On to the ship
JCC to face Staples-Motley for 2A football title
Sophomore Gage Johnson’s third touchdown of the game with 3:56 remaining gave Jackson County Central a 36-28 win over Kimball Area in a semifinal game in the state Class 2A football tournament Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Johnson’s score came on an 18-yard run. He also ran in the two-point conversion after that score as JCC went 47 yards in eight plays to take the lead.
Ben Dahlin intercepted a Kimball pass with 1:42 to play. JCC would pick up a first down on a Cubs penalty and then took a knee twice to run out the clock.
Each of Johnson’s earlier TDs came from two yards out on fourth down plays.
Clay Malchow scored on what officially was a three-yard run although he ran much farther as he started to the right, stopped and came back the other way and got to the front left corner of the end zone.
Dahlin picked up the other touchdown on a 53-yard run.
JCC will play Staples-Motley for the state title at 4 p.m. next Friday (Nov. 15). S-M defeated Chatfield 36-21 in Friday’s other semifinal.
Both teams are 12-0.
The Huskies were the No. 2 seed in the South and the Cardinals were the No. 3 seed in the North.
It will be Jackson County Central’s fourth appearance at Prep Bowl, the first as a Class 2A team. The others were all in Class 3A.
Here are the scores of the previous state title games:
1997: Albany 55, Jackson County Central 7
1998: Foley 21, Jackson County Central 7
2001: Jackson County Central 42, Becker 7
2015: Pierz 36, Jackson County Central 8
Jackson High School also played in one state championship game:
1985: Jackson 26, Mahnomen 20
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