Aug. 20—HARVEY, N.D. — Back in December, Harvey/Wells County football coach Bret Dockter didn't know if he would be back to coach in 2026.
Last summer, Dockter was diagnosed with pulmonary artillery hypertension. This is the constriction of the arteries between the lungs and the heart. Toward the end of last year's football season, Dockter had to have an oxygen tank with him.
"In November, I was battling something — maybe a virus — and I just could not kick it," Dockter said. "In December there were three straight days where I could not go to school. The final two days that week, my family got me into a wheelchair and wheeled me into the hospital. They told me it had gotten so bad that I had to be air-flighted to Bismarck.
"At 11 o'clock on that night in December, I thought this was the end," he said.
Once Dockter arrived in Bismarck, he was put into a medically induced coma for three days.
"They did everything," Dockter said. "They went down my throat, they shocked my heart to get it back into rhythm and all of that stuff. I came out the other side of the coma feeling great. ... When I came to, my phone was just packed with messages. Ninety percent of my texts were from these boys. As close as I came to not being with these guys, I am enjoying each moment I get with them.
"This is a good group to be around," he said. "They have reignited my fire to coach this year. I am so excited to get going here."
The Hornets got going with practices on Aug. 6. Prior to official practices starting, Dockter said he was seeing the best participation in offseason workouts that he's seen in almost 20 years.
"We (had) a really good summer," Dockter said. "There's a lot of boys doing a lot of good things. We went out to Valley City and competed against Valley and a team from South Dakota and a team from Minnesota ... our team won the overtime challenge, so we were pretty jacked about that.
"The guys are in the weight room and the last time I saw participation like this in the weight room was probably '07 or '08," he said. "They are also organizing nights where they will go out and throw, they are attending camps. By the looks of it, we're going to have a good year."
As of early July, the Hornets were expecting about 40 kids out for the team this year.
"It's been growing for a couple of years now," Dockter said of the program. "We've got a really good senior class this year. Seven of them were starting as sophomores, one of them was an All-Stater as a sophomore, another one became an All-Stater last year. This will be my 30th year, and I don't remember a year where we have brought back All-Staters. That is not normal for Class A football. We're pretty excited about that."
Christian Mertz is one of those All-Staters returning. Mertz, now a senior, picked up All-State honors in his sophomore and junior years.
"He won the 215-pound state wrestling championship, but believe it or not, he'll play tailback and nose guard for us," Dockter said. "He's an absolute beast."
Strong play from Mertz and the rest of the Hornets will be needed if they plan to have a successful season. The squad will open the season on Aug. 21 against Ellendale/Edgeley/Kulm at Harvey. In week two, they will face off against Velva/Drake-Anamoose and then will take on Langdon/Area-Edmore/Munich in the third week of the season.
"In the first three weeks, we've got a team that was in the state quarterfinals, a team that was in the semis and the state championship team," Dockter said. "As a coach, you wouldn't mind starting off a little bit easier, but our kids are chomping at the bit to get going."
Harvey/Wells County ended the 2025 season at 4-5. Four of the team's losses were determined by 10 or fewer points. While they are looking to improve on that record this year, Dockter has a bigger message for the team.
"Yeah, we want to go as far as we can, but really we're just counting every day as a blessing," Dockter said. "Every time I think about those days, I think about how close I was to not being here, but here I am. I am just counting every day as a blessing with these boys and my family and with everybody. I just have a new lease on life. I am feeling great, there might be times I get a little short of breath, but I am feeling great. I haven't had an air tank on me since December. I've never felt better, and I am really looking forward to being with these guys in a couple of weeks."
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