Dorchester Times: Sports Round-Up: DHS Football Upended By Heartland Lutheran

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Sports Round-Up: DHS Football Upended By Heartland Lutheran

Photo: Grand Island Independent

Heartland Lutheran Blows Out Injured DHS: Dorchester's football squad has dropped to 4-2 after Friday night's shocking blowout loss to Heartland Lutheran in Grand Island. The finally tally was Dorchester 6, Heartland 66. The Red Hornet offense rushed for over 230 yards and passed for 229 yards. Hindered by several injuries and the loss of two other players due to disciplinary issues, Dorchester only scored once, and only got one first down all night on offense. During the game, DHS senior Andy Real hurt his foot and was taken away via ambulance. See photos of the game here. The good news is DHS' final two games of the regular season are at home, at Nerud Field. The bad news: They happen to be against No. 2 McCool Junction -- this Friday, Oct. 18 -- and the always-formidable Sterling the week after on Oct. 25.

DHS Volleyball Aims to Recover After Tough Skid: Dorchester's volleyball squad is looking to recover after dropping five of its last six contests. The Lady Longhorns currently sport a 8-13 record. This Tuesday, the team travels to BDS to take part in a triangular against BDS (18-3) and McCool Junction (2-19). Then on Saturday, Oct. 19, the CRC tourney begins in York. The CRC will conclude regular season play for DHS.

Our Thoughts on NU Football in 2019: Two decades since its last conference championship, Nebraska football has become painful to watch on too many occasions. We're not blaming the current coaching staff; this problem is years in the making, dating back to the 1990s when a culture change was beginning. Thanks to "elite youth sport teams," the surge in overprotective parenting, and the growing trend of young males not participating in school activities, Nebraska suffered a decline in high school football participation. This has definitely had a trickle-up effect on NU's football program. Nebraska -- the state, not the university -- must produce its own home-grown talent once again. Football is a game for your kids to play, not just others' kids. All of Nebraska will need to have skin in the game if the NU program is to be revived. Otherwise, game over. Keep in mind that about half of the starters on NU's 1970, '71, '94, '95 and '97 teams were Nebraskans. (By the way, the Tunnel Walk could use a refresh, too.)

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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."