Cascade Christian held on late to beat Burns in the 3A final Saturday at Summit High School, finishing the season undefeated.

BEND — Burns gave top-ranked Cascade Christian all it could handle Saturday night, but the Challengers were able to pull away with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to win 35-28 in the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 3A final at Summit High School.

“We have a special group of kids,” said Cascade Christian coach Jon Gettman, whose team won its third championship in four seasons. “We only have four seniors on the team and they did a great job of leading these young men. Just taking that group and leading them and helping them understand they are needed.” 

It’s the sixth state title for the Challengers, who won a 2A title in 2006 and 3A titles in 2013, 2017, 2022 and 2023. Cascade Christian is scheduled to move to the 4A level next season.

Burns (11-2), which won the state title last year, finished the game with 395 yards, including 348 in the air, but failed to find the end zone late in the game after recovering an onside kick. 

The Challengers (13-0) had to dig deep for the win Saturday night.

Trailing 22-14 at the end of the third quarter, the Hilanders took over at their own 20-yard line after a Cascade Christian punt. On first-and-10 from their own 31, Burns quarterback Jack Wright unleashed a 69-yard touchdown pass to Coltin Miller to pull the Hilanders to within 22-20.

Wright went to Miller on the 2-point conversion pass, which Miller caught with one hand in the back of the end zone to tie the score at 22-22 with 9 minutes left on the clock.

The Hilanders recovered the ensuing onside kick, but six plays later punted to the Challengers.

Cascade Christian chewed four minutes off the clock with a 13-play drive that ended with a 24-yard touchdown pass from Deryk Farmer to Alex Fiannaca for a 28-22 lead.

Burns turned the ball over on downs on its following possession at its own 23, and Cascade Christian quickly found the end zone on a 2-yard run by Bryan Walker. Fiannaca put the ball through the uprights for a 35-22 lead with 1:25 left in the game.

But don’t head for the exit just yet.

The Hilanders scored on the first play of their next drive as Wright connected with Miller on an 80-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. The conversion run failed, leaving the Challengers with a 35-28 lead.

The Hilanders pulled off another onside kick, which they recovered at their own 43. Instead of moving forward, the Challengers’ defense pushed Burns back, including a sack of Wright on fourth-and-20 that put the ball on the Burns’ 19-yard line with 30 seconds remaining.

Cascade Christian ran the clock out from there.

“They are a heck of a team,” Gettman said of the Hilanders. “Coltin Miller and Jack (Wright), they just made play after play. Defensively, they made it tough for us to run the ball. They are a very physical team and they did a great job against us.”

The Challengers opened the scoring with a 43-yard pick-six by Walker less than 5 minutes into the game for a 7-0 lead.

The Hilanders responded at the end of the first quarter with a 76-yard touchdown catch by Miller. Wright ran in the 2-point conversion for an 8-7 lead.

Farmer scored on the last play of the first half, and converted on the PAT run for a 15-8 Cascade Christian lead at the half.

In the third, Fiannaca caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Farmer to make it 22-8, but the Hilanders came right back with a 2-yard scoring run by Wright to pull within 22-14 with 42 second left in the quarter.

“Alex stepped up huge for us,” Gettman said. “He only had a few catches for us all year. He stepped up when we needed it and made two great touchdown catches.”

Farmer threw for 205 yards, with Fiannaca catching three passes for 64 yards and two touchdowns. Walker led the ground attack with 50 yards and one touchdown.

He has been a warrior for us all season,” Gettman said of Walker. ‘He got the game started with a pick-six and was a willing blocker.”

Walker also led the defense with eight tackles, while Fiannaca had seven and Seth Scaglione six.

For Burns, Wright threw for 348 yards and three touchdowns, with Miller on the receiving end of seven passes for 295 yards and all three touchdowns.

Tommy Winn had 16 carries for 50 yards on the ground for the Hilanders, while Ben Chamberlain had 11 tackles, Wright had nine and Jasper Skunkcap eight.

Burns’ Miller and Cascade Christian’s Fiannaca were named the Moda Health Players of the Game.