Luverne outlasted the Jackson County Central football team in the closing seconds for a hard-fought rivalry win on Wednesday night.
The seventh-ranked Class AAA Cardinals stunned the top-ranked Class AA Huskies 36-30 at Swearingen Field.
JCC recovered a Luverne fumble on the opening kickoff but the Cardinals forced a turnover on downs inside their own 10-yard line. The teams traded punts for the rest of the first quarter.
Luverne struck first with a 53-yard catch-and-run touchdown from Ben Hartquist to Darius Dolo halfway into the second quarter. The Kayne Jurrens extra point made it 7-0 Luverne. Dolo intercepted Jacob Kruger later in the second but JCC forced a three-and-out on the ensuing drive.
Kruger found Brody Anderson on a 49-yard pass completion to help set up Gage Johnson’s five-yard rushing touchdown just before halftime. The two-point conversion failed and the Cardinals led 7-6 at the break.
Kane Akkerman recovered a Brody Anderson fumble to help set up a 20-yard Matthew Gangestad rushing touchdown and the Jurrens PAT extended the lead to 14-6 Luverne.
Anderson led JCC with five catches and 124 yards plus 10 yards on two runs.
Carter Buhl had a 56-yard catch-and-rumble to set the stage for Johnson’s second five-yard TD run. Mason Helmers converted the two-pointer and tied the game at 14-14.
Hartquist scored on a six-yard QB keeper and the Jurrens extra point made it 21-14 Luverne after the third quarter.
Kruger hit a five-yard fade route passing touchdown to Blaise Rowe and Johnson punched in the two-pointer for the first JCC lead 22-21 early in the fourth.
Kruger finished 11-of-21 with 208 yards passing and five rushing yards on a pair of attempts. Rowe had a trio of catches for 28 yards and that score.
Braxsten Hall had a diving touchdown on a last-second option pitch and Johnson scored another two-pointer for a 30-21 JCC lead with five minutes left.
Johnson gained 112 yards on 26 carries with two rushing scores. The JCC offense gained 351 total yards with 143 coming on the ground.
Hartquist tossed a 42-yard passing TD to Jaymyn McLaughlin and Jurrens added the extra point to bring it back to 30-28 JCC. Hartquist scored his fourth total TD from eight yards away on the ground with six seconds left. He also found Coy Thone for a successful two-pointer to make the final score.
Luverne ended up collecting 321 total yards with 207 passing and 114 rushing.
The Cardinals victory snaps a six-game rivalry skid and ends JCC winning streaks of 32 straight games, 39 in the regular season, and 29 at home.
The 6-1 Huskies are scheduled to host Windom for the regular season finale next Tuesday on KKOJ.
FULL POSTGAME SHOW