Staff photo by Ari Selvey Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Ben Pearson hauls in a contested catch during the semifial round of the Section 3AA Football Playoffs against Jackson County Central at JCC High School.

JACKSON — In the first snowfall of the season, it was perhaps appropriate that the winter-themed mascot was the one to come out on top.

In the Section 3AA football semifinals on Saturday, the top-seeded Jackson County Central Huskies defeated the fourth-seeded Minnesota Valley Lutheran Chargers 55-13 at JCC High School.

“They bring a level of physicality to the game that you’ve got to be ready for from the first snap,” MVL head coach Jim Buboltz said. “I thought they were ready to do that from the get-go. They set the tone of the game early and jumped on top and really kept us down from there.”

JCC scored 35 unanswered points to open up the game, showing a dominant run game in the lightly-falling snow. MVL managed to answer back late in the second quarter after a JCC fumbled snap on a punt set the Chargers up at the JCC 27-yard line. A short catch from Bradyn Kube and a 9-yard completion to Ben Pearson in single coverage put the Chargers at the 14-yard line. A pair of short runs later, Kaden Peterson threw a 10-yard touchdown to Pearson for MVL’s first score to cut the lead to 35-7 before half.

The Huskies scored twice more to open the second half, going up 49-7 before the quarter rolled over. MVL then put on its longest drive of the day, marching 70 yards behind some solid runs from Robby Trebelhorn and a few connections to Pearson. That gave the Chargers a shot at the end zone inside the 10-yard line, where Peterson connected to a wide-open Kube for MVL’s second score. However, JCC was able to take up the rest of the game with the following drive, ending in a 30-yard rushing touchdown by Carter Buhl for a 55-13 win.

Buboltz said that one thing he wishes he could change about the season was the injuries that his team sustained throughout.

“I feel bad with all the injuries we’ve had this year,” Buboltz said. “From losing guys before the season started, I think we had 11 injuries to starters throughout the year, and that’s just too bad. I think there was some real opportunity, we had a lot of talent. I just say thank you to our seniors for the job they did.”