When the Cokato Public School girls’ basketball team folded in the fall of 1904, the lone basketball (literally there was only one) was up for grabs. Soon after, a boys team was formed and the first game was played against Howard Lake out-of-doors in February. 

Little Red Jug, Cokato High School, 1972 Yearbook.

​Sports rivalries are not limited to just the professional or collegiate ranks.  High schools are noted for their sometimes spirited rivalries also. 

In the case of Cokato High School, one of their more fierce rivals was their neighbor to the west, Dassel.  Football was one of the sports that drew upon that competitive spirit. To acknowledge that spirit, the schools took a cue from the Universities of Minnesota and Michigan--who play each year for the Little Brown Jug. 
 
In the case of CHS and DHS, they played for the Little Red Jug. According to the scores written on the Little Red Jug, the rivalry seems to have started in 1966, with Cokato beating Dassel 26-13. Cokato also won the final game between the two schools in October of 1971. What remains a mystery is who came up with the idea, Dassel or Cokato?

​Football was not the only sport that saw a spirited rivalry over an inanimate object.  The Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato hockey team has one with Willmar.  They played for a cream can.  Not just one can though; there were two.

The first Cross Country (CC) program at D-C started during the fall of 1972, the same year that the Dassel and Cokato High Schools consolidated.  The first team consisted of Scott Haglund, Kevin Wiley, Lee Bobrowske, Bruce Isaacson, Boyd Sorenson, Tim Reed, John Russell, George Dorr, and was coached by George Keith.