Prep Bowl XLII, Class AAA Championship: Stewartville 43, Dassel-Cokato 22

Stewartville continues to master perfection. 

The Tigers crafted a second consecutive perfect season following a 43-22 victory over Dassel-Cokato in the Class AAA Prep Bowl Championship Game on Saturday, Nov. 23 at U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis. Senior running back Dylan Scanlan rushed for 140 yards and two touchdowns while senior wide receiver Parker Wangen was a multi-threat every time he touched the ball in leading the Tigers (14-0) to a second Class AAA crown in a row and a 28^th consecutive victory over the past two seasons.

Stewartville is the first repeat Class AAA champion since Glencoe-Silver Lake won its second in a row in 2008, but that was when the Prep Bowl was played in a six-classification format. The seven-class format was introduced in 2012. 

The Tigers, featuring a lineup dripping with talent and full of depth, went on a 36-point scoring spree from the end of the first quarter to early in the fourth quarter in creating a 43-7 lead. Scanlan had two long touchdown runs in the span and Wangen two rushing touchdowns, a field goal and a pass reception. 

Already sitting on a 16-point lead at the half, the Tigers continued to build.

They started the second half much like they played throughout the opening 24 minutes. Junior quarterback Vincent Wellik found Wangen in the far corner of the west end zone for a 30-yard touchdown connection that gave the Tigers a 29-7 lead with 9:41 left in the third quarter. That ushered in a 20-yard scoring run by Scanlan and then another TD from Wangen, this one a six-yarder. 

Wangen, also a standout basketball player who has committed to play football at Minnesota State (Mankato), had 39 yards rushing, a 14-yard pass completion, two receptions for 47 yards and a 31-yard interception return.

Stewartville bolted to a 23-7 lead at the break behind an attack that generated 203 yards of total offense while yielding just 103 to Dassel-Cokato. 

Scanlan spurred the ground game with 99 yards on nine carries and a touchdown. His 58-yard scoring dash late in the first quarter snapped a 7-all tie and triggered a 16-point surge. Wangen would later boot a 25-yard field goal and then score on a 1-yard run with two seconds remaining in the first half. 

Dassel-Cokato’s lone first half TD was a 7-yard run by senior running back Caleb Smock with 2:50 left in the first quarter. He had 34 rushing yards in the first half.

Senior running back Kobee Thielen had 107 yards rushing and a late TD for the Chargers (11-2).