DRAGGING DEFENDERS ­— Blue Earth Area running back Kade Gaydon (with football) drags Jackson County Central linebacker Tavion Diggs (4) during a gain of yards in high school action Saturday night at Swearingen Field in Jackson. The Bucs’ Caleb Langager (white 4) blocks Huskies defender Thomas Liepold on the play. (Photo by Greg Abel)

JACKSON — Jackson County Central coasted to a season-opening 42-13 victory over Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial and a 43-0 triumph over Worthington during a Week 2 football game.

Ironically, the Huskies, who netted the No. 6 spot in last week’s Class AA state rankings, achieved the two wide-margin wins without sophomore standout Roman Voss.

The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Voss made his debut at Swearingen Field on Saturday night and produced a pair of touchdowns in limited action to help power JCC to a 49-6 triumph over the Blue Earth Area Bucs in Jackson.

“We’ve had a big weapon in our closet until tonight,” Huskies head coach Tom Schuller said in reference to Voss, who missed the first two games due to a preseason injury. “With Roman on the field, defenses can’t double our other two receivers (split end Ben Dahlin and tight end Bryson Powers), and if anyone noticed, we can run the ball pretty well, too.”

Fullback Seth Stai demonstrated that fact by hammering out 13 yards during JCC’s game-opening, six-play, 66-yard scoring march. Senior quarterback Brenan Runge then displayed his strong and accurate arm by connecting on a 39-yard fade route to Dahlin to the BEA 4-yard line.

Voss then took the snap out of the wildcat, sprinted left and dove over the goal line at the pylon for his first rushing TD of the season. Jack Sadusky nailed the PAT for a 7-0 lead with 9:42 left in the first quarter.

After Stai, tackle Braydan Winter and the JCC defense forced a punt, Clay Malchow’s 32-yard return put the Huskies in business at the BEA 23.

Runge, who completed 7 of 9 passes for a game-best 194 yards, launched a perfect spiral to Dahlin on first down for the first of Runge’s three TDs on the night. Sadusky kicked the PAT to double to gap to 14-0 with 5:12 left in the first frame.

“Brenan delivered his best game of the season tonight and it could not have come at a better time,” Schuller said in reference to Runge, who combined for 259 passing yards and five TDs in the Huskies’ previous two wins. “He’s become another one of our big weapons.”

Unfortunately for BEA, Runge & Co. needed only five snaps to reel off three TDs, two PATs and an inadvertent 2-point conversion during the ensuing 10-minute span to build JCC’s lead to 36-0.

After taking over on downs at the their own 41, Runge zipped a spiral to Powers near the right hash and the 6-3, 210-pound senior displayed his speed by sprinting 59 yards to paydirt. Sadusky’s kick made it 21-0 just 14 seconds into the second period.

The Huskies’ defense forced a four-and-out series before starting at the Bucs’ 48 via a downed punt. Malchow ran for 4 yards before Runge threaded a perfect 44-yarder to Voss for another TD. Sadusky then picked up the low long snap and reached the pylon for a 2-point conversion at the 9:50 juncture.

Stai later pounded out 48 of his 69 rushing yards on the game via a slash-and-sprint right-side run before Sadusky kicked another PAT to go ahead 36-0 with 7:14 left in the second quarter.

BEA’s following fourth punt of the opening half eventually led to Malchow’s tackle-breaking 7-yard rumble over the left side of the line before Sadusky kicked the PAT for a 43-0 lead with only 1:35 left before intermission. Runge hit Voss for a 13-yarder and Dahlin for 15 more to highlight the seven-play, 61-yard scoring drive.

Gage Johnson, who topped the Huskies’ 232-yard rushing attack with 78, broke away for a 49-yard TD run with 9:39 left in regulation.

Defensive lineman Carson Meyers’ fumble recovery at the Bucs’ 31 set up teammate Jacob Grandgenett’s eventual 63-yard scoring sprint with 4:10 left in the game.

Jackson County Central (3-0) travels to Le Sueur-Henderson on Friday night for a 7 p.m. kickoff, while Blue Earth Area (0-3) plays host to Maple River on Friday night at Wilson Field in Blue Earth.

BEA              0   0  0 6 —  6

JCC             14 29 0 6 — 49

Scoring Plays

1st Quarter

JCC–Roman Voss 4 run (Jack Sadusky kick), 9:42.

JCC–Ben Dahlin 23 pass from Brenan Runge (Sadusky kick), 5:12.

2nd Quarter

JCC–Bryson Powers 59 pass from Runge (Sadusky kick), 11:46.

JCC–Voss 44 pass from Runge (Sadusky run), 9:50.

JCC–Seth Stai 48 run (Sadusky kick), 7:14.

JCC–Clay Malchow 7 run (Sadusky kick), 1:35.

3rd Quarter

No scoring.

4th Quarter

JCC–Gage Johnson 49 run (conversion failed), 9:39.

BEA–Jacob Grandgenett 63 run (kick failed), 4:10.

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: JCC 11; BEA 6. Rushing: JCC 27-232; BEA 32-110. Passing: JCC 7-9-0-194; BEA 5-15-0-32. Fumbles-lost: JCC 5-1; BEA 1-0. Penalties: BEA 5-54; JCC 3-20.

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Offense: Rushing: Gage Johnson (JCC) 4-78, Seth Stai (JCC) 5-69; Jacob Grandgenett (BEA) 2-69. Passing: Brenan Runge (JCC) 7-9-0-194; Max Loge (BEA) 4-13-0-25. Receiving: Dahlin (JCC) 4-78, Voss (JCC) 2-57, Powers (JCC) 1-59; Grandgenett (BEA) 2-17, Gage Barker (BEA) 2-8, Sterling Madson (BEA) 1-7.

Defense: Fumble recovery: Carson Meyers (BEA).