 55.2
7. St. Agnes (3-1) 50.7
8. Caledonia (4-0) 46.7
9. Norwood Young America (4-0) 46.4
10. Rush City (4-0) 43.8
11. Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted (3-1) 42.5
12. St. Clair/Loyola (4-0) 40.7
13. Pipestone Area (4-0) 38.7
14. Kimball Area (4-0) 38.3
(tie) Royalton (3-1) 38.3
JCC football schedule
Thurs., Sept. 1 – at Maple River, W 30-27
Fri., Sept. 9 – at Luverne, W 24-0
Fri., Sept. 16 - Blue Earth Area, W 34-26
Fri., Sept. 23 – at Windom, W 48-6
Sat., Oct. 1 - Redwood Valley, 1 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 7 – at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial, 7 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 14 - Pipestone, 7 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 19 - St. Peter, 7 p.m.