BROOKINGS – The Ortman brothers led defending-champion Canistota/Freeman to a 46-34 victory over top-seeded Britton-Hecla in the Class 9A championship game Thursday afternoon at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.

The third-seeded Pride (11-1) outscored the Braves 16-0 in the second half.

Trey Ortman, a senior, was 8-of-12 for 189 yards with a TD and an interception through the air and rushed for 80 yards and two touchdowns. He was voted Jim Langer Player of the Game and Outstanding Back.

Tyce Ortman, a junior, ran for 114 yards and a pair of touchdowns while catching three passes for 89 yards and a score.

Micah Swensen was named Outstanding Lineman.

Canistota/Freeman faked a punt on fourth-and-18 at midfield on its opening possession of the second half and came up well short.

Clayton Smith recovered a fumble at the CF 27-yard line soon thereafter to shift momentum.

Tyce Ortman put the Pride on top for good with a 25-yard scoring scamper with 2:57 remaining in the third. He added the two-point conversion to make it 38-34.

Canistota/Freeman’s Collin Helma broke up a pass on fourth-and-10 at the CF 44 with 8:27 to play in the game.

The Pride then put together the clinching drive, possessing the ball for nearly 7 minutes

Trey Ortman hit Tyce Ortman for a 10-yard gain on fourth-and-5 at the BH 34. The quarterback ran 12 yards to the 12 on the next play.

On third-and-6 at the 8, Trey Ortman picked up 7 yards for a first down with less than 2:00 to go.

Trey Ortman plunged into the end zone with 1:32 showing on the clock and found Helma for the two-pointer to push the margin to 46-34.

The Braves moved 73 yards on 14 plays to open the game, as Cole Fosness scored from 6 yards out at the 4:46 mark of the opening period. Tate Calstrom had the two-point run.

The Pride answered with an eight-play, 65-yard drive as Bailey Sage plunged to paydirt from a yard out. Logan Katzer caught the two-point pass from Trey Ortman to tie things up at 8-8 with 1:40 showing on the clock.

The teams combined for 48 points in the second period.

Tyce Ortman’s 64-yard catch and run put CF ahead 14-8 10 seconds into the stanza.

BH’s Mason Jones (11:12) and CF’s Tyce Ortman (10:08) exchanged 5-yard touchdown rushes later on. Fosness and Isiah Robertson had two-point catches, leaving the score at 22-16 in favor of the Pride.

The Braves’ Andrew James pounced on a fumble at the CF 25 after that. Britton-Hecla took advantage of the game’s first turnover as Fosness had an 8-yard TD run with 5:17 left to knot the score at 22-all.

Trey Ortman answered with a 42-yard touchdown rush and added the two-pointer to give Canistota/Freeman a 30-22 advantage with 3:08 to play.

Britton-Hecla quarterback Aidan Fredrickson scored on a 3-yard run on fourth down 1:17 before half to pull the Braves within 30-28.

The Pride moved the ball to the BH 20; however, Stanley Haskins Jr. intercepted a pass and returned it 96 yards to the house as the Braves led 34-30.

Britton-Hecla’s Levi Boyko recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. Helma picked off a pass to end the half.

CF outgained BH 467-322 in total yards of offense. Both teams ran for 278 yards.

Sage tallied 12 tackles, Tyce Ortman and Katzer both had 10 and Helma added eight for the Pride.

Fosness ran for 188 yards and two TDs for the Braves, who finished the season with a 10-1 record. He also recorded 10 tackles and forced a fumble.

Notes: The Pride improved to 2-0 in title games as a co-op, also taking the title last year after beating Howard 46-14. Canistota and Freeman combined for nine titles in as many appearances prior to the co-op. The Flyers won the inaugural 9A crown in 1981, the 9B title in 1996, and 9A championships in 1997, 1998 and 1999. The Hawks were victorious in 9B in 2010 and 9A in 2011, 2012 and 2015. … CF’s lone loss came in its regular-season finale, 46-20, to Class 9AA No. 1 Viborg-Hurley. … Britton-Hecla dropped to 1-1 in finals. The Braves beat Corsica-Stickney 44-36 in overtime in the 9A championship in 2017. Britton won the 11B crown in 2001 and was second in 9A in 1992.

CANISTOTA/FREEMAN 46, BRITTON-HECLA 34

Canistota/Freeman 8  22  8  8  –  46

Britton-Hecla.          8  26  0  0  –  34

First Quarter

BH – Cole Fosness 6 run (Tate Carlstrom run), 4:46

CF – Bailey Sage 1 run (Logan Katzer pass from Trey Ortman), 1:40

Second Quarter

CF – Tyce Ortman 64 pass from Trey Ortman (run failed), 11:50

BH – Mason Jones 5 run (Fosness pass from Aidan Fredrickson), 11:12

CF – Tyce Ortman 5 run (Isiah Robertson pass from Trey Ortman), 10:08

BH – Fosness 8 run (pass failed), 5:17

CF – Trey Ortman 42 run (Ortman run), 3:08

BH – Aidan Fredrickson 3 run (run failed), 1:17

BH – Stanley Haskins Jr. 96 interception return (run failed), :16

Third Quarter

CF – Tyce Ortman 25 run (Tyce Ortman run), 2:57

Fourth Quarter

CF – Trey Ortman 1 run, (Collin Helma pass from Trey Ortman), 1:32