On the surface, a 35-0 win seems comfortable and ultimately Jackson County Central was firmly in control and won its homecoming football game by that margin Saturday at Swearingen Field. But there were some anxious moments along the way.
The Huskies fumbled the ball four times (losing three) and had a pass intercepted that prevented JCC from putting the game away earlier although running time was implemented late in the third quarter by coaches agreement rather than waiting for the fourth quarter.
“We were up against the eight-ball the whole first half it seemed like,” said Jackson County Central Coach Tom Schuller. “It seemed like every time we turned around the ball was on the ground and Redwood had it.
“We came up with a lot of stands,” he continued. “We had a goal line stand and then broke the 90-some odd yard run and that gave us a little bit of breathing room. We just couldn’t hang onto the ball. It made things extremely difficult the first half.”
After stopping the Cardinals on fourth-and-goal, the Huskies scored in one play with Gabe Wolff going around the left side and up the sideline in front of the JCC bench 96 yards in all to score on the longest play from scrimmage in school history. Alvaro Gonzalez Garcia’s extra point made it 7-0 with 3:47 remaining in the first quarter.
“I didn’t get touched until I think it was the corner and all I had to do was just beat that guy and I was gone,” Wolff said. “I know Caleb Vancura and Bryson Powers both put a block on. And it wasn’t just them, it was everybody.”
JCC scored twice in the second quarter, with Powers catching a 36-yard TD pass and Wolff going in from three yards out. Gonzalez Garcia’s PATs made the halftime score 21-0.
The lead became 28-0 on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Voss to Powers and Seth Stai intercepted a pass and returned it 39 yards for the final touchdown of the game.
“The quarterback was just looking at me,” Stai said. “I knew he was throwing my way. I pretty much just one-handed it. I thought the guy was going to catch up to me.”
The junior felt it was a bit of a bounce-back game from the previous week.
“I’ve been working on pass drops all week because last week I didn’t do very well” he said. “Practice helps a lot, I know that.”
The Huskies had 430 yards offense, 310 rushing and 120 passing. The Cardinals had 96 yards, 19 on the ground and 76 in the air.
“I thought our pass defense was a lot better than it has been,” Schuller said. “It didn’t seem like they ran that many running plays. Our defensive backs had a pretty good ballgame. That’s something we needed and something we still need to work on and continue to try to get better at.”
Wolff had a total of 217 yards rushing on 20 carries. Voss was 6-for-13 passing. Powers had two catches (both touchdowns) for 60 and Travis Rogotzke caught two balls for 19 yards.
Jackson County Central is now 5-0. The Huskies are at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial on Friday.
NOTES
This is the eighth time Jackson County Central has started a season 5-0. The others were 1997, 2000, 2003, 2009, 2016, 2018, and 2019.
The five wins guarantees JCC will finish above .500 again this season. Only once in 26 seasons have the Huskies not finished above .500. The 2005 team went 3-6.
Jackson County Central leads the all-time series with Redwood Valley 24-4.
It’s the third time the Huskies have shut out the Cardinals in the series, which dates back to JCC’s first year in 1997. The others were in 1998 and 2000.
Section 3AA standings
Listed are team, won-loss record and QRF number.
Jackson County Central (5-0) 60.4
Pipestone Area (5-0) 42.3
Minnesota Valley Lutheran (4-1) 35.3
Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial (1-4) 18.1
Redwood Valley (0-5) 11.0
Sibley East (0-5) 9.2
Windom Area (0-5) 8.1
St. James Area (0-5) 6.2
If the playoffs started today
St. James Area (8) at Jackson County Central (1)
Redwood Valley (5) at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial (4)
Windom Area (7) at Pipestone Area (2)
Sibley East (6) at Minnesota Valley Lutheran (3)
Unbeaten teams
There are 11 Class 2A teams in the state with a 5-0 record.
Section 1AA
Caledonia
Chatfield
Section 2AA
St. Clair/Loyola
Section 3AA
Jackson County Central
Pipestone Area
Section 4AA
Concordia Academy
Minneapolis North
Rush City
Section 5AA
Eden Valley-Watkins
Kimball Area
Section 6AA
None
Section 7AA
None
Section 8AA
Barnesville
How they fared
How the top 10 teams in this week’s Class 2A ratings by The Associated Press fared this week and next week’s opponent.
1. Chatfield: Defeated LaCrescent-Hokah 51-7; vs. No. 3 Caledonia
2. Minneapolis North: Defeated DeLaSalle 38-0; vs. Minneapolis Southwest
3. Caledonia: Defeated Goodhue 35-20; at No. 1 Chatfield
4. Barnesville: Defeated Pillager 62-0; at Detroit Lakes
5. Jackson County Central: Defeated Redwood Valley 35-0
6. Pipestone Area: Defeated Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial 34-0; vs. Luverne
7. Eden Valley-Watkins: Defeated Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 48-15; vs. Royalton
8. Kimball Area: Defeated Browerville-Eagle Valley 42-0; at Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg
9. Concordia Academy: Defeated Spectrum 35-28; vs. Providence Academy
10. Norwood Young America: Lost to Maple River 35-24; at Tri-City United
(tie) St. Clair/Loyola: Defeated Blooming Prairie 31-26; vs. Waterville-Elysian-Morristown