Dassel-Cokato makes last-minute push for 3A football victory over Pequot Lakes

If you didn’t know differently, you might never suspect Dassel-Cokato to be the up-tempo, fast-paced football team it truly is.

Many see the Chargers as a prototypical grind-it-out, 3-yards-and-a-blizzard-of-rubber-turf-pellets team that leans on its rushing attack. There’s no shortage of such teams in high school football in Minnesota, where the late fall weather holds sway.

Said running game defines Dassel-Cokato. What makes the Chargers unique is how they do it.

They move fast. And do it with a lot of players..

The up-tempo, personnel-heavy attack made the difference Saturday as Dassel-Cokato rallied to beat Pequot Lakes 29-26 in the first Class 3A semifinal at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Kobee Thielen capped a comeback from a 19-point second-half deficit with a 5-yard dive into the end zone with 51 seconds left. The Chargers added a two-point conversion for the game’s final score.

The key to the comeback was Dassel-Cokato’s pressure-cooker style. The Chargers operate fast. Keep up if you can.

“That’s kind of what we do,” coach Ryan Weinandt said. “We try to put a lot of guys on the field and we try to go as fast as we can and we think we can wear down teams a little bit.”

It’s a style that needs time to be effective. When Pequot Lakes got out to a 26-7 lead early in the second half, Dassel-Cokato didn’t worry.

The Chargers kicked it into gear and started moving the ball, mostly on the ground. The Chargers were building momentum, and Pequot Lakes was starting to feel the wear-and-tear.

“They kept coming at us and our kids just sucked it up,” Patriots coach Bill Magnuson said. “I’ll tip my hat to them. They get off the ball. We knew a little bit about the muddle huddle, that they would go right away, but it’s too hard to sub on something like that.”

Patriots senior lineman Jackson Jorgens said the warm conditions in U.S. Bank Stadium played into Dassel-Cokato’s hands, too.

“We played the last four or five games in cold and then just going to a really warm stadium, for sure it affected us,” Jorgen said. “And is was really hard to stop because their tempo was so fast. They kept just running and huddling. Obviously, that played in their favor.”

Dassel-Cokato got in position to win with a pair of touchdown runs by running back Caleb Smock. Dassel-Cokato finished with 321 yards rushing and 409 yards of total offense, most in the second half.

“It’s probably not a very well-kept secret, but we play 22 different starters as a Class 3A football team,” Weinandt said. “We try to get a lot of guys on the field. I think it’s good for our program, and it’s good for their safety and their health, to keep them fresh. And the way to make it advantageous is to try to go at a fast pace.”

Pequot Lakes (11-1) had won 11 games in a row with a versatile, balanced attack. Quarterback Mike Oseland completed 16 of 23 passes for 212 yards and three touchdowns Saturday.