Brandon Friesen had the experience of a lifetime as a football official.

And he’s done it twice.

Friesen was a part of the officiating crew last Saturday that called the NCAA Division II football national championship game.

The Kingfisher resident was the field judge as topranked Ferris State defeated No. 2 Colorado School of Mines 41-14 at McKinney ISD Stadium in McKinney, Texas.

“It’s always awesome to share the experiences with a great group of guys knowing that games and opportunities like this bond you and your crew together forever,” said Friesen, who serves as the recreation director for the City of Kingfisher.

That bonding experience isn’t brand new to Friesen.

He also called the DII national title game in 2017 in Kansas City.

“Both 2017 and this year were awesome and unbelievable experiences,” said Friesen, a 1998 KHS graduate.

“2017 was great because it was a first for me. This year was just as great, but it was awesome being able to help prepare the others for what to expect leading up to the game.”

Joining Friesen this year were referee Dwight Neibling, back judge Jake Wolf, umpire Gavin Darr, line judge Ben Tenpenny, side judge Mark Brull, head linesman Troy Davis and alternate David Burge.

Neibling and Wolf were part of the crew that called the 2017 championship along with Friesen.

Just as is the case for the football teams on the field, a spot in the national championship isn’t given.

It’s earned. First there was the regular season where four of the crew members worked together all year in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.

Four others joined for the final two regular season games.

The crew was tabbed the top playoff crew by MIAA Supervisor of Officials Phil Laurie.

“Once we work a playoff game, everything is based off merit, grades, film review, NCAA representative recommendations, evaluators’ comments etc,” Friesen said.

The group worked the first round of the playoffs at Ferris State in Big Rapids, Mich., which had just received eight inches of snow.

They were then awarded a regional final in the third round of the playoffs at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas.

“We found out the Sunday evening we returned home from that game that we had graded out as the No. 1 crew in the playoffs and were selected to work the national championship game,” Friesen said.

The crew arrived at McKinney the Thursday before the game. They were issued passes to attend the Texas high school 3A-I state championship game at AT&T Stadium.

They also toured the Texas Book Depository and spent much of the rest of the time in meetings and dining as a crew.

During his 14-year collegiate officiating career, Friesen has now called 11 playoff games.

Much of his family was able to watch him in action in the most recent one.

His oldest child, Drake Friesen, is a senior on the KHS boys basketball team, which played at home on Friday night.

On Saturday morning, Friesen’s wife, Kari, drove Drake, Adlee Friesen (eighth grade) and Daxx Compton (seventh grade) to the game.

Afterward, they joined the crew for the post-game meal on Saturday night.

Friesen said the season is a grind, noting that most officials in the crew worked 14 of the 16 weeks of the season.

“Like most officials, we miss a lot and there are a lot of sacrifices we make and our family makes with us being gone,” Friesen said.

“I can’t thank my wife enough for the support; and my kids have been around it long enough to know what’s it’s like.”

Friesen’s father, Greg, who was instrumental in getting Brandon started in officiating, and brother, Nick, also attended the game.

“It made it extra special with all of them there,” Friesen said.