Class 9A Championship Preview: Freeman matches up with Bennett County in state title

VERMILLION — Bennett County looks to continue its playoff magic into the Class 9A state championship.

No. 5 seed Bennett County (10-1), in its first trip to the state football championship, takes on No. 2 seed Freeman (11-0) at 1 p.m. for the Class 9A state title.

The Warriors are currently riding a 10-game winning streak highlighted by back-to-back comeback wins in the quarterfinals against Sully Buttes (28-22) and again in the semifinals against Kimball/White Lake (45-44) on a last second touchdown.

Bennett County is averaging 35.6 points per game while surrendering 20.7 points a game on defense.

In the semifinal win over Kimball/White Lake, quarterback Maddux Risse had four touchdown passes to Rush O'Neill, with Risse scoring the game-winning 57-yard touchdown as well.

This season, Risse has thrown for 2,344 yards and 30 touchdowns to just five interceptions, adding 803 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground. O'Neill has caught 54 passes for 1,327 yards and 17 touchdowns as well.

On the other side is one of the most dominant nine-man football teams in the state over the past two seasons.

Freeman is riding a 23-game winning streak dating back to last season and are the defending Class 9AA state champions under the Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy co-op.

But the Flyers haven't missed a beat in its first season on its own, beating teams by an average margin of 36.9 points per game this season. Freeman bolsters the top-scoring offense (48.7 ppg) and defense (11.8 papg) this season in Class 9A.

Freeman has knocked off plenty of top-end teams in nine-man football this season including Howard twice (52-13 and 58-6), Avon (56-34), Centerville (62-26) and most recently Castlewood (54-26) in the semifinals.

In the win over Castlewood, quarterback Tayden Kerrigan completed 14 passes for 230 yards and four touchdowns while Axle Schultz added 16 carries for 148 yards and three touchdowns as well.