Jackson County Central and Luverne have had a good football rivalry through the years and that’s usually the main topic when the teams get together. This week, the weather forecast has been drawing a lot of the attention.
The Huskies and Cardinals are scheduled to play at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Swearingen Field. Game time was moved up 90 minutes due to the forecast, which is not good to say the least.
At this writing, there’s a 90% chance of showers and possibly a thunderstorm starting early Thursday morning with a high of about 50 and an east wind of 15-25 miles per hour with gusts as high as 40 mph. By Thursday night it’s a 100% chance of rain with an increase in the wind to 20-30 mph.
That may suit Luverne a little better than the JCC as the Cardinals throw the ball sparingly and use more of a straight-ahead rushing attack.
The Huskies try to have an even balance between passing and rushing and like to use the veer in their ground game although they have always been adept at running out of the wishbone formation as well, especially in short yardage situations or if they want to control the clock.
JCC is 6-0 after last week’s 47-6 win over Minnesota Valley Lutheran in New Ulm. The Huskies piled up 494 yards in the game with Roman Voss accounting for 300 yards as he rushed for 145 yards and passed for 155.
Luverne is 4-2, beating Worthington in its opener and then losing to Jordan. The Cardinals won three in a row, beating Sibley East, Minnesota Valley Lutheran and Blue Earth Area before a 3-0 loss to Pipestone last week.
The Arrows kicked a 20-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter. Luverne had 145 yards of offense in that game, 110 rushing and 35 passing.
Jackson County Central closes out its regular season schedule next Wednesday at Pipestone.
Series highlights
Series: Jackson County Central leads 21-10
Regular season: Jackson County Central leads 19-6
Postseason: Luverne leads 4-2
First meeting: Jackson County Central 6, Luverne 0 (1997)
Last meeting: Jackson County Central 24, Luverne 0 (2022)
Current streak: Won 2
Longest Huskies win streak: 8 (1997-2004)
Longest Cardinals win streak: 3 (twice)
Most Huskies points: 57 (2015)
Most Cardinals points: 39 (2007)
Huskies shutouts: 1997, 2000, 2001, 2018, 2019, 2022
Cardinals shutouts: 2020
Scores
All-time scores in the JCC-Luverne series.
1997: Jackson County Central 6, Luverne 0
1998: Jackson County Central 20, Luverne 14
1999: Jackson County Central 18, Luverne 6
2000: Jackson County Central 27, Luverne 0
2001: Jackson County Central 21, Luverne 13
2002: Jackson County Central 28, Luverne 6
2003: Jackson County Central 30, Luverne 14
2004: Jackson County Central 35, Luverne 10
2005: Luverne 28, Jackson County Central 16
2006: Jackson County Central 48, Luverne 28
2007: Luverne 39, Jackson County Central 13; Luverne 27, Jackson County Central 6 (Section 3AA championship)
2008: Luverne 27, Jackson County Central 11
2009: Jackson County Central 20, Luverne 7; Luverne 21, Jackson County Central 17 (Section 3AA championship)
2010: Luverne 10, Jackson County Central 9; Luverne 35, Jackson County Central 23 (Section 3AA championship)
2011: Jackson County Central 35, Luverne 0; Luverne 12, Jackson County Central 0 (Section 3AA semifinals)
2012: Luverne 28, Jackson County Central 14; Jackson County Central 35, Luverne 28 (Section 3AA championship)
2013: Jackson County Central 39, Luverne 13
2014: Luverne 13, Jackson County Central 0; Jackson County Central 23, Luverne 16 (Section 3AA semifinals)
2015: Jackson County Central 57, Luverne 7
2016: Jackson County Central 28, Luverne 21
2017: Jackson County Central 34, Luverne 8
2018: Jackson County Central 33, Luverne 0
2019: Jackson County Central 35, Luverne 0
2020: Luverne 32, Jackson County Central 0
2021: Jackson County Central 36, Luverne 16
2022: Jackson County Central 24, Luverne 0
JCC football schedule
Fri., Sept. 1: Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial, W 42-13
Fri., Sept. 8: at Worthington, W 43-0
Sat., Sept. 16: Blue Earth Area, W 49-6
Fri., Sept. 22: at LeSueur-Henderson, W 2-0 (forfeit)
Fri., Sept. 29: Redwood Valley, W 29-14
Fri., Oct. 6: at Minnesota Valley Lutheran, W 47-6
Thurs., Oct. 12: Luverne, 5:30 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 18: at Pipestone, 7 p.m.
Tues., Oct. 24: Section 3AA quarterfinals, high seed, 7 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 28: Section 3AA semifinals, high seed, 3 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 3: Section 3AA championship, SMSU, 11 a.m.
Thurs. Nov. 9: State quarterfinals, Rochester Mayo, 7 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 17: State semifinals, US Bank Stadium, 9 a.m.
Fri., Nov. 23: Prep Bowl, U.S. Bank Stadium, 1 p.m.
Section 3AA
Jackson County Central will play in Section 3AA in postseason play. Here are the latest QRF standings for the section. Listed are team, won-loss record and QRF number.
Jackson County Central 6-0 56.8
Pipestone 4-2 43.5
Redwood Valley 4-2 39.2
Minnesota Valley Lutheran 3-3 27.6
Sibley East 2-4 18.2
Windom 2-4 14.8
LeSueur-Henderson 0-6 8.7
Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial 0-6 7.8
If the playoffs started today
Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial (8) at Jackson County Central (1)
Sibley East (5) at Minnesota Valley Lutheran (4)
LeSueur-Henderson (7) at Pipestone (2)
Windom (6) at Redwood Valley (3)
Thursday, Oct. 12
Luverne at Jackson County Central
Sibley East at Maple River
Friday, Oct. 13
LeSueur-Henderson at Blue Earth Area
Minnesota Valley Lutheran at Redwood Valley
Pipestone at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial
Saturday, Oct. 14
Windom at Sleepy Eye United
Wednesday, Oct. 18
Jackson County Central at Pipestone
Blue Earth Area at Sibley East
Lake Crytal Wellcome Memorial at LeSueur-Henderson
Minnesota Valley Lutheran at Maple River
Redwood Valley at Luverne
Springfield at Windom
South Central Silver District
Jackson County Central plays in the South Central Silver District during the regular season.
Standings
Jackson County Central 2-0
Pipestone 2-1
Luverne 1-1
Redwood Valley 1-1
Minnesota Valley Lutheran 0-3
Thursday, Oct. 12
Luverne at Jackson County Central
Friday, Oct. 13
Minnesota Valley Lutheran at Redwood Valley
Pipestone at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial
Wednesday, Oct. 18
Jackson County Central at Pipestone
Redwood Valley at Luverne
Minnesota Valley Lutheran at Maple River
Undefeated Class 2A teams
There are seven undefeated football teams in Class 2A. Two teams that started 5-0 lost last week, Chatfield (which lost to unbeaten Caledonia) and Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg.
1AA: Caledonia
2AA: None
3AA: Jackson County Central
4AA: Norwood Young America, St. Agnes
5AA: Eden Valley-Watkins
6AA: None
7AA: Barnum
8AA: Barnesville
State rankings
Here’s this week’s schedule for the top 10 teams in the state Class 2A football ratings.
1. Barnesville (6-0) vs. Crookston (Friday)
2. Caledonia (6-0) vs. Plainview-Elgin-Millville Friday
3. Eden Valley-Watkins (6-0) vs. Kimball Area Friday
4. Jackson County Central (6-0) vs. Luverne Thursday
5. St. Agnes (6-0) vs. St. Croix Lutheran at Concordia-St. Paul Friday
6. Barnum (6-0) vs. Ely Thursday
7. Chatfield (5-1) vs. Dover-Eyota Friday
8. Norwood Young America (6-0) vs. Mayer Lutheran Thursday
9. Cannon Falls (5-1) at St. Charles Friday
10. Osakis (5-1) at Royalton Friday