The 2nd Half Punch of Princeton Knocks Out Dassel-Cokato 23-13

PRINCETON, MINN-- We took our live game scouting talents back out ot the home of the Princeton Tigers, in what was a battle of undefeateds in Princeton in 4A, and Dassel-Cokato in 3A trying to iron out who would have a perfect regular season. The heavyweight force of the #3 team in 4A and the #2 in 3A, as we circled this game early in the week as the Game of the Week for me in Week 8 to start off MEA Week with a bang. One team had to be sent home heading into the start of playoffs with one loss, but of course that comes with a chip on their shoulder from a program that is a recent state champion. Let's find out more in our Game Recap who logged the scoring, who came away clutch as heck on defense, and who closed this one out with their dominance in the second half.

FIRST QUARTER

Dassel-Cokato

The Chargers kicked this one off with the first touchdown of the night, coming from 2025 running back Caleb Smock Caleb Smock 5'10" | 160 lbs | RB Dassel-Cokato | 2025 MN who crawled his way out of the inside box with his good vision, to climb up for a 47-yard touchdown. Caleb was a persistent new name you learn more about later from his efforts in this one.

Dassel-Cokato 6, Princeton 0

Princeton

The Tigers answered the Chargers call, as it was the athleticism of 2025 quarterback Brody Kok Brody Kok 6'2" | 210 lbs | ATH Princeton | 2025 State MN right in front of me along the edges of the field, as he found the corner of the end zone on a 12-yard rushing touchdown. With the XP blocked, this game was tied after the first two touchdowns of the game at six to take us to to the end of the first quarter.

Princeton 6, Dassel-Cokato 6

Second Quarter

Princeton

We saw some huge plays defensively coming from our LB2 in the 2027 class Carson Pruett Carson Pruett 6'1" | 230 lbs | EDGE Princeton | 2027 State MN , as early in the second quarter the young man already logged two forced fumbles giving his Tigers excellent field position to press the gas with their rushing attack. In the end, it was 2025 running back Noah Wells who found just enough space to punch the Tigers in from 1-yard out and gave Princeton their first lead of the game.

Princeton 13, Dassel-Cokato 6

Dassel-Cokato

We have seen the big games that Dassel-Cokato 2025 running back Kobee Thielen Kobee Thielen 5'11" | 180 lbs | DB Dassel Cokato | 2025 State MN has put up thus far this season, so we were not surprised that the Chargers kept feeding the beast who had 316 yards last week, as Thielen got to the short edge of the inside box to punch in his 1-yard rushing touchdown to yet again, tie this one up going into the halftime break.

Dassel-Cokato 13, Princeton 13, halftime.

Third Quarter

Princeton

One of the first field goal attempts I watched in live scouting game this year was a good one from 27-yards out for 2025 kicker Noah Solderholm giving the Princeton Tigers faithful the upperhand a little over midway thru the 3rd quarter.

Princeton 16, Dassel-Cokato 13

Fourth Quarter

Princeton

Defense wins championships as they always say, as I believe we saw Carson Pruett Carson Pruett 6'1" | 230 lbs | EDGE Princeton | 2027 State MN log yet another forced fumble in the defensive trenches as the issues of ball security hurt the Chargers especially in crunch time of this game. After two unsuccessful attempts on first and second down, it was 2025 quarterback Brayden Shafer Brayden Shafer 6'3" | 190 lbs | QB Princeton | 2025 State MN that came in the clutch for the Tigers offense and got himself in the end zone from 1-yard out for what was the nail in the coffin for the Tigers putting this game away with 3:49 left in the 4th quarter.

Princeton 23, Dassel-Cokato 13

The Chargers had one last chance, as they changed gears offensively operating out of a hurry-up shotgun offense in which it was Princeton 2025 linebacker Jonathan Kaiser Jonathan Kaiser 5'10" | 195 lbs | RB Princeton | 2025 MN , who was one of my standouts from last year's visit to Princeton offensively, who got the game sealing interception to fully get the Tigers to 8-0 to close out the regular season.