Hilltops defence rules opening day game at SMF Field

Saskatoon downs Rifles 19-10 to start regular season

Konner Johnson reacts after making an interception for the Hilltops.

A sideline meeting helped the Saskatoon Hilltops defence hit another gear to play at a lights out level.

On Sunday at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, the Hilltops hosted the Winnipeg Rifles in the CJFL regular season opener for both sides. Saskatoon was opening a campaign on home turf for the first time since August 14, 2016, when they romped over the Rifles 40-13.

During Sunday’s clash to start the 2022 campaign, the Hilltops held a 10-3 lead early in the second quarter. At the 6:06 mark of the second quarter, Rifles quarterback Bryson McNeil hit receiver Eric Adams on a 35-yard touchdown strike to even the score at 10-10.

Rifles QB Bryson McNeil is about to be sacked by the Hilltops.

McNeil connected with Adams on a deep post pattern, where Adams was double covered on the play. Adams battled for the ball with two Hilltops defensive backs and the ball bounced in the air off of various sets of hands for a couple of seconds before Adams snatched it away and came down in the end zone.

Following that score, the Hilltops defensive unit met on the sideline with long time defensive coordinator Jeff Yausie. After that talk, the Hilltops defensive pitched a shutout and allow the host side to grind out a 19-10 victory.

“It is a fifth-year team, and the end of the day these coaches are always going to be after it,” said legendary Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant. “They are always going to have high expectations.

Riece Kack had a big fourth quarter sack for the Hilltops.

“When we don’t see what we see, we’re going to let them know very quickly what needs to change. That has always been our way. It is nice to see the player adapt and rise up to the challenges that coaches put forth.

“Hey, defence is the reason we won today – bottom line. Hey when your defence is playing like that, that is why you can make aggressive offensive play calls when your defence is playing like that.”

Usually when the Hilltops and Rifles meet, the encounter concludes with a lopsided score in favour of the ’Toppers. The Rifles under the guidance of long time head coach Geordie Wilson came out ready for a battle.

The Hilltops gang up on a special teams tackle.

Early in the first quarter, the Rifles took a 3-0, when kicker Donavon Downing nailed a field goal from 39 yards out. The Hilltops would even things up at 3-3 just over six minutes later when kicker Connor Green, who is in his first year with the Hilltops, connected on a field goal from 46 yards out.

At the 2:17 mark of the second quarter, the Hilltops broke through with a major on a three-yard run from power back Boston Davidsen. That set the stage for the Rifles to tie the contest with Adams touchdown reception causing the Hilltops defence to hold their sideline meeting.

Hilltops star outside linebacker Konner Johnson said the defensive meeting consisted of talk about rallying together, to keep up the effort on plays, reminders about assignments and that game plan was sound but needed better execution.

Simon Winsnes (#27) knocks down a pass for the Rifles.

Johnson said the Rifles went to work with the intermediate passing game after electing to give up on the run. The Rifles carried the ball 12 times as a team for 38 yards.

Hilltops defensive focused more on the intermediate passing game from the second quarter onwards.

“They (the Rifles) always play us tough,” said Johnson. “They’re well coached.

“They have a lot of tough O-linemen. We knew they would give up on the run once we stopped it. We were pretty confident we could stop the run.

“Then, that level two pass was what we had to stop next, so we just have to work on breaking on the check down pass, and we can’t give them eight yards at a time.”

Connor Green made 4-of-5 field goals for the Hilltops.

The Hilltops closed out the second quarter taking a 16-10 lead after Green hit field goals from 20 and 45 yards out. At the 6:12 mark of the third quarter, Green hit a field goal from 37 yards out to push the Hilltops advantage to the game’s final score of 19-10.

Green went 4-for-5 on field goals, while Downing connected on just 1-of-4 field goal attempts for the Rifles. In the hidden yardage part of the game, Hilltops rookie running back Charles Sawi piled up 114 yards on missed field goal returns running back Downing’s three misses.

Johnson had a big game for the Hilltops collecting 4.5 total tackles, two pass knockdowns, one sack and one interception. Defensive end Riece Kack came through with a clutch time sack late in the fourth quarter to hamper any Rifles comeback hopes.

Boston Davidsen piled up 162 yards rushing for the Hilltops.

“Any time we are on the field we know number 42 (Johnson) is going to be one of the best players on the field, and he proved that once again today,” said Sargeant. “He was just electric.

“He was on point. He energized the whole team and the stands with how played. Riece Kack at the end (of the game) once again situation he did a phenomenal job of getting off the block and making that big sack that basically ended the football game today.

“We’re happy with a lot of what we saw, and we’re also unhappy with some things. The good thing about this coaching staff is you know they are going to rally and make sure the product we put out here next Sunday is going to be better than what we saw today.”

Defensive end Daylen Hartz had a pair of sacks for the Hilltops, while veteran defensive back Wade Keating had seven total tackles and an interception. Veteran defensive back Joe Yausie led the Hilltops with eight total tackles.

Damon Dutton fires a pass downfield for the Hilltops.

Defensive back Kyle Chorney topped the Rifles with 11 total tackles, while defensive lineman Spenser Pilon had a sack for the visitors.

Offensively, both sides still piled up some yards moving the ball between the 20 yard lines.

Hilltops quarterback Damon Dutton completed 17-of-27 passes for 185 yards. Davidsen carried the ball 27 times for 162 yards to go with his rushing touchdown, and he caught one pass for 14 yards.

Dillan Heintz topped all Hilltops receivers with six catches for 69 yards.

Charles Sawi returned three missed field goals for 114 yards.

McNeil completed 26-of-40 passes for 307 yards and one touchdown, while throwing two interceptions. Receiver Adam Fast led the Rifles with nine catches for 105 yards.

“We’re happy to win, but we obviously have a lot of work to do,” said Dutton. “We’re happy with the ‘W,’ but we’re not happy with the score.

“We have to get back in the room and figure some things out. We have to finish these drives. We can’t be settling for field goals every time.

“We have to punch that ball in the end zone. That is what we are going to work on. We’ll be better next game.”

The Hilltops will face another big test when they return to action this coming Sunday hosting the Edmonton Huskies (1 p.m., SMF Field). 

The Hilltops faithful check out the action at SMF Field.

While the Hilltops were getting past the Rifles, the Huskies traveled to Calgary on Sunday and downed the Colts 37-17 in the season opener for both those clubs.

The Huskies have traditionally played the Hilltops tough, but Saskatoon has always found ways to win those contests. At this early point in the season, Sargeant said his Hilltops have to focus on what they can do to play better as a team.

“I’m worried about us right now,” said Sargeant. “This team has to play better, so I could care less who we’re playing.

The Rifles and Hilltops shake hands after the final play on Sunday.

“I got to care about us and how we perform and how we play.”

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------

If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.