Plaza of Honour induction cements Hughes as ’Riders great

Neal Hughes is pictured with a couple of young fans in 2011.

    Neal Hughes received a big stamp of approval as one of the Saskatchewan Roughriders all-time greats for representing the team with class on and off the field for 11 seasons.

    On Thursday, Hughes was inducted into the Saskatchewan Roughriders Plaza of Honour along with former teammate Kerry Joseph at a dinner and reception on Thursday at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

    Hughes was a fullback and ace special teams player for the Roughriders playing in 140 regular season games from 2004 to 2014. He played in the Roughriders Grey Cup victories in 2007 and 2013 and Grey Cup setbacks in 2009 and 2010.

    Back when the now 39-year-old suited up with the Roughriders, he was the perfect person you wanted representing the team in community.

    Growing up in Regina, Hughes dreamed of playing for the Roughriders.

    His favourite players were Tim McCray, Tom Burgess, Willis Jacox, Orville Lee, Jeff Fairholm, Don Narcisse, Eddie Lowe and Bobby Jurasin. Hughes often wore Jurasin’s trademark bandana.

    At age seven, Hughes joined a minor football team in Regina called the Razorbacks. From that start, his amateur career as a star running back took off.

    Hughes moved on to play in the Regina high school with the Thom Collegiate Trojans. He joined the Regina Rams in 1998 and helped them close out their history in the Canadian Junior Football League by winning a 15^th and final CJFL title.
    Hughes moved with the Rams to the U Sports ranks as the University of Regina Rams playing five seasons from 1999 to 2003. He helped the Rams advance to the 2000 Vanier Cup falling 42-39 in that season’s U Sports title game to the University of Ottawa Gee Gees.

A Roughriders’ promo picture of Neal Hughes.

    While he accomplished a lot with the Rams, there were no guarantees that Hughes would have a career at the CFL. When Hughes finished his time with the Rams, it wasn’t a common practise for CFL teams to take a chance on Canadian born running backs. A lot of times, those running backs were converted to be fullbacks, but it was custom for those careers to run three or four years.

    Hughes was invited to Roughriders training in 1999 under junior territorial rules due to the fact the Rams hadn’t played their first university level game. Even that invite didn’t guarantee a possible future playing in the CFL.

    After no one selected him in the 2004 CFL Draft, Hughes signed as a free agent with the Roughriders. He ended up playing in 14 regular season games and both of the Roughriders playoff contests in that rookie campaign.

    During training camp, Hughes proved he was versatile showing that he could run the ball, be a receiver, return kicks and cover well on special teams. In Week 10 of the 2004 campaign, Hughes replaced an injured Paul McCallum as the team’s punter and averaged 35.0 yards on two kicks.

    Through his CFL career, Hughes mainly focused on blocking duties as a fullback or from a tight end position and covered kicks on special teams.

    The home-grown product did get a handful of chances to produce yards as a rusher or receiver. Hughes, who stood 5-foot-10 and weighed 210 pounds, ran the ball 70 times for 277 yards and scored eight touchdowns in regular season play.

    He hauled in 46 passes for 505 yards and scored six majors, while returning 18 kickoffs for 246 yards and one punt for 21 yards in regular season action.

    It seems fitting Hughes entered the Plaza of Honour along with Joseph, who was the Roughriders star quarterback that won CFL Most Outstanding Player honours during the team’s 2007 Grey Cup winning campaign.

    The two combined for a big moment in the 2007 West Final against the British Columbia Lions in Vancouver, B.C. Near the midway point of the third quarter, Hughes hauled in a two-yard scoring reception on a play action pass play from Joseph to put the Roughriders up 20-10.

    That would be the only major score Hughes would account for in post-season play, but it proved to be the winning points in a 26-17 victory to send the Roughriders to the Grey Cup.

Neal Hughes (#32) signs a young fan’s jersey in 2010.

    Looking back, that score proved to be a major get over the hump moment as the Roughriders had fallen in the West Final in 2003, 2004 and 2006.
    In the 2007 Grey Cup in Toronto, Ont., the Roughriders downed the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 23-19.

    Hughes was a part of the fairy tale night for Rider Nation in the 101^st Grey Cup on November 24, 2013. Playing in front of a sellout crowd of 44,710 spectators at Taylor Field, the Roughrider blasted the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 45-23.

    Hughes carried the ball three times for 32 yards in front of his hometown crowd.

    Away from the field, Hughes did pretty much every community appearance the Roughriders requested of him on behalf of the team.

    Now, his names will be listed for all-time along with most of his childhood heroes on the Plaza of Honour. It will forever be the type of thanks that goes beyond what could be dreamed of.

Confirmed – “Sarge” on the verge of 200 wins with Hilltops

Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant is closing in on 200 career wins.

    If anyone needed any further confirmation, Saskatoon Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant is indeed on the verge of recording his 200^th career win.

    On Wednesday, veteran Saskatoon StarPhoenix sports staffer Kevin Mitchell typed a story that said Sargeant has 199 career wins including play in the regular season and post-season in the Canadian Junior Football League.

    I actually went through and double checked the numbers on Thursday, and Mitchell does have everything bang on. He listed the year-by-year regular season and post-season records the Hilltops had with Sargeant as head coach, and all of those were bang on.

    That included catching facts that the Hilltops had a bye in the Prairie Football Conference final after a first place regular season finish in 1999 due to the fact there were four teams in the PFC that season.

    Including action in the regular season and playoffs, Sargeant indeed has a 199-30-2 record as the Hilltops head coach. The 54-year-old’s record in the regular season is 148-21-2 and is 51-9 in the post-season.

    The Hilltops have won 12 CJFL titles with Sargeant guiding the team as head coach. Saskatoon has won the last five straight CJFL titles and has an active league record 16-game winning streak going in the post-season.

Brian Towriss tops the U Sports list of head coaching wins at 196.

    The Hilltops will try to help Sargeant collect his 200^th win on Sunday, when they travel to Regina to take on the Thunder at 3 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium in a battle of 1-0 teams.

    Saskatoon has won its last 20 straight overall games in a row and last 24 straight in a row on the road include three victories in the CJFL title game - The Canadian Bowl.

    While the Hilltops have turned over a number of players in their starting lineup, you can bet their players will be motivated to get that milestone win for their head coach.

    Sargeant is by far the all-time leader in CJFL victories be it regular season, post-season or both.

    His win total has surpassed the total put up legendary former University of Saskatchewan Huskies head coach in Canadian Football Hall of Fame member Brian Towriss at the U Sports level.

    Towriss in the all-time leader in U Sports coaching victories posting 196 wins between the regular season and post-season. Coaching the Huskies from 1984 to 2016, Towriss posted a 167-96-1 regular season record and a 29-22 post-season record for a 196-118-1 combined slate.

    Under his guidance, the Huskies won the Vanier Cup as U Sports national champions on three occasions in 1990, 1996 and 1998.

Rams’ McCrystal the wins king at 208

Frank McCrystal, seen here in 2000, has 208 wins as Rams head coach.

    When it comes to Canadian amateur football in the post-secondary ranks, the 199 career wins in both the regular season and playoffs by Saskatoon Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant are surpassed by only one man.

    Frank McCrystal piled up 208 career wins as head coach of the Regina Rams in the regular season and playoffs from 1984 to 2014. McCrystal piled up his win total during the Rams final 15 seasons in the Canadian Junior Football League from 1984 to 1998 and the Rams first 16 seasons in the U Sports ranks as the University of Regina Rams from 1999 to 2014.

    In the CJFL, McCrystal posted a 104-17-1 record in the regular season and a 37-8 record in the post-season as the Rams head coach. The Rams won seven CJFL titles under McCrystal’s guidance in 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 1998.

    In U Sports, McCrystal posted a 60-67-1 record in the regular season and a 7-12 record in the post-season as the Rams head coach. The Rams made the U Sports title game – the Vanier Cup – once under McCrystal’s watch falling 42-39 in the 2000 Vanier Cup to the U of Ottawa Gee Gees.

    Combining his records from the CJFL and U Sports, McCrystal posted a 208-104-2 mark as the Rams head coach. That record does not include the Rams 22-17 victory over the U of Alberta Golden Bears at Taylor Field on Sept. 7, 1985 in an exhibition tilt, when the Regina side was still in the CJFL.

    Sargeant is the all-time wins leader in the history of the CJFL posting a 199-30-2 mark in both the regular season and playoffs.

    Former U of Saskatchewan Huskies football team head coach Brian Towriss in the all-time leader in U Sports head coaching victories posting a 196-118-1 record combined in the regular season and post-season.

A picture of Gord Currie from his celebration of life.

    Legendary Regina Rams head coach in the late Gord Currie would be the fourth member on the Mount Rushmore of amateur football coaches in Saskatchewan along with McCrystal, Sargeant and Towriss.

    Currie, who is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, guided the Rams as head coach from 1965 to 1976 in the CJFL posting a 76-20-1 record in the regular season and a 35-9 record in the post-season for a combined slate of 111-29-1.

    Under his guidance, the Rams won six CJFL titles coming in 1966, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1975 and 1976.

    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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