The Jackson County Central football team truly begins the chase for a third straight state championship at home against Pipestone Area on Saturday.
JCC needs a fifth straight Section 3AA championship first and that is two wins away. The 7-1 Huskies are ranked fourth in Class AA and coming off the quarterfinal round bye to play the 4-5 Arrows at Swearingen Field.
JCC blanked Pipestone 48-0 at the halfway mark of the regular season on September 24. The Huskies limited the Arrows to six rushing yards among 102 total yards in a seventh straight win in the rivalry series. Gage Johnson matched the fourth-longest rushing touchdown in school history, Brody Anderson took a punt return to the house, and Mason Helmers had a pick-six as part of that homecoming Friday night highlight reel.
The Huskies have the second-best offense in Class AA averaging 45 points per game, the tenth-rated defense allowing 10 points on average, and a +31 point differential which ranks third entering Saturday.
Pipestone took down LeSueur-Henderson 27-14 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday for a third straight win and second in as many weeks over the Giants. The Arrows are scoring 29 points per game in that winning streak which is twice their season-long average in a year where they were shut out four straight times. They also cut their points allowed in half to just over 14 during the win streak as well. Pipestone is the last program before the current Huskies reign to win the section title. The Arrows had a pair of AA runner-up finishes mixed into five trips to the State Tournament in eight years but have yet to return since 2021.
Our coverage of Saturday’s semifinal begins at 2:40 with kickoff scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on KKOJ.
The full Dirt Show season finale will play after the conclusion of the playoff game.
The ninth-ranked Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial Knights are hosting Minnesota Valley Lutheran in the other semifinal. LCWM sent Windom Area home 57-6 for a seventh straight win on Tuesday. MVL routed Sibley East 43-12 that same night for back-to-back wins over the Wolverines.
The 8-1 Knights beat the 5-4 Chargers 21-7 on October 14. The Knights are seeking their first trip to State since 1987. The Chargers are looking to return for a sixth time and the first since 2005. LCWM only lost to JCC during the regular season. The Huskies outlasted the Knights 25-0 on the road September 11 and beat the Chargers 53-14 on the road October 2.
Saturday’s semifinal winners advance to the Section 3AA championship game on Friday, November 6, at SMSU with the kickoff at 7:00 p.m.
We have the full JCC playoff journey on your hometown Huskies station, KKOJ.
TOM SCHULLER
SCOTT BOOMGAARDEN