It was nowhere as easy as the final score indicates, but the Jackson County Central football team concluded its regular season schedule with a 45-6 win over Pipestone at Swearingen Field.
The Huskies finish South Central-Silver District play 4-0 and are 8-0 overall while the Arrows are 2-2 and 6-2.
JCC used both Roman Voss and Evan Bartholomaus at quarterback against Pipestone.
“Any time we’ve had to get two quarterbacks ready it’s been difficult,” said Huskies coach Tom Schuller. “It was a short week getting ready and it was a struggle. Period.”
Schuller was also quick to give plenty of credit to the Arrows.
“Pipestone is a good team,” he said. “They pushed back a little. I’m happy with the result. I didn’t think we played real well. We’ll watch the tape and try to get rested up. There’s a lot of flu that’s been going through us. Hopefully we can get that done and then get to work on getting ready for the section.”
JCC led 10-0 after the opening quarter. Gage Johnson scored a touchdown from one yard out and also ran in the conversion with 7:13 remaining and the Huskies recorded a safety when the Arrows were penalized for intentional grounding in their own end zone with 3:16 to play.
Voss took in a 39-pass TD pass from Bartholomaus that put Jackson County Central up 16-0 with 8:35 remaining in the half. The Arrows got on the board with 7:40 to go in the second when Cayden Zephier caught a 42-yard touchdown pass from Landon Quist.
JCC would score twice before the half ended as Voss scored on a 51-yard run with 2:46 remaining and Tavion Diggs went in from one yard out with :20 left. Johnson ran in for two following the Voss TD.
The Huskies scored once in each of the final two quarters as Voss scored on a 16-yard run and Isaac Hesebeck ran in the conversion with 3:36 left in the third and Johnson scored from 11 yards out and Ben Gallagher kicked the PAT with 9:55 remaining.
It’s the third straight unbeaten season for JCC and the fifth in nine years. More about that in a separate newsletter.
“It’s an awesome accomplishment,” Schuller said. “We’ll enjoy it for a bit and then we wipe it clean and we’re zero and zero.
“If you screw up again, you’re out. There’s no forgiveness now. If you lose a game you’re done. We hope we have a lot of season left. The kids have been great with their effort. We’ll tune things up and see if we can keep improving.”
Jackson County Central will have a first-round bye in the Section 3AA playoffs. Their first game will be at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26 at Swearingen Field vs. the winner of Tuesday’s game between fourth-seeded LeSueur-Henderson and fifth-seeded Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial.
Pipestone 0 6 0 0 - 6
JCC 10 10 8 7 - 45
Scoring plays
First quarter
JCC – Gage Johson 1 run (Gage Johnson run) 7:13
JCC – Safety. Pipestone penalized in end zone 3:16.
Second quarter
JCC – Roman Voss 39 pass from Evan Bartholomaus (pass failed) 8:35.
P – Cayden Zephier 42 pass from Landon Quist (kick blocked) 7:40.
JCC – Roman Voss 51 run (Gage Johnson run) 2:46.
JCC – Tavion Diggs 1 run (run failed) :20.
Third quarter
JCC – Roman Voss 16 run (Isaac Hesebeck run) 3:36.
Fourth quarter
JCC – Gage Johnson 11 run (Ben Gallagher kick) 9:55.
Individual statistics
Offense
Rushing
Pipestone: Weston Reinhard 6-16, Cayden Zephier 1-13, Nohel Vivanco 1-6, Lucas Thooft 1-3, Landon Quist 4-4, Hayden Brooke 2-2, Zayne Zollner 1-2, Xavier Banjoko 3-1, Nehemiah Ostermeier 1-0, Mason Fruechte 1-0; JCC: Roman Voss 12-168, Clay Malchow 14-62, Tavion Diggs 9-46, Gage Johnson 6-37, Ben Dahlin 3-27, Sulaimon Olaosebikan 2-13.
Receiving
Pipestone: Nehemiah Ostermeier 2-18, Tagan Woreler 2-12, Cayden Zephier 1-42, Kayden White 1-8, Trevor Clark-Chaulsett 1-3; JCC: Ben Dahlin 3-25, Roman Voss 1-39, Clay Malchow 1-4.
Passing
Pipestone: Landon Quist 7-21-1-83; JCC: Evan Bartholomaus 5-9-0-78, Roman Voss 0-1-0-0.
Defense
Fumble recoveries
JCC: Clay Malchow (2), Ben Dahlin.
Interceptions
JCC: Ben Gallagher 1-12.
Team statistics
First downs: JCC 15, Pipestone 3.
Rushing: JCC 46-353, Pipestone 22-47.
Passing: JCC 5-10-0-78, Pipestone 7-21-1-83.
Fumbles-lost: Pipestone 0-0, JCC 3-0.
Penalties: Pipestone 2-10, JCC 6-75.
JCC SCHEDULERESULTS
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, W 46-7
Friday, Oct. 4: Minnesota Valley Lutheran, W 64-8
Thursday, Oct. 10: at Luverne, W 38-0
Wednesday, Oct. 16: Pipestone, W 45-6