(Bennett County and Freeman face off in the Class 9A championship game at the DakotaDome on Thursday, Nov. 12. Photo credit: SDPB Sports/Josh Jurgens Photography).
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Simplified: Freeman came out swinging and didn't let up in the Class 9A championship game against Bennett County on Thursday afternoon. The Flyers won 57-12 after such a commanding halftime lead that the clock ran straight through the second half.
9A Final: Freeman 57, Bennett County 12
Freeman cruised to its 10th football title in school history with a dominating win over Bennett County for the 9A championship on Friday afternoon.
The Flyers led 42-6 at halftime with the mercy-rule running clock engaged for the second half. Despite the quick quarters, Freeman continued to score for the 45-point margin of victory.
In the fourth quarter, the Flyers increased the lead to 57-6 on a Tayden Kerrigan-to-Tannen Auch 11-yard touchdown pass. Bennett County finally got on the board in the second half and cut it to 57-12 on a 68-yard run from Hayden Risse. Risse finished with 69 yards rushing to lead the Warriors on the ground.
Kerrigan finished 12-of-18 for 273 yards passing with four touchdown passes in the win. He also rushed for 55 yards on seven carries and was named the game’s Joe Robbie MVP.
“I have so many weapons,” Kerrigan said. “They just make it easy for me.”
Axle Schultz led the Freeman rushing attack with 125 yards on 11 carries. Kerrigan hit six different receivers, led by Easton Tschetter’s four catches for 108 yards.
Freeman finished with 504 yards of total offense in a dominating performance.
“Another great effort today from our boys. It’s been like that all year,” said Freeman coach Dustin Tschetter in regards to the Flyers’ 10th straight game of scoring 50-plus points. “A dominant performance once again and I couldn’t be prouder for these boys.”
Maddux Risse led the Bennett County air attack with 169 yards passing on a 14-for-29 effort. Ironically, despite the margin of defeat, Bennett County was only penalized once.
This was Bennett County’s first appearance in the DakotaDome to play for a football title. However, the Warriors have had success in other sports having won the state volleyball title in 1994. They are the No. 1 seed in next week’s Class B state tournament in Sioux Falls.
For Freeman, it’s 10 championships and just one runner-up finish at the Dome in the school’s history. The Flyers are also now 6-0 in the championship game as just “Freeman.” As a co-op, they are 4-1.
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Third quarter: Freeman 48, Bennett County 6
The third quarter flew by at the DakotaDome in Vermillion for the 9A championship game. Per SDHSAA rules, once a team gets up by 35 in the second half, a running clock is put into place.
That was the case Thursday afternoon as Freeman led Bennett County 42-6 at halftime.
On the final play of the third, Freeman scored the only points of the quarter when Alaric Knittel scored from six yards out as time expired for a 49-6 lead.
Through three quarters, Freeman is also dominating on the stat sheet. The Flyers have 432 yards of total offense, compared to Bennett County’s 175. The Warriors continue to struggle on the ground, rushing for just 18 total yards.
Freeman quarterback Tayden Kerrigan is 11-for-17 for 262 yards passing with three touchdowns. Axle Schultz has 104 yards rushing on 10 carries for the Flyers.
For Bennett County, Maddux Risse is 13-for-27 passing for 157 yards and a score. Rush O’Neill has eight catches for 112 yards receiving.
Halftime: Freeman 42, Bennett County 6
Bennett County trailed big at the end of the first quarter, but the Warriors didn’t go quietly to start the second.
After getting down 16-0 in the first three minutes and 22-0 at the end of the first quarter, Bennett County didn’t allow Freeman on the scoreboard again until the 5:30 mark in the half.
The Warriors eventually got on the board with a 56-yard touchdown strike from Maddux Risse to Rush O’Neill to cut it to 28-6 with just over three minutes to play in the half. But Freeman responded with a 16-play, 60-yard drive and built the lead to 34-6 at the break when Easton Tschetter scored from three yards out with 48 seconds to play. Freeman got a late interception and returned it to Bennett County’s one-yard line. The Flyers scored one play later on a Tayden Kerrigan run, and Freeman went up 42-6 at the break.
Despite Bennett County’s fight at the start of the second quarter, Freeman is clearly flexing its muscle in this 9A championship. The Flyers are dominating the stat line, outgaining Bennett County 368-154. The Warriors have just 12 yards rushing and Freeman has two interceptions.
Kerrigan is 11-for-16 passing for 262 yards and three touchdowns. Axle Schultz has carried it nine times for 58 yards. For Bennett County, Risse is 10-for-21 for 142 yards passing.
First quarter: Freeman 22, Bennett County 0
It didn’t take long for the unbeaten Freeman Flyers to make a statement in the 9A championship game. A two-play drive capped by an Axle Schultz nine-yard run made it 8-0 just 13 seconds into the game. The drive was set up by a 53-yard connection between Tayden Kerrigan and Easton Tschetter.
And it only got worse for Bennett County. Freeman’s Logun Pankratz picked off Maddux Risse on the Warriors’ opening drive. Kerrigan hit Brody Sorensen for a 58-yard touchdown on the next play, and Freeman was up 16-0 just three minutes into the first.
With under a minute to play in the quarter, it was Kerrigan again, this time with a 37-yard touchdown strike to Tschetter to make it 22-0.
Kerrigan had a solid first quarter for the Flyers, throwing for 174 yards on a 6-for-7 effort. The senior hit four different receivers in the opening quarter, led by Tschetter with three catches for 98 yards.
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