Jackson County Central appears to have wrapped up the number one seed in the Section 3AA football playoffs after a 12-7 win over Pipestone Friday at Swearingen Field.
The Class 2A fourth-ranked Huskies are 7-0 while the ninth-ranked Arrows are 5-2.
“That was a good old fashioned slugfest,” said JCC Coach Tom Schuller. “You don’t see a lot of those around anymore.”
Pipestone doubled up JCC in offensive snaps in the game, 68-34.
The Arrows had 120 yards passing and 142 rushing for 262 total yards. The Huskies had 116 in the air and 42 on the ground for 158 total yards.
But it was JCC that scored the game’s first two touchdowns and had a two-score lead and kept Pipestone out of the end zone past the halfway point of the fourth quarter.
The Huskies’ first score came with 1:35 left in the first quarter when Travis Rogotzke scored a TD after taking in a pass from Roman Voss on a play that covered 54 yards. The score came one play after Rogotzke was able to bring in a pass from Voss that also would have resulted in a touchdown had he been able to hang on.
“I shouldn’t have dropped that first one,” Rogotzke said. “The dude kind of tackled my ankles before I tried to catch the ball. I was wide open on that check play. They were a tough team but we should have been able to score more in the second half.”
The extra point was not good, leaving the score at 6-0.
JCC scored what turned out to be its final touchdown after Voss came up with an interception on defense and returned it 32 yards to the Arrows’ 18-yard line.
“It was awesome,” Voss said. “We came out and I’m like ‘I’m going to get an interception right here.’ And sure enough they ran a trick play and I got the interception.”
Voss played a lot of downs on defense and that likely will continue.
“He’s a good player and he’s going to play more and more on defense,” Schuller commented. “He’s a freshman but now he’s a veteran freshman. He’s already played more defense than his brother did his entire career.”
The Huskies increased their lead to 12-0 when Seth Stai scored from 10 yards out. The PAT was not good, leaving the score at 12-0 and that’s where it remained until Pipestone’s Kellen Johnson threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Rogen Smidt with 5:41 to play in the game.
Jackson County Central drove downfield hoping to put the game away with another score but would turn the ball over on downs on the Pipestone 11-yard line.
The Arrows were able to move the ball to the 26-yard line with 1:22 left in the game before JCC’s Aiven Farmer and Bryson Powers teamed up to sack Johnson and JCC was able to kneel on the ball twice and run out the clock.
“We’ve talked about hanging onto the ball and we finally had zero turnovers,” Schuller said. “We did make them play on a long field and they had a lot of players compared to what we did but to allow a team like that to only get in the end zone once is good. I wish we could have got off the field sooner than we did but the bottom line is we did only allow seven points.”
Earlier this season the Huskies had games with Maple River and Blue Earth Area decided in the closing minutes and they were able to come away with another close win.
“It’s the third really close football game we’ve won,” Schuller said. “Last year (in the Section 3AA championship game) we got to the end of the game we couldn’t stop them from going 94 yards. Tonight they got the football back and we were able to stop them so I was really happy with that.”
JCC closes out its regular-season schedule at home Wednesday vs. St. Peter.
“We did not play the greatest,” Voss said of the win over Pipestone. “We definitely need to improve on a lot of stuff but a win is a win and we’ll get ready for next week. Coming into this season nobody thought we would be unbeaten at this point of the season but we have so much heart. Our guys are awesome.”
Schuller echoed the comments of his quarterback/safety.
“We have a lot of improving to do,” he said. “We said that before the game and certainly after the game. We’re elated with the win but we don’t think we played real well.”
Voss was 5-for-9 passing for JCC. Rogotzke caught four of those balls for 113 yards. Gabe Wolff was the top rusher with 28 yards on 12 carries.
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, W 35-0
Fri., Oct. 7 – at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial, W 2-0 (forfeit)
Fri., Oct. 14 - Pipestone, W 12-7
Wed., Oct. 19 - St. Peter, 7 p.m.
Section 3AA standings
Listed are team, won-loss record in parenthesis and QRF number.
Jackson County Central (7-0) 75.2
Pipestone Area (5-2) 39.9
Minnesota Valley Lutheran (5-2) 36.5
Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial (2-5) 23.4
Redwood Valley (2-5) 21.8
Sibley East (1-6) 15.2
St. James Area (1-6) 12.0
Windom Area (0-7) 9.1
If the playoffs started today
Windom Area (8) at Jackson County Central (1)
Redwood Valley (5) at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial (4)
St. James Area (7) at Pipestone Area (2)
Sibley East (6) at Minnesota Valley Lutheran (3)
Unbeaten teams
The list of undefeated teams in Class 2A teams in the state is down to eight.
Section 1AA
Chatfield
Section 2AA
St. Clair/Loyola
Section 3AA
Jackson County Central
Section 4AA
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 (7-0): Defeated Triton 35-0; at Goodhue
2. Minneapolis North (7-0): Defeated Minneapolis Washburn 38-0; vs. St. Paul Central
3. Barnesville (7-0): Defeated Staples-Motley 56-0; vs. Hawley
4. Jackson County Central (7-0): Defeated Pipestone 12-7; vs. St. Peter
5. Caledonia (6-1): Defeated St. Charles 46-14; vs. Cannon Falls
6. Eden Valley-Watkins (7-0): Defeated Pierz 38-7; vs. Minnewaska Area
7. Kimball Area (7-0): Defeated BOLD 24-14; vs. Upsala/Swanville Area
8. St. Clair/Mankato Loyola (7-0): Defeated Medford 21-0; at Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop
9. Pipestone Area (5-2): Lost to Jackson County Central 12-7; vs. Windon Area
10. Blue Earth Area (6-1): Defeated Norwood Young America 52-21; at Fairmont