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No. 4 Fairmont, JCC football to clash again for section crown

FAIRMONT — The Section 3 football championship and a bid to the Class AAA state tournament.

That’s what’s at stake when the No. 4-ranked Fairmont Cardinals (8-1) clash with the two-time defending sectional champion Jackson County Central Huskies (8-2) at 7 p.m. tonight on the artificial turf at New Ulm Public High School.

“We’re excited just to be in a position to play for the section championship for a third consecutive year,” said JCC head coach Tom Schuller, whose lineup edged Fairmont by a 21-14 decision a year ago on the heels of a 35-12 victory over the Cardinals in 2015. “We have only five guys who played significant time during the last two years, so we’ve had to rely on a lot of sophomores this season.

“Our younger players have shown quite a bit of improvement since the season-opener.”

Schuller’s pre-game analysis proved as accurate as a spiral by quarterback Rudy Voss. The 6-foot, 180-pound sophomore signal-caller proved double-trouble for Tri-City United’s defense during JCC’s 26-6 sectional semifinal victory last Saturday at Swearingen Field in Jackson.

Voss generated 60 of the Huskies’ 354 rushing yards, including a 17-yard touchdown in the second quarter, against the Titans to complement firing an 11-yard scoring strike to sophomore tight end Matt Stubbe in the fourth frame. Voss completed 8 of 15 passes for 92 yards.

“They’ll definitely want to establish the running game,” said Fairmont mentor Mat Mahoney. “Voss does a nice job of making the right decisions in the veer, and knows how to set up his running backs.”

Senior fullback Jacob Tvinnereim and senior running back Damien VanWesten packed a lethal 1-2 offensive punch for JCC, with Tvinnereim rushing for 137 yards and a 4-yard fourth-quarter TD, and VanWesten amassing 105 yards on the ground, against TCU.

“We’re not as balanced (offensively) as we were a year ago, but we’re gradually getting there,” said Schuller, whose lineup generates an average of 240 yards rushing and 129 through the air per outing.

Voss will look to find senior wide receiver Ethan Lindley, who caught five passes for 66 yards against TCU, and sophomore wideout Noah Carr in long-yardage situations.

Fairmont’s sure-handed defensive secondary will look counter by keeping JCC’s offense from moving the sticks by patrolling the airwaves in New Ulm.

Safety Brady Allen and cornerback Wyatt Quiring produced back-to-back pick-6s during the fourth quarter to seal Fairmont’s 42-19 sectional semifinal triumph over Luverne last Saturday at Mahoney Field.

Allen tops the Cardinals’ interception charts with a half-dozen this fall, while safety Sam Schwieger has pocketed four picks. Quiring and hard-hitting linebacker Collin Steuber have contributed two interceptions apiece to a Fairmont defense that allows only 13.2 points per game.

“JCC has built a great program that’s well-coached, and they don’t make mistakes,” said Mahoney. “That’ll be one of the keys to the game for us — we have to make them commit mistakes.

“We’re at plus-12 in turnovers on the season, and that has translated into winning games for us.”

While the Cardinals’ 4-3 defensive scheme has proven stingy in allowing points, senior quarterback Nate Kallenbach and Fairmont’s air express have generated 351.2 yards per game, including 227.8 passing, en route to a scoring clip of 32.6 points in 2017.

The multi-tasking Kallenbach — who also handles the red-and-white’s punting and kicking duties, in addition to playing cornerback on defense — became only the third player in Fairmont’s rich football history to eclipse the 2,000-yard single-season mark last Saturday.

Kallenbach has produced 2,020 passing yards and 21 TDs through the air, with Quiring garnering a team-best 55 passes for a team-leading 826 yards and nine scores. Schwieger is second on the Cardinals with 25 catches for 420 yards and five TDs.

“We’ll have faced spread offenses for a third straight week when we play Fairmont (tonight),” said Schuller. “Every team presents different defensive challenges, but with Fairmont, it’s the out-of-system plays that hurt you.

“Kallenbach’s a three-year varsity starter at quarterback, and has the uncanny ability to extend the play when you think you have him contained. … That’s very difficult to defend.”

Senior safety Zach Poelaert and Tvinnereim, playing linebacker, however, garnered interceptions for the Huskies to help shut down TCU’s high-octane passing game last Saturday, and will look to do likewise against the Cardinals.

“We’re contrasting styles (offensively), but we both get after it defensively,” said Mahoney. “You always hope that the third time’s the charm, but in reality, you still have to go out there and get the job done in all three phases of the game.”

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