Veteran Jackson County Central football coach and his staff have long been proponents of building depth early in a season with the expectation that it will pay dividends through the course of season that can last nearly three months and even looking ahead to the next season.
Even more so than some years, the Huskies are going to need to develop depth early as they look to be a little shorthanded heading into Friday’s 7 p.m. season opener vs. Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial at Swearingen Field.
JCC will likely be missing a handful of starters vs. the Knights including Roman Voss, a sophomore in his third year as starting quarterback for the Huskies. Voss was a Class 2A first team selection at QB by the website prepredzone.com and is the No. 2 ranked player in the state for the Class of 2026.
It’s possible that Voss could see some playing time at safety on defense.
Starting at quarterback for the Huskies Friday will be senior Brenan Runge, who Schuller and the entire staff have great confidence in.
Runge saw a fair amount of playing time last season and completed 14 passes for 251 yards (an average of 17.9 yards per completion) and five touchdowns. Four of those TD passes were to Voss.
Senior Seth Stai and junior Clay Malchow will be the starting running backs for JCC.
Stai’s role on offense is being expanded this year after a lot of his time on that side of the ball was leading the wishbone in short yardage situations and in the red zone. He averaged 6.2 yards per carry and was second on the team in TDs with seven.
Jackson County Central has two tight ends returning in senior Bryson Powers and junior Aiven Farmer.
Powers pulled in 15 passes for 290 yards (19.3 average) and four touchdowns last year. Farmer is a strong blocker.
Senior Ben Dahlin is the leading returning receiver as he had 11 catches for 213 yards (19.4 average) and one touchdown. He’s also a threat on kick returns. Dahlin returned a kickoff for a TD in the state semifinals vs. Barnesville.
Sophomore Ben Gallagher will play some at receiver once he returns.
As is the case with any football team at any level, you need the ponies up front and the Huskies look like they have a solid bunch there, although again an injury may cut into the rotation early in the season but eventually develop a little more depth.
Leading the group up front is senior right guard Brayden Winter, a third team Class 2A preseason all-state choice at guard. Sophomore Kasey Storm will be the left guard.
At the tackles will be junior Thomas Liepold and sophomore Weston Rowe, if he’s ready to go. Junior Jack Mix would take Rowe’s spot as a starter if he’s not able to start and will get reps otherwise. Farmer is also a possibility to shift over to a tackle spot from tight end.
Senior Braeden Erickson and junior Ian Titterington are competing for the starting center position. Erickson is also a candidate to see time at guard.
Jackson County Central also has a solid group back on defense.
The temptation is to say that the line is the strongest point of the defense especially because of its depth, but the linebacker group also looks good. And then there’s also a number of talented corners and safeties.
Up front, Powers, Farmer, Liepold and junior Carson Pohlman are ends. Pohlman is injured and won’t be playing early in the season.
Also in the rotation on the defensive line are Winter, Erickson, Rowe, Mix and Storm.
Stai, a third team all-state selection, is an outside linebacker along with another senior, Myles Sathoff. Titterington will play in the middle, with senior Noah Thompson, junior Tavian Diggs and sophomore Gage Johnson.
Playing the corner spots will be Dahlin, Gallagher and seniors Sam Brinkman and Ulises Boukahm. Safeties are Voss, Malchow, Runge and sophomore Kade Freking-Leu.
The Huskies have a pair of candidates for the kicker spot. Boukahm has had a few opportunities to kick each of the past two seasons and is competing with another Jack Sadusky, who is also a senior. Sadusky also plays on the Fairmont boys soccer team.
Schedule
Longtime rivals Blue Earth Area, Redwood Valley, Luverne and Pipestone make up half of JCC’s regular season schedule. JCC will host BEA and Redwood for the second straight year.
Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial has been an infrequent opponent for the Huskies. Friday will be the fifth meeting between the teams. (More on that follows in this newsletter).
Worthington is back on JCC’s schedule.
Jackson County Central (or Jackson High School before that) played Worthington every year from 1928-2013.
Since then, the teams have played twice.
In 2019 JCC won 76-6 in a game where Rudy Voss threw seven touchdown passes in the first half. Then the Huskies were 28-6 winners in a Section 3AAA quarterfinal game in 2020 before the remainder of the playoffs were canceled.
The teams had been scheduled to play a regular season game that year, but it was 2020 and a lot of things happened that year and they did not play.
LeSueur-Henderson is on JCC’s regular season schedule for the first time.
The Huskies and Giants met in the section playoffs four times in five years from 1998-2002 (2000 was the exception). Jackson County Central won four of those five meetings.
Also, JCC will play Minnesota Valley Lutheran for the first time ever on Oct. 6 at Johnson Field in New Ulm. The Huskies have played two games on that field, beating New Ulm in 2005 and 2010.
Here’s the complete JCC schedule:
Fri., Sept. 1: Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial
Fri., Sept. 8: at Worthington
Fri., Sept. 15: Blue Earth Area
Fri., Sept. 22: at LeSueur-Henderson
Fri., Sept. 29: Redwood Valley
Fri., Oct. 6: at Minnesota Valley Lutheran
Thurs., Oct. 12: Luverne
Wed., Oct. 18: at Pipestone
All games start at 7 p.m.
Series highlights
Jackson County Central and Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial have a limited history in football.
Series: Jackson County Central leads 4-0
Regular season: Jackson County Central leads 4-0
Postseason: Have not met
Scores
All-time scores in the JCC-LCWM series.
2017 - Jackson County Central 36, Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial 0
2018 - Jackson County Central 56, Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial 7
2021 - Jackson County Central 34, Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial 8
2022 - Jackson County Central 2, Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial 0 (forfeit)
No Windom
Jackson County Central will not play Windom during the regular season this year. Both teams are in Section 3AA, so they could meet up during the postseason.
The Eagles are playing a Class 1A schedule the next two seasons for a more competitive schedule in an effort to build numbers within its program.
Since becoming a school district in 1997, JCC leads the series with Windom 27-4, with marks of 23-3 in the regular season and 3-1 in the postseason.
The Huskies have won 19 straight vs. the Eagles, a streak that started in 2009. That stretch includes 14 regular season and five postseason games.
Homecoming
Redwood Valley will be Jackson County Central’s homecoming opponent for the second straight year when the Cardinals visit on Friday, Sept. 29.
It will also be the fourth straight time JCC will host Redwood and end a streak of three straight Saturday afternoon games.
The teams have met in the Section 3AA semifinals the past two years and last year’s regular season game was played on a Saturday due to issues finding officials.
District play
JCC will be in the five-team South Central Silver District during the regular season.
Here are this week’s games for district teams:
Jackson County Central: vs. Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial Friday
Luverne: vs. Worthington Thursday
Minnesota Valley Lutheran: vs. Sibley East Friday
Pipestone: vs. Blue Earth Area Friday
Redwood Valley: vs. LeSueur-Henderson Friday
Section 3AA
JCC will play in Section 3AA for the next two seasons. There are eight teams in the section.
This week’s games for 3AA teams:
Jackson County Central: vs. Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial Friday
Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial: at Jackson County Central Friday
LeSueur-Henderson: at Redwood Valley Friday
Minnesota Valley Lutheran: vs. Sibley East Friday
Pipestone: vs. Blue Earth Area Friday
Redwood Valley: vs. LeSueur-Henderson Friday
Sibley East: at Minnesota Valley Lutheran Thursday
Windom: at BOLD Friday
Fifth quarter
A fifth quarter event is scheduled for Friday, as they are after all home games.
There are separate events for those in grades 6-8 and grades 9-12.
The younger group will gather at First Baptist Church (921 Hills Ave.), where there will be free pizza, pop, and a dodgeball tournament.
High school students will meet at Jars of Clay (603 4th St.) for free pizza, pop, and activities.
Transportation will be provided for Lakefield students in grades 6-12 from First Baptist Church to the JCC Middle School north parking lot. Transportation will be leaving no later than 10:15 p.m. to arrive at Lakefield by 10:30.
High school students will need to plan to arrive at the First Baptist church on time to make the bus.