Jackson County Central and Staples-Motley reach Class 2A Prep Bowl

Jackson County Central head football coach Tom Schuller’s granddaughter has been growing a lucky watermelon all season.

After the Huskies’ 34-26 Class 2A state semifinal victory over Kimball Area Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium, Schuller compared the watermelon to this year’s team: “It’s started to deteriorate a little bit, kind of like our starting lineup,” he said.

Schuller was referring to his team playing without its star quarterback and one of its receivers. Last week, early in the Huskies’ quarterfinal victory over Norwood Young America, the Huskies lost quarterback Roman Voss to a season-ending ankle injury. The top-ranked recruit in the 2026 class, Voss has offers from schools like Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.

The Huskies were also without injured junior receiver Ben Gallagher.

“We spent all year having designated roles,” Schuller said. “So hats off to our guys. Really resilient. Our goal all year has been a state title. We weren’t willing to say, ‘Darn it. There went that.’ ”

If working around those injuries were a puzzle, Jackson County Central (12-0) solved it. The Huskies jumped ahead early and survived a second-half shootout to book their first trip to the state title game since the program’s first championship in 2001.

The Huskies will face Staples-Motley on Nov. 22 in the Prep Bowl. It’s the Section 3 champion’s third consecutive trip to the state tournament. The team lost in the semifinal round the past two years. Voss was also taken out of last year’s semifinal with a concussion.

After Friday’s game, senior offensive guard Ian Titterington recounted what he said to Voss and Gallagher before the victory. “We’re going to go out there and give everything we got for you guys,” Titterington said. “We’re going to bring this thing home for you guys.”

Senior receiver Grant Freking stepped in at quarterback, throwing 7-for-11 for 73 yards. He’ll be a “grizzled veteran” next week, assured Schuller.

“He might have too much poise,” Schuller joked after the game. “He doesn’t have a hurry-up button. … [But] it’s his third week of managing a huddle.”

The Huskies dominated the Cubs on the ground, with 258 total rushing yards compared with Kimball’s 79. Sophomore running back Gage Johnson rushed for three touchdowns on 63 yards, while senior running back Clay Malchow led the Huskies with 118 rushing and 38 receiving yards.

Johnson, one of JCC’s “strongest kids” according to Schuller, punched in two 2-yard touchdowns, both on fourth-and-goal, to put the Huskies up 14-0 in the first quarter.

Kimball (11-1) answered with 18 straight points, thanks to passing touchdowns from senior quarterback Brandon Henkemeyer (8-for-21, 144 yards) to senior receiver Bryant Knaus and senior running back Ronald Arnold. Knaus capped the scoring spree with an 81-yard kickoff return touchdown to start the second half, putting the Huskies behind, 18-14, for the first time all season.

Two touchdowns — one off an improbable catch from Malchow and another from a 53-yard rush from senior receiver Ben Dahlin — swung momentum back in Jackson County Central’s favor.

A game-winning score from Johnson, followed by Dahlin’s game-sealing interception, put the Huskies through to the championship.

“Because we have guys who aren’t quite as used to playing in the secondary, it just took us a little bit more time to get used to playing together,” senior offensive tackle Thomas Liepold said. “By that second half, I think we had it figured out, and we just kind of rolled from there.”

The Cubs were seeking their first title game appearance in their first trip to the state tournament since 1991.

Staples-Motley went winless two years ago. That group is showing resilience.

The 10th-ranked Cardinals are one victory away from winning the first state championship in program history after surprising No. 2 Chatfield 36-24 in the Class 2A semifinals Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium. Their only other appearance in the finals came in 1988, when they lost to Lakeville 35-28 in the Class 1A final.

“When we were younger, we knew that when we were seniors, we were going to get it done,” Cardinals lineman Steven Petrich said about that 0-9 season. “That was our dream.”

Junior running back Colbe Tappe rushed for 170 yards on 25 carries and three touchdowns, scoring the game-deciding touchdown on a 1-yard run with 39 seconds remaining in the third quarter. He also caught a 14-yard touchdown pass.

“We didn’t come all the way down here to lose,” Tappe said.

His final touchdown came three plays after senior Alex Schultz intercepted a pass at the Chatfield 13-yard line, giving the Cardinals (12-0) a 36-22 lead. It was the sixth turnover on seven possessions between the two teams. Both teams turned the ball over three times, and Chatfield was also hampered by seven penalties.

“The turnovers were big, and it would have been nice not to have those,” Gophers coach Jeff Johnson said. “We just didn’t come up with as many big plays as they did.”

The Gophers (11-1) added a late safety when the ball sailed out of the end on a high snap with the Cardinals in punt formation in the fourth quarter.

“We wanted it badly,” Cardinal coach Drew Potter said. “They made it happen.”

The first half saw both teams’ defenses struggle to get off the field. The Cardinals took a 30-22 lead into the locker room at halftime. Tappe ran for two touchdowns and caught one of junior quarterback Eli Rutten’s two touchdown passes in the first half. Rutten completed 13 of 19 passes for 195 yards.

The Gophers (11-1) relied on senior running back Ben Carrier to keep them close. He rushed for 103 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown and caught two passes for 85 yards and another score. Senior quarterback Carson Rowland completed eight of 17 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns but was intercepted twice and sacked three times.

“There has been a lot of doubt in people’s minds,” Petrich said. “We want to prove them wrong.”