The 2024 Jackson County Central football team is the first undefeated state champion in school history.  

 RECAP: SPORTS 11-23-24 

The 13-0 Huskies finished it off by beating the Staples-Motley Cardinals 42-26 in the Class AA Prep Bowl at US Bank Stadium on Friday. 

The Cardinals returned an interception for a touchdown to begin the scoring. JCC responded by scoring the next 28 points. 

Grant Freking threw a 67-yard touchdown to Ben Dahlin to tie the game. 

Clay Malchow deflected a pass that Isaac Hesebeck picked off to set up the next JCC drive. Malchow finished it off with a one-yard TD on 4th-and-goal and then punched in the two-point conversion to make it 14-6 JCC. 

The Cardinals turned it over on downs but their defense made a stop. Ian Titterington pounced on the fumble recovery when the Cardinals muffed the JCC punt. Freking found Carson Pohlman for a 24-yard pass TD to extend the Huskies lead. 

Freking converted the two-pointer on the ground and made it 22-6 JCC at the end of the first quarter. 

Freking tossed his third TD and second to Dahlin from 69 yards away in the second quarter to make it 28-6 JCC. 

Freking passed for 212 yards to help win a state title in his second start at quarterback ever. Dahlin collected 187 all-purpose yards with 166 of them through the air. 

The Cardinals lost their starting quarterback on the next drive but still ended up scoring to close the gap to 28-14 JCC. 

Malchow ran for a 39-yard touchdown to extend the Huskies lead again. Tavion Diggs punched in the two-pointer and it was 36-14 JCC. 

The Cardinals responded with a long touchdown pass to make it 36-20 JCC and that was the score at halftime. 

Malchow had a pick and a Hesebeck punt pinned the Cardinals at the one yard line as both defenses pitched a shutout during the third quarter. 

Malchow scored his third rushing touchdown from 21 yards out during the fourth. 

That once again matched the largest lead of 22 points for the Huskies as it was 42-20 JCC. Malchow finished with a game-high 219 all-purpose yards including 123 rushing. 

The Cardinals scored one more rushing TD to make the 42-26 final score. 

Huskies head coach Tom Schuller says there is a lot that makes this win truly special. 

 FULL POSTGAME SHOW: JCC FB State Champ Post Game 11-22-24 

It’s the second state football championship in JCC history and first since 2001. 

 FINAL GAME STATISTICS