Fans from five communities got to see Eli Gillman rush for 150 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Dassel-Cokato Chargers to a 28-21 victory over the Plainview-Elgin-Millville Bulldogs in the Class AAA Football Championship Game Saturday afternoon at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
It was the first state title for Dassel-Cokato in their fourth trip to state. The Chargers returned to the Class AAA final after losing to the Pierz Pioneers 28-27 in 2019.
The Charger defense would prevail in the early going when Kyan Lynk intercepted Bulldog quarterback Connor McGuire's pass. It would begin a drive would culminate with Eli Gillman's eight yard touchdown run. But the replay review ruled that Eli Gillman came short of the goal line. so he got the ball again and this time he scored the touchdown, capping a 14 play drive that lasted 5:49.
In the second quarter, P-E-M, aided by a D-C encroachment penalty got a one yard keeper touchdown from McGuire to tie the game at seven. Then it would be D-C's turn and they kept the Bulldog defense on the field for a long long time. They went 3 for 3 on fourth down conversions and it would culminate in 20 plays lasting (;30 with Eli Gillman's two yard touchdown run. P-E-M would go into the locker room at halftime with a deficit. They used a bit of trickery. McGuire completed a pass to Kaiden Peters, he lateraled the ball to Jason Felis and he scampered down the left sideline like the fan buses heading down I-90 for a 44 yard touchdown to tie the game at 14.
Heading into the third quarter, the Chargers methodical offense would strike again as they used 18 plays and 8:45 that would result in Eli Gillman's third touchdown of the game, his second from two yards.
D-C would extend their lead to 14 in the fourth quarter when Keyton Johnson bulged through the Bulldog defense and scored from 10 yards. P-E-M would cut the margin to seven on McGuire's nine yard touchdown pass to Hunter Tentis. The Bulldogs would get the ball back, thanks to an onside kick that was recovered Peyton Schumacher. Could they send the game into overtime or pull off the win? The answer would be no as McGuire would misfire on all four downs and turn the ball over to the Chargers. Two kneels later, the game ended.
Statistics worth noting. D-C ran 71 plays, P-E-M 34. The Chargers had the ball 32:44, the Bulldogs 15:16.
D-C finished the season with a 14-0 record and P-E-M ended their campaign with a record of 11-3.
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