A season to remember for the
DC FOOTBALL PROGRAM
The 2019 Dassel
el-Cokato High School football season was
a spec cial season, one the players, coaches, c
and fans will
never forget.
After a rather pedestr strian 5-3 regular r season on, DC rattled off f
fi ve strai aight playoff victories, including two dramati tic come-
from-behind fashion, to advance to the Class AAA Sta
ate
Championship p game
at US Bank Stadium.
The Chargers entered ere
the game as heavy underdogs
dog
against the undefeated eate and top-ranked Pierz Pioneers.
However, the team did d not back down, and DC and Pierz
traded touchdowns in a wild, back-and-forth thriller.
Unfortunately, nat the Pioneers scored a last-minute touch-
down to score a 28-27 victory, relegating the Chargers to a
runner-up up fi nish.
It was the fi rst time Dassel-Cokato o had advanced to the
state title tl game since 1972, nearly 50 years ago, where they
also fi nished in second place.
Along the way, the players, coaches, and community
honored or the memory of their fallen teammate, Jacob Mac-
Donald.
MacDonald, who was a starting linebacker as a sophomore,
passed away midway through the 2017 season two
years ago after an allergic reaction.
The 2019 season would have been his senior year, and his
senior teammates commemorated his presence every step
of the way, honoring him by carrying and displaying his jersey
at every game.
The Chargers started out the 2019 season strong, opening
with back-to-back shutouts over Little Falls and Holy Family.
DC then defeated Princeton 20-14, but lost their fi rst game
of the season to New London-Spicer 26-20 on the road.
This game was signifi cant because, after trailing 20-0 at
the half, the coaching staff turned to a three-back wishbone
offense in the second half, and nearly came back to win.
The Chargers would utilize this formation almost exclusively
the rest of the season.
DC followed up with a thrilling 28-21 overtime homecoming
victory over Glencoe-Silver Lake, with Calder Anderson
knocking away a 4th-and-goal pass in the end zone, to improve
to 4-1.
Unfortunately, the Chargers fi nished the regular season by
losing two of their last three games. Both of those losses – 29-
28 to Litchfi eld, and 28-20 to Annandale – were of the lastminute
variety.
Those losses pushed DC’s record to an unremarkable 5-3
at the end of the regular season.
Based on this, the pundits gave Dassel-Cokato long odds
to advance very far in the postseason.
The Chargers would not only prove the pundits very wrong,
they would exact some ultimate retribution.
DC was named the No. 3 seed in the Section 2AAA playoffs,
and opened the postseason at home against No. 6
Rockford (2-7).
The Chargers scored an easy 50-12 victory, scoring on their
Chargers celebrate with Jacob McDonald’s jersey.
File photo
File photo
The DC Chargers dedicated
the season to Jacob
MacDonald.
fi rst fi ve possessions en route to a
37-6 halftime lead. The Chargers
outgained the Rockets 372-196,
with all 372 yards coming on the
ground.
The section quarterfi nal game
pitted DC against No. 2 seed Litchfi
eld, which had defeated
the Chargers four weeks earlier
on a miraculous last-second
touchdown and two-point conversion.
DC was looking for revenge,
and got it – big time.
The Chargers forced two turnovers
in the game’s fi rst four minutes,
and dominated the greenand-white
up-and-down the
fi eld in a 56-28 victory.
Dassel-Cokato then squared
off against No. 4 seed Providence
Academy, who had upset top-seeded Glencoe-Silver
Lake, in the Section 2AAA title game.
In front of a packed house at Crown College, the Chargers
26 | Dassel-Cokato Visitors Guide 2020-21