After Centennial fell in the state tournament quarterfinal round to Rosemount last fall, Brett Harper, father of Cougars running back Maverick Harper, looked over at his brother-in-law Mark Barrett and said, “We’re going to do it for you next year, Marky. We’re going to redeem ya.”

Barrett is the uncle and godfather of Maverick Harper. He also was a lineman on the only Centennial team to reach the state championship game prior to this year’s team, which will square off with Edina for the Class 6A crown at 7 p.m. Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Barrett’s Cougars made their memorable run in 1984, reaching the Prep Bowl, which was just in its infant stages back then, where they fell 32-7 to Hutchinson in the Class A final at the Metrodome.

“Now to see Maverick and the Cougars go on this run, it’s really exciting,” Barrett said. “It’s just unbelievable.”

As was Centennial’s run 39 years ago. Mike Dickerson, another lineman on the team, recalled a playoff win over Mora in which the Cougars trailed by multiple scores at the half on a freezing cold day.

“We go into the locker room and someone brought in Campbell’s soup, believe it or not,” Dickerson said.

The mid-game nourishment of champions, of course.

“We all had soup and went back out and just lit it up and pulled that win off,” he said.

Centennial head coach Mike Diggins during the second quarter of a high school football game against Woodbury at Centennial High School in Circle Pines on Wednesday, Oct 20, 2021. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Mike Watson was not only Centennial’s coach then, but also the school’s athletic director.

Centennial hosted Park Rapids, then the defending state runner-up, in the state semifinals on a Saturday afternoon. Prior to the game, Watson had to help the Park Rapids radio play-by-play voice, who was also the father of Park Rapids quarterback, set up his broadcast. Throughout the process, the man kept talking about how much Park Rapids was looking forward to again facing Hutchinson in the final in what would have been a rematch of the previous season’s title game.

Park Rapids never got that opportunity, losing a few hours later to the Cougars.

Watson said the 1984 team’s success was set up by the 1983 season. Centennial excelled that fall, as well. The Cougars missed out on a conference title — and, thus, back then, a playoff spot — via a tiebreaker. But they won so many of their games so convincingly that often the second halves provided opportunities for younger players to gain experience.

So even though Centennial graduated many seniors from the 1983 team, Watson was confident in the next wave of talent. And, sure enough, they too were a machine.

“Honestly, we were so close. Our class size back then was like 200 students,” Barrett said. “We were just a really, super close class. Everything just all worked together.”

Dickerson said the team’s common goal was to reach the Metrodome. Barrett recalled shirts they had made that read “Our Home is the Dome.” Yet that proved to be a detriment in the title game. Players surmised that perhaps too much of their attention was placed on simply getting to the final game, and not winning it.

“I think we were a little overwhelmed (playing in the Metrodome) and couldn’t really focus on the game too much,” Barrett said.

“Once we got there, we kind of lost our focus,” Dickerson said. “We ran into a really good Hutchinson team, as well, but I don’t think they got our best effort. But it was fun, good memories.”

Upon returning home, the Cougars received a hero’s welcome.

“We felt like royalty when we came back, even when we lost,” Barrett said. “They had an assembly for us and put us up on stage and announced us and everything. It was the biggest thing to happen to Centennial for such a long time.”

Barrett noted that, for years, there was a trophy case dedicated solely to that runner-up finish.

“Now, you walk into the school and there’s trophy cases all over the place,” he said.

Centennial has grown in size — the high school is likely close to triple the population it was in 1984. It has a number of top-tier sports programs. But what remains the same is the fervent community support. It is a metro suburb that maintains a small-town feel.

“To see the growth there and more people getting involved. I think all sports are well supported at Centennial,” Watson said, “and I certainly felt it in football.”

Many players from that 1984 team still live in the area. They follow the Cougars with pride.

“I try to stay on top of it,” said Scott Anderson, Centennial’s star running back in 1984. “I don’t get to as many games as I’d like, but I always keep up with what’s going on with the team. … It’s kind of fun to sit back and watch things progress.”

Part of that is just because of the supportive community. But there also are constant threads within the program 39 years later.

Current Cougars coach Mike Diggins was a Centennial grad himself. He was a senior on the boys hockey team when Dickerson was a sophomore.

“Mike was a good leader back then, even,” Dickerson said.

Diggins was the equivalent of a graduate assistant under Watson for the Cougars in 1984.

“Basically, (my role) was nothing,” Diggins said. “I just sat there basically and didn’t do much. Actually, I was like the ninth-grade coach and (Watson) brought me to the Prep Bowl.”

Watson said Diggins volunteered and did some scouting during the team’s playoff run. His role only expanded from there, as Diggins eventually became Watson’s offensive coordinator.

And, when Watson retired from his post as head coach following the 2009 season, Diggins came back to take the job.

After a few years away from the program, Watson returned to serve on Diggins’ staff as an assistant for nine more seasons.

“It was the perfect transition,” said Barrett, who coached with Diggins when Diggins was Centennial’s girls hockey coach. “Because they’re both kind of the same person in how they really care for the kids, and they know how to motivate them.”

Diggins makes sure to keep the past connected to the present. Barrett noted members of the 1984 team were honored on a game night in 2019 for their 35th anniversary. Players were brought onto the field and introduced by Diggins.

“Put the old jersey back on,” Barrett said, “and it still fit.”

They see similarities between their team and this year’s Cougars. As is the case now, Watson said the Cougars primarily were a running team that fall, stacked with a number of good running backs. He said some of the offense is even similar to what Diggins runs now.

Anderson senses it in the resilience this year’s team continues to show.

The lead up to Friday’s game has sent memories rushing back into the heads of Dickerson and Barrett of their run. Barrett still occasionally looks back on that championship game and thinks “What if?”

They’re hopeful this year’s team can finally finish the job. Barrett surmised at least half of the members of the 1984 team will be in attendance Friday.

“I already got my tickets,” Anderson said. “I know a couple of buddies that we get together frequently are trying to plan out the day a little bit and see how it’s all going to work out. Should be fun.”

Watson takes great pride in what Diggins and Co. have accomplished in recent years. Anderson marveled at how Centennial has competed at such a high level in the state’s largest class. And they all believe the Cougars can bring home the program’s first state title Friday.

“They’ve shown all year that they can do it,” Anderson said. “They’ve just got to put one more solid performance together.”

“Oh my gosh, you’ll see fireworks going off in this town,” Barrett said. “I love the area, I love Centennial. And, man, I’m going to give Maverick the biggest hug in the whole world if they go out and do this thing, which I know they can.”

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