By Brad salmen
Sports Editor
Tate Link was rewarded for a phenomenal 2022 season by being named to the Minnesota High School Football All-Star Game.
The 50th annual All-Star game will be held Saturday, Dec. 10, with the kickoff at 6 p.m at US Bank Stadium.
Players and coaches representing 85 schools and 37 sub-districts will participate in this year’s game. They were selected by the Minnesota Football Coaches Association (MFCA).
It will be the second straight season that Dassel-Cokato will have a running back featured in the game, after Eli Gillman’s appearance in last year’s game.
After Gillman’s eye-popping season last year, Link followed up with one of his own.
His statline: 300 carries for 2,190 yards and 32 touchdowns in 10 games, with a 7.3  yards per carry. Link helped propel the Chargers to an 8-2 season record.
(Average: 30 carries, 219 yards, and 3.2 touchdowns per game).
“Tate had an outstanding year and career for us. He is well deserving of being selected,” said DC head coach Ryan Weinandt. “It will be exciting to see him put on the pads one more time and play with the best seniors in the state.”
Link will be the fourth player, and fifth DC Charger, to participate in the All-Star game.
Tyler Irvin played in the 2011 summer game, and offensive lineman Keaton Lasanen and coach Weinandt both participated in 2017, before Gillman’s appearance last season.
It will be the sixth time the game has been played at US Bank Stadium, and will also be the 60th overall All-Star Game in Minnesota football history, dating back to 1945.
It will be the 12th consectuve time the game will feature the North All-Stars vs. the South All-Stars. The South AS lead the North 9-2 in the current iteration (Link will suit up for the North All-Stars).
Last season, the South beat the North 12-7.
Tickets can be purchased at am.ticketmaster.com/vikings/HSFootballAllStarGame.

BUFFALO — Mistakes finally overtook the DC Chargers football team.

DC had four turnovers, and seven penalties, in a 47-36 loss to Watertown-Mayer in the Section 2AAA championship game.

Both teams battled back-and-forth throughout the first half, with the Royals hitting a 42-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter to take a 23-22 lead.

The Chargers scored on their opening possession of the second half to take a 28-23 lead, but the Royals took advantage of three DC turnovers in the second half to take the victory.

Tate Link finished with 31 carries for 223 yards, and three touchdowns. Tyree Thielen had 14 carries for 95 yards.

Wyatt McCabe had 28 carries for 204 yards and two touchdowns for W-M. Albert Rundell went 9-15 for 122 yards and two touchdowns through the air, and added 12 carries for 88 yards and a score.

Check out Friday’s Enterprise Dispatch for a full recap.

COKATO — The DC Chargers football team overcame numerous miscues to score a game-winning, go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter and take a 14-7 victory over Litchfield in their section semifinal game Saturday afternoon.

The Dragons took a 7-6 halftime lead, and held that one-point advantage into the fourth quarter. But the Chargers scored a go-ahead touchdown with 5:30 left in the fourth quarter, and got back-to-back sacks by Logan Christopherson and Hunter Grindeland to turn Litchfield over on downs.

Tate Link had 48 carries for 277 yards, and both touchdowns for DC. The Chargers were hurt by six penalties, and two turnovers, but held Litchfield to just 141 yards of total offense.

DC will now face Watertown-Mayer in the section championship Friday at Buffalo.

Check out next week’s Enterprise Dispatch for a full recap.

LITCHFIELD — There will be one girl, and one boy representing DC in the Class AA cross country meet.

Emily Trocke took third, and Soren Bortnem took fourth, at the Section 6AA meet at the Litchfield Golf Course Thursday.

The DC boys took second, behind Delano and Orono. The Chargers were actually tied in points with WCC West foe Annandale, but won on the sixth-place finisher tiebreaker. The girls, meanwhile, took fifth.

Charlie Bortnem was one place away from making the big dance, finishing 2.1 seconds behind Will Massman of Annandale for the final state entrant spot.

Kate Jenkins was also very close for the girls, finishing three spots and 9.3 seconds from making the state tournament.

Check out Friday’s Enterprise Dispatch for a full recap.

BROOKLYN PARK — The DC volleyball team fell in five sets to Maranatha Christian in the first round of the Section 5AA playoffs Wednesday.

The Chargers, seeded #14, won the first two sets in tight fashion, 26-24, 25-21, before the #11 Mustangs won the next two by identical 25-17, 25-17 scores. Maranatha then won the final set 15-12, ending the Chargers’ season.

Check out next week’s Enterprise Dispatch for a full recap.

After defeating New London-Spicer in the final game of the regular season, the DC Chargers (7-1) received the #1 seed in Section 2AAA.

This means they will have a first-round bye in the playoffs, and will host the Section Semifinal game at home Saturday, Oct. 29.

DC will face the winner of #4 Rockford and #5 Litchfield. That game will be held Tuesday, Oct. 25 at Rockford.

Watertown-Mayer, the #2 seed, will host #7 Holy Family, and #3 Providence Academy will host #6 Glencoe-Silver Lake Tuesday in other quarterfinal action Tuesday.

If the Chargers win the semifinal game, they will advance to the Section Championship game to be held at Buffalo High School Friday, Nov. 4.