Jackson County Central will be making its fifth appearance in a state football tournament championship game after a thrilling 34-26 win over Kimball Area in a Class 2A semifinal game Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Gage Johnson’s third touchdown of the game, from 18 yards out with 3:56 remaining, broke a 26-26 tie. The sophomore also ran in the two-point conversion.
JCC scored on its first two possessions, with Johnson scoring from two yards out on a fourth-and-goal each time. Tavion Diggs ran in for the two-point conversion after the first TD.
The Cubs would score the game’s next three touchdowns, scoring in the second quarter to cut the margin to 14-12 at halftime and then returning the second half kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown.
That gave Kimball an 18-14 lead and meant that the Huskies were trailing for the first time this year, in the season’s 12th game.
The deficit lasted a little over five minutes as JCC went 67 yards in 13 plays, scoring on what goes in the book as a three-yard touchdown run but would cover much more ground than that. Clay Malchow headed to the Huskies’ right side, then reversed course and would make it to the front corner of the end zone to score.
“We were running a 34,” the senior running back said. “There was no gap there and I knew I needed to make a play, so I decided to go back around, and I had blockers there and I just ran it in,” Malchow said in matter-of-fact fashion following the game.
The try for two failed, leaving JCC’s lead at 20-18 with 5:45 left in the third quarter.
After forcing the Cubs to punt twice, the Huskies would turn the ball over to Kimball on their own 14-yard line with 11:08 to play.
Kimball took the lead back as Brandon Henkemeyer went in from two yards out and he then threw to Tate Winter for the conversion give Kimball a 26-20 lead with 9:13 to play.
That meant JCC was trailing for only the second time all season. This time the deficit lasted all of 21 seconds.
Johnson returned the kickoff to the Huskies’ 47-yard line and on the first play from there, Ben Dahlin carried the ball off the left side and raced 53 yards to the end zone for a TD. The try for two was stopped, but the game was tied 26-26 with 8:52 remaining.
After Kimball started on its own 35-yard line and picked up a first down on its next drive, linebacker Tavion Diggs forced a fumble that was recovered by tackle Kade Freking-Leu to give the Huskies the ball on the Cubs 47-yard line with 7:13 to play.
Dahlin was stopped for a seven-yard loss on JCC’s first play from there and that was followed by an incomplete pass and a false start penalty that had the Huskies looking at third-and-22 from their own 41-yard line.
Grant Freking completed a short pass to Malchow on the left side. Malchow batted the ball around for what seemed like forever before eventually making the catch and taking the ball to the Kimball 21-yard line.
Just like his earlier description of his touchdown run, Clay’s description of his catch also fell woefully short of the excitement of the moment, which occurred on the Huskies side of U.S. Bank Stadium. It seemed to play out like a slow-motion scene in a movie.
“I was just praying to God to let me catch the ball and that’s what he did,” explained Malchow, again coming nowhere near the excitement felt by the JCC faithful wearing their Navy and Silver.
Three players later Malchow carried the ball into the end zone from 10 yards out, but a penalty negated the touchdown.
That pushed JCC back to the 18-yard line, from where Johnson ran in for the TD off the left side. Johnson also ran in the conversion for a 34-26 lead.
The Cubs did pick up one first down on their ensuing possession, but a fourth-and-10 play, Thomas Liepold hurried Kimball quarterback Henkemeyer and his pass was intercepted by Dahlin with 1:34 remaining.
Kimball had all three of its time outs remaining and used two of them while the Huskies were gaining five yards on two plays. Freking was able to draw the Cubs offside on third-and-five and the Huskies took a couple of kneel downs and ran out the clock.
JCC dealt with several injuries to put together a lineup and move to within one win of its clearly stated goal for the season…. winning the state championship.
“Wade (assistant coach Wade Wacker) is a magician,” said Schuller. “He’s done a great job putting this together.”
Already playing without a three-year starting offensive tackle in Kasey Storm, quarterback-safety Roman Voss and wide receiver-cornerback Ben Gallagher suffered season ending injuries in the Huskies’ quarterfinal win over Norwood Young America.
That meant Freking would be the starting quarterback on offense and see an increased role at safety on defense.
“We spent all year having designated roles,” Schuller said. “So, hats off to our guys. Really resilient. Our goal all year has been a state title. We weren’t willing to say, ‘Darn it. There went that.’ ”
Staples-Motley wins
The state championship game will match the South’s No. 2 seed, JCC, against the No. 3 seed in the North, Staples-Motley.
The Cardinals topped No. 2 South seed Chatfield 36-24 in the second semifinal.
Staples-Motley is also 12-0 and playing for a state title two years after going 0-9.
Junior running back Colbe Tappe rushed for 170 yards on 25 carries and three touchdowns for the Cardinals. He scored the game-deciding touchdown from one yard out with 39 seconds left in the third quarter. He also caught a 14-yard touchdown pass.
JCC 14 0 6 14 - 34
Kimball 0 12 6 8 - 26
Scoring plays
First quarter
JCC – Gage Johnson 2 run (Tavion Diggs run), 4:42.
JCC – Gage Johnson 2 run (pass failed), :09.
Second quarter
Kimball – Bryant Knaus 58 pass from Brandon Henkemeyer (pass failed), 11:52.
Kimball – Ronald Arnold 13 pass from Brandon Henkemeyer (Owen Mortenson pass from Brandon Henkemeyer), 2:12.
Third quarter
Kimball – Bryant Knaus 81 kickoff return (Bryant Knaus pass from Brandon Henkemeyer), 11:50.
JCC – Clay Malchow 3 run (run failed), 6:00.
Fourth quarter
Kimball – Brandon Henkemeyer 2 run (Tate Winter pass from Brandon Henkemeyer), 9:13.
JCC – Ben Dahlin 53 run (Gage Johnson run) 8:52.
JCC – Gage Johnson 18 run (Gage Johnson run), 3:56.
Individual statistics (from MSHSL)
Offense
Rushing
JCC: Clay Malchow 19-117, Ben Dahlin 6-88, Gage Johnson 16-64, Tavion Diggs 4-4, Grant Freking 3- (-14). Kimball: Ronald Arnold 5-42, Mason Danelke 6-21, Brandon Henkemeyer 10-15, Bryant Knaus 1-0.
Receiving
JCC: Ben Dahlin 5-33, Clay Malchow 1-28, Aiven Farmer 1-2. Kimball: Owen Mortenson 3-43, Bryant Knaus 2-59, Tate Winter 1-20, Ronald Arnold 1-13, Ryder Schwieters 1-9
Passing
JCC: Grant Freking 7-11-0 73. Kimball: Brandon Henkemeyer 8-21-1 144.
Defense
Tackles (All with more than one, solo-assist-total)
JCC: Gage Johnson 6-0-6, Thomas Liepold 3-2-5, Tavion Diggs 2-2-4, Aiven Farmer 3-0-3, Ben Dahlin 2-0-2, Ian Titterington 2-0-2, Kade Freking-Leu 1-1-2.
Fumble recoveries
JCC: Kade Freking-Leu 1-0. Kimball: Tate Winter 1-0
Interceptions
JCC: Ben Dahlin 1-14.
Team statistics
First downs: JCC 17, Kimball 10.
Rushing: JCC 50-258, Kimball 23-79.
Passing: JCC 7-11-73, Kimball 8-21-2-144.
Fumbles-lost: JCC 3-1, Kimball 2-1.
Penalties: JCC 5-31, Kimball 4-20.
