Le Sueur-Henderson defeated Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial for the second time in less than a week as the fourth-seeded Giants won 41-21 over the fifth-seeded Knights to earn a first-round Section 3AA football playoff win Tuesday night. LSH had downed LCWM 28-19 in the team’s regular season finale last Wednesday.
Tuesday’s win means Le Sueur-Henderson will play at top-seeded Jackson County Central in the section semifinals at 3 p.m. Saturday at Swearingen Field.
The Huskies defeated the Giants 61-14 at home on Sept. 20. Since then, LSH has won four out of five games including three in a row.
Tuesday’s game was the first time that the Giants hosted a section playoff game since 2012 and their first postseason win since 2018, LSH, 5-4, is also guaranteed to finish a season with at least a .500 record for the first time since 2018.
Meanwhile, Jackson County Central has not played a game on its opponents’ home field since 2014 when they won a Section 3AA semifinal game at Luverne.
In fact, since becoming a school district in 1997, JCC has played nine true road games in the postseason. And five of those games would now be played at a neutral site as they were either section championship or first round state tournament games.
To be fair, JCC would have been the visiting team in several section championship games had they been played on the higher seed’s home field. And the Huskies would have been on the road in the section semifinals in the COVID-altered 2020 season had the format not been changed after the first round.
Jackson County Central has played on the road in the first round only once in school history, a loss at Pipestone in 2004.
The Huskies have played three section semifinal games on the road, wins at Glencoe-Silver Lake in 1999 and Luverne in 2014 and an overtime loss at Le Sueur-Henderson in 2002.
In Tuesday’s other first-round game in Section 3AA, third-seeded Redwood Valley downed sixth-seeded Windom 34-13. The Cardinals (7-2) will play at second-seeded Pipestone (6-2) in the other semifinal Saturday.
The section championship game will be played Friday, Nov. 1 in Worthington.
JCC road playoff games
1998: Jackson County Central 27, Kasson-Mantorville 19 (State 3A quarterfinals)
1999: Jackson County Central 49, Glencoe-Silver Lake 15 (Section 3AAA semifinals)
1999: St. Peter 36, Jackson County Central 28 (Section 3AAA championship)
2000: Glencoe-Silver Lake 12, Jackson County Central 10 (Section 3AAA championship)
2001: Jackson County Central 20, BOLD 7 (State Class 3A quarterfinals)
2002: Le Sueur-Henderson 22, Jackson County Central 16 (OT) (Section 3AAA semifinals)
2004: Pipestone 27, Jackson County Central 8 (Section 3AAA quarterfinals)
2007: Luverne 27, Jackson County Central 6 (Section 3AA championship)
2014: Jackson County Central 23, Luverne 6 (Section 3AA semifinals)
JCC first-round section 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
2024: Bye