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| Rylan Kleiter dashes home on a 50-yard touchdown reception. |
Last season as a 19-year-old sophomore, Kleiter started the
campaign handling all the Hilltops punting and kickoff duties and had a regular
role as a receiver. His campaign came to an almost literal crashing halt after
he suffered a major knee injury in a 29-26 loss to the Regina Thunder on Sept.
9, 2017 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.
After missing four regular season games and three playoff
contests, Kleiter managed to heal up enough to play in the Canadian Junior
Football League championship game – the Canadian Bowl – on Nov. 11, 2017. He
hit a 37-yard field goal in the Hilltops 56-11 thrashing of the host Windsor
AKO Fratmen as the venerable Saskatoon side won a fourth straight CJFL title.
Entering this season, Kleiter was still bothered by some lingering effects from his knee injury
causing him to miss the Hilltops first three regular season games.
“It has been a long
journey, and a lot of hard work just in the gym making sure my strength is back
up and keeping that knee strong and also mentally getting comfortable with
using my knee again,” said Kleiter. “I was itching to get back out there.
“As soon as the
football equipment came out, I was ready to go on and get back out there.”
He returned to
action on Sept. 15, when the Hilltops romped over the Colts in Calgary 79-7. In
his return, Kleiter caught three passes for 46 yards, returned two punts for 25
yards and kicked four punts for a 35.2 yard average.
“It was pretty
exciting,” said Kleiter, whose Hilltops (8-0) host a Prairie Football Conference
semifinal playoff contest against the Winnipeg Rifles (3-5) on Sunday at 1 p.m.
at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. “At first, it was a little edgy kind of.
“I wanted to get
into the hitting. Once I got that first hit, then I was ready to go.”
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| Rylan Kleiter boots a punt downfield for the Hilltops. |
David Solie, who has
been kicker for Football Canada’s national team program, joined the Hilltops
this season and assumed the kickoff duties Kleiter used to handle. The Toppers
also cycled through a number of receivers on offence, so Kleiter wasn’t sure
what his role would be there.
He was determined to
get on the field and was open to pursuing every avenue to make that possible, which
included playing multiple positions.
“It took some time,”
said Kleiter, who stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 165 pounds. “I’m still just
practising making sure I am ready to go if coach ever needs me to fill in.
“Other than that, I
just kind of keep on grinding to get back in there.”
Last Sunday in the
Hilltops 48-7 regular season ending victory over the Rifles at SFM Field,
Kleiter had arguably his most memorable game of the season. The graduate of Saskatoon’s St. Joseph High School Guardians football team hauled in a 50-yard catch and run touchdown reception from star quarterback
Jordan Walls, ran back two punts for 21 yards and punted the ball four times
for a 32.5 yard average.
“It was pretty
exciting,” said Kleiter. “I got the blocks up front with my receivers, which
left a wide open lane for me.”
Away from football,
Kleiter has built another big identity as a star curler. He skips a junior team
out of Saskatoon’s Sutherland Curling Club that includes third, Trevor Johnson,
second Joshua Mattern and lead Matthieu Taillon.
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| Rylan Kleiter, left, returns a punt for the Hilltops. |
“It has been busy
between curling, football and school,” said Kleiter, who is a business student
at the University of Saskatchewan. “My first few months are real busy.
“Curling kind of
sits to the back the first few months and then picks up later on after football
season is over.”
Last weekend,
Kleiter’s foursome played in the Saskatchewan Curling Tour’s men’s bonspiel at
Saskatoon’s Nutana Curling Club. This weekend, they are playing in the Curl
Saskatoon Junior Classic, which started Friday and runs through to Sunday at
the Granite and CN Curling Clubs in Saskatoon.
Kleiter loves the
busy weekends when he plays with his curling team in bonspiels and with the
Hilltops in football.
“It is fun,” said
Kleiter. “I’m not usually at home very much.
“I just take
whatever down time I can get, rest up and be ready mentally as well.”
Of course, football
and curling are quite different, but he said the two sports complement each
other when it comes to building mental toughness.
“I’d say for sure
mentally both ways,” said Kleiter. “Out here on the field when you are not
making plays, you have to be able to get yourself out of that groove.
“Both sports kind of
combine with that to help me learn how to face that.”
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| Rylan Kleiter is set to make more good memories in the playoffs. |
He wants to help
create some more memorable moments in this year’s playoff run and noticed
things have hit a higher gear at the team’s practices this week.
“It is pretty
exciting,” said Kleiter. “I am just excited to get out there.
“It is a little bit
different feel even at practice. It is a little more higher tempo and just be
ready to go.”
NOTES – Hilltops
playoff game tickets can be purchased at all Mac’s and Circle K convenience
stores in Saskatoon and the team’s web site at www.saskatoonhilltops.com. Sunday’s other PFC semifinal sees the Regina Thunder (5-3) travel to Edmonton to face the Huskies (6-2).
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
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