The Jackson County Central football team was defeated 38-23 in the Minnesota State Class AA semifinals Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium, but the story that was bigger than the game itself was the health of star sophomore Roman Voss.
Voss, who’s considered one of the state’s elite high school quarterbacks, sustained a severe concussion on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. After the U.S. Bank crowd sat in silence for around 15 minutes while emergency personnel attended to Voss, Voss flashed a thumbs-up sign while being carried off the field on a stretcher and into a waiting ambulance.
JCC led 15-6 at that point, but Barnesville took over from there and scored the next 32 points thanks in part to four Huskies turnovers. It marked the second year in a row Barnesville knocked JCC out of the state playoffs.
The Huskies got touchdowns of two, five and three yards from senior running back Seth Stai, who carried 17 times for 74 yards in the game. It was Jackson County Central’s first loss of the season.
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The Central Lyon/George Little Rock football team came up three yards short in its attempt to capture a second straight Iowa Class 2A title.
The Lions, trailing 24-21 with eight seconds to go Friday, faced a fourth down from the Van Meter 3-yard line, but a mis-timed snap led to CL/G-LR simply falling on the ball. As a result, Van Meter won its third straight title in a row – the first two years in Class 1A before this year’s 2A crown.
The Lions had a 21-10 earlier thanks to a pair of 17-yard TD passes from Reece Vander Zee to Graham Eben and Matthew Dieren, respectively, and a five-yard scoring run from Eben. Vander Zee completed 12 of 15 passes for 116 yards and two scores while also gaining 97 yards on the ground. Eben had 141 yards rushing on 24 carries.
Central Lyon/George-Little Rock went 12-1 this season one year after posting a 13-0 mark.
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The Minnesota West Lady Jays overcame a 20-point first half deficit Saturday afternoon and defeated College of DuPage 70-59 in the first matchup of their two-game Chicago road trip.
It was the Hattie DeVries and Olivia Hayenga show for Minnesota West. DeVries scored 27 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the field while also adding six rebounds and five assists. Hayenga had 23 points and nine rebounds as the Lady Jays improved to 4-2 on the season. Audrey Drapeau chipped in with seven rebounds, seven assists and five steals.
Minnesota West plays its second Chicago-area game in three days this afternoon when it takes on Joliet Junior College at 1 p.m.
