For the first time in a dozen years, the Jackson County Central football team will head west on I-90 to face Worthington Friday. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
The last time JCC played at Worthington was on Sept. 9, 2011, when the Huskies claimed a 31-6 win. Since then, artificial turf has been installed at Trojan Field and that’s an aid to a speedy Worthington team.
Jackson County Central overcame a sluggish start to win 42-13 over Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial in its opener last week. Worthington put on a fourth quarter rally before falling short in a 25-20 loss at Luverne. The Trojans trailed 25-20 entering the final quarter.
“We’re going to have to play better to beat Worthington,” JCC coach Tom Schuller said after the win over LCWM. “We saw a lot of good things, but some of the things we didn’t do were catastrophic. We can fix those, and we will.”
Senior Tucker Brandner was 9-for-17 passing for 238 yards and two touchdowns for Worthington vs. Luverne. Senior Mak Lia was the leading receiver with four catches for 70 yards including a 25-yard touchdown.
Brandner threw a 70-yard TD pass to junior Permeye Okony and junior Jacari Swinea ran one in from 10 yards out.
Swinea was Worthington’s leading rusher with 19 yards. The Trojans had -7 yards as a team.
The Huskies are back home next week to host Blue Earth Area.
BEA is 0-1, losing 21-18 at Pipestone last week. The Buccaneers host Triton on Friday. The Cobras are 1-0, winning their opener 27-6 over Maple River.
Series highlights
Games: 19
Series: JCC leads 14-5
First meeting: 1997, JCC won 19-0
Last meeting: 2020, JCC won 28-6
Current streak: JCC has won 10 straight
Longest Huskies win streak: 10 (2006-2020)
Longest Trojans win streak: 2 (twice)
Most Huskies points: 76, 2019
Most Trojans points: 42, 1990
Huskies shutouts: 1997, 2009, 2012
Trojans shutouts: None
Scores
All-time scores in the JCC-Worthington series.
1997: Jackson County Central 19, Worthington 0
1998: Worthington 27, Jackson County Central 7
1999: Worthington 42, Jackson County Central 20
2000: Jackson County Central 23, Worthington 7
2001: Jackson County Central 35, Worthington 26
2002: Worthington 35, Jackson County Central 14
2003: Jackson County Central 28, Worthington 14
2004: Worthington 36, Jackson County Central 28
2005: Worthington 23, Jackson County Central 13
2006: Jackson County Central 23, Worthington 8
2007: Jackson County Central 26, Worthington 7
2008: Jackson County Central 31, Worthington 28
2009: Jackson County Central 37, Worthington 0
2010: Jackson County Central 51, Worthington 21
2011: Jackson County Central 31, Worthington 6
2012: Jackson County Central 48, Worthington 0
2013: Jackson County Cerntral 44, Worthington 23
2019: Jackson County Central 76, Worthington 6
2020: Jackson County Central 28, Worthington 6 (Section 3AAA quarterfinals)
Total points: Jackson County Central 582 (30.6), Worthington 315 (16.6)
JCC football schedule
Fri., Sept. 1: Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial, W 42-13
Fri., Sept. 8: at Worthington
Fri., Sept. 15: Blue Earth Area
Fri., Sept. 22: at LeSueur-Henderson
Fri., Sept. 29: Redwood Valley
Fri., Oct. 6: at Minnesota Valley Lutheran
Thurs., Oct. 12: Luverne
Wed., Oct. 18: at Pipestone
South Central Silver District
Jackson County Central plays in the South Central Silver District. Here is this week’s schedule for those teams.
Friday, Sept. 8
Jackson County Central (1-0): at Worthington (0-1)
Luverne (1-0): at Jordan (1-0)
Minnesota Valley Lutheran (1-0): at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial (0-1)
Pipestone (1-0): at LeSueur-Henderson (0-1)
Redwood Valley (1-0): at Maple River (0-1)
Section 3AA
Jackson County Central will play in Section 3A in postseason play. Here is this week’s schedule for those teams.
Section 3AA
Friday, Sept. 8
Jackson County Central (1-0): at Worthington (0-1)
Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial (0-1): vs. Minnesota Valley Lutheran (1-0)
LeSueur-Henderson (0-1): vs. Pipestone (1-0)
Minnesota Valley Lutheran (1-0): at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial (0-1
Pipestone (1-0): at LeSueur-Henderson (0-1)
Redwood Valley (1-0): at Maple River (0-1)
Sibley East (0-1): vs. Tri-City United (0-1)
Windom (0-1): vs. St. James Area (0-1)