In this edition of the notebook:
JCC seeded high again
Quarterfinal scores
Undefeated Huskies
Undefeated Bluejays
Section 3AA schedule
No. 1 section seeds
State tournament schedule
Unbeaten and one-loss teams
How ranked teams fared
Top 10 lists
Final district standings
Seeded high again
For the 26th time in its 27 years, the Jackson County Central football team earned a top four seed for its section playoffs.
With LeSueur-Henderson choosing to not participate in the postseason, the Huskies will have Tuesday off and will wait to play in the semifinals on Saturday. A remarkable streak does continue though.
JCC, which has bounced back and forth between Class 3A and Class 2A since becoming a school district in 1997, has only had to get on a bus for a first-round playoff game once in its history.
The Huskies have advanced to the section semifinals 24 times in 27 years, compiling a 22-3 game record. JCC had a first-round bye in 2019 in addition to this year.
Those three losses occurred in a five-year span.
The 2004 Huskies were 4-4 during the regular season but that was only good enough for the number six seed in Section 3AAA. JCC would travel to Pipestone in the first round and lose 27-18 to the third-seeded Arrows. Pipestone had won the regular-season game that season 28-0.
In 2005, Jackson County Central was 3-5 during the regular season but this time the Huskies were able to get a home first-round game as the No. 4 seed. However, fifth-seeded Maple River would come to Jackson and leave with a 7-0 win.
That brings up another impressive stat. JCC’s 3-6 record that season is the only time the Huskies have finished below the .500 mark.
Jackson County Central’s only other first-round loss came in 2008 when the third-seeded Huskies fell 18-13 to sixth-seeded Windom. The Huskies had defeated the Eagles 24-17 at Island Park just 11 days earlier.
Here are JCC first-round scores in section football playoff games.
1997: Jackson County Central 45, Montgomery-Lonsdale 0
1998: Jackson County Central 61, Sibley East 12
1999: Jackson County Central 39, LeSueur-Henderson 15
2000: Jackson County Central 38, Maple River 6
2001: Jackson County Central 22, LeSueur-Henderson 18
2002: Jackson County Central 28, St. Peter 6
2003: Jackson County Central 47, Montevideo 14
2004: Pipestone 27, Jackson County Central 18
2005: Maple River 7, Jackson County Central 0
2006: Jackson County Central 54, Montevideo 22
2007: Jackson County Central 40, Windom 7
2008: Windom 18, Jackson County Central 13
2009: Jackson County Central 27, St. James Area 6
2010: Jackson County Central 48, St. James Area 6
2011: Jackson County Central 43, Pipestone 13
2012: Jackson County Central 67, Windom 13
2013: Jackson County Central 56, St. James Area 0
2014: Jackson County Central 32, Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial 31
2015: Jackson County Central 44, Sibley East 13
2016: Jackson County Central 42, Sibley East 14
2017: Jackson County Central 37, St. Peter 27
2018: Jackson County Central 42, Sibley East 8
2019: Bye
2020: Jackson County Central 28, Worthington 6
2021: Jackson County Central 58, Windom 6
2022: Jackson County Central 62, Windom 28
2023: Bye
Total points: Jackson County Central 962, Opponents 323
Average margin: Jackson County Central 42.9, Opponents 14.0
Unbeaten regular season
The Huskies finished the regular season with an 8-0 record for the seventh time in school history.
Here are those unbeaten seasons:
1997
2000
2003
2016
2019
2022
2023
Unbeaten Bluejays
Jackson High School had five undefeated seasons between 1928 and 1996.
Three of those Bluejay teams were unbeaten and untied and the other two had one tie.
Those seasons were:
1931 (7-0)
1953 (8-0)
1955 (7-0-1)
1964 (7-0-1)
1965 (8-0)
Section 3AA playoffs
Tuesday, Oct. 24
Quarterfinals
Jackson County Central (8-0) has bye
Sibley East (2-6) at Minnesota Valley Lutheran (3-5), 7 p.m.
Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial (0-8) at Redwood Valley (5-3), 7 p.m.
Windom (2-6) at Pipestone (5-3), 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 28
Semifinals
At higher seed
Sibley East-MVL winner at Jackson County Central (8-0), 3 p.m.
LCWM-Redwood winner vs. Windom-Pipestone winner, 3 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 3
Championship
At SMSU
Semifinal winners, 11:30 a.m.
Number one seeds
The top seed in each Class 2A section:
1AA: Caledonia (8-0)
2AA: Maple River (7-1)
3AA: Jackson County Central (8-0)
4AA: St. Agnes (8-0)
5AA: Eden Valley-Watkins (8-0)
6AA: Osakis (7-1)
7AA: Barnum (8-0)
8AA: Barnesville (8-0)
State Class 2A tournament
Thursday, Nov. 9
Quarterfinals
Upper bracket
Section 3AA vs. Section 1AA at Rochester Mayo
Section 6AA vs Section 8AA at Alexandria
Lower bracket
Section 4AA vs. Section 2AA at New Prague
Section 7AA vs. Section 5AA at Forest Lake
Friday, Nov. 17
Semifinals
At U.S. Bank Stadium
Upper-bracket winners, 9 a.m.
Lower-bracket winners, 11:30 a.m.
Friday, Nov. 24
Championship
At U.S. Bank Stadium
Semifinal winners, 1 p.m.
Undefeated Class 2A teams
Seven Class 2A teams finished the regular season with an 8-0 record.
1AA: Caledonia
2AA: None
3AA: Jackson County Central
4AA: Norwood Young America, St. Agnes
5AA: Eden Valley-Watkins
6AA: None
7AA: Barnum
8AA: Barnesville
One-loss teams
Six Class 2A teams finished the regular season with a 7-1 record.
1AA: None
2AA: Maple River
3AA: None
4AA: None
5AA: None
6AA: Osakis, Staples-Motley
7AA: Moose Lake-Willow River, Mesabi East
8AA: Pelican Rapids
State rankings
Here’s how the teams in the state Class 2A football ratings fared the final week of the regular season.
Class 2A
1. Barnesville (8-0): Defeated Frazee 40-0
2. Caledonia (8-0): Defeated LaCrescent-Hokah 44-14
3. Eden Valley-Watkins (8-0): Defeated Holdingford 56-6
4. Jackson County Central (8-0): Defeated Pipestone 48-14
5. St. Agnes (8-0): Defeated Academy Force 48-22
6. Barnum (8-0): Defeated South Ridge 2-0 (forfeit)
7. Norwood Young America (8-0): Defeated Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop 49-48 (3 OT)
8. Cannon Falls (6-2): Lost to Chatfield 36-22
9. Osakis (7-1): Defeated Maple Lake 51-0
10. Moose Lake-Willow River (7-1): Defeated Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin 56-7
Top 10 lists
Jackson County Central ranks fourth in the state in Class 2A in points scored per game and is also fourth in points allowed.
For our purposes, we’re only including games played. That means adjustments have to be made from what is listed on the website Minnesota-scores.net for two teams that have received forfeits this season.
Of course, one is JCC, which is scoring 41.7 points and allowing 7.6 using only the seven games the Huskies have played. If you use the official score of 2-0 for the forfeit win over LeSueur-Henderson, those numbers change to 36.8 and 6.6.
The other is Barnum, which received a forfeit from South Ridge in the final week of the regular season.
Discarding the forfeit, the Bombers are scoring 37.6 point and allowing 13.1. Including the forfeit, those numbers are 33.1 and 11.5.
Cannon Falls is the highest-scoring Class 2A team, averaging 47.5 points on its way to a 6-2 record. Those losses have come to Caledonia (28-8) and Chatfield (36-22).
Barnesville leads in points allowed with 4.4 ppg.
Norwood Young America was leading the state in fewest points allowed heading into the final week of the regular season, allowing 31 points in seven games, an average of 4.2 points per game.
The Raiders defeated Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop 49-48 in three overtimes (it was 28-28 at the end of regulation), raising the average to 9.9 points, which is still good for 10th place.
Points scored
Cannon Falls 47.5
Barnesville 43.8
Eden Valley-Watkins 43.5
Jackson County Central 41.7
Caledonia 41.1
Osakis 40.5
St. Agnes 38.4
Barnum 37.6
Staples-Motley 37.4
Pelican Rapids 35.8
Points allowed
Barnesville 4.4
Caledonia 6.0
Eden Valley-Watkins 7.4
Jackson County Central 7.6
Mesabi East 8.5
Maple River 9.0
St. Agnes 9.8
Norwood Young America 9.9
Chatfield 11.8
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 11.8
South Central Silver District
Final standings
Jackson County Central 4-0
Luverne 2-2
Pipestone 2-2
Redwood Valley 2-2
Minnesota Valley Lutheran 0-4
District games only