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FHS garners bye with No. 2 seed

FAIRMONT – For a second consecutive year, the Jackson County Central Huskies and the Fairmont Cardinals earned the respective No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the Section 3AAA football playoffs.

No. 2 state-ranked Jackson County Central (8-0) and No. 5-rated Fairmont (6-2) merited opening-round postseason byes, and await Tuesday night’s quarterfinal winners at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, on their home fields.

“It’s definitely nice to have a first-round bye so we can give our guys a couple of days off to rest and heal up,” said Fairmont head coach Mat Mahoney, whose lineup closed out the regular season with a narrow 26-22 loss to Class 4A No. 7-ranked Waseca on Wednesday night. “We know we’re going to face an option team on Saturday, no matter which team wins.”

Fairmont plays host to the winner between No. 3-seeded Luverne (5-3) and No. 6-seeded St. Peter (1-7), while Jackson County Central takes on the winner between No. 5-seeded Sibley East (3-5) and No. 4-seeded Worthington (4-4) in the sectional semifinals.

“Obviously, we know what St. Peter runs (offensively) after playing them during Week 5,” Mahoney said in reference to his Cardinals’ 27-13 victory over the Saints. “Luverne is well-coached, and always is fundamentally sound and disciplined on both sides of the ball.”

Quarterback Ben Serie completed 7 of 8 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown to Jake Haugen to help propel Luverne to a 36-0 victory over Martin County West on Wednesday night.

Ironically, Luverne and Worthington tied for the No. 3 spot in the sectional pairings via minnesotascores.net’s QRF rankings, with the Cardinals capturing the tiebreaker – a 20-6 victory over the Trojans in their season-opener.

“Both Worthington and Luverne closed out the regular season on a strong note, so they’ll be ready for the playoffs,” said Mahoney.

Running back Tucker Sorenson erupted for a career-best 292 yards and four TDs on 30 carries to power Worthington to a 43-29 triumph over New Ulm on Wednesday night.

Running back Easton Sauerbrei contributed 62 yards and one TD on 11 totes to the Trojans’ regular-season finale, while Tyler Linder and Karter Honius produced two fumble recoveries and an interception, respectively, for Worthington’s defense.

Sibley East, who’s topped by running back Kevin Durham, closed out the regular season with a narrow 28-20 loss to Norwood Young America on Wednesday night, while St. Peter dropped a 27-14 decision to Albert Lea.

Running back Alex Chadwick produced one TD and 67 yards on 12 carries for St. Peter, while teammate Brock Hanson delivered a game-best 17 tackles and one interception in the loss.

Ironically, neither one of the two Section 3AAA quarterfinal games is a rematch from the regular season. Even more so, Jackson County Central did not face either Sibley East or former Southwest Conference rival Worthington during the 2016 campaign, while Fairmont did not play Luverne this fall either.

The Section 3AAA championship is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, at New Ulm Public’s new turf field.

“There are plenty of things we need to get better at, so we’ll focus on that when we return to practice on Monday,” said Mahoney. “We’ll scout the game on Tuesday night to get ready for our next opponent, and take it from there.

“It looks like the road to the section finals still goes through Jackson, but we’re just taking it one game at a time.”

Jackson County Central posted a 35-12 victory over Fairmont during last year’s sectional championship game en route to capturing runner-up Class AAA state honors.

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Section 3AAA

Football Bracket

Tuesday, Oct. 25

Quarterfinals

No. 5-seeded Sibley East (3-5) at No. 4-seeded Worthington (4-4), 7 p.m.

No. 6-seeded St. Peter (1-7) at No. 3-seeded Luverne (5-3), 7 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 29

Semifinals

Sibley East-Worthington winner at No. 1-seeded Jackson County Central (8-0), 7 p.m.

St. Peter-Luverne winner at No. 2-seeded Fairmont (6-2), 7 p.m.

Championship

Friday, Nov. 4

At New Ulm

Semifinal winners, 7 p.m.

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