Hilltops return to top of PFC hill, improve to 10-0

Saskatoon guts out 21-13 victory over Thunder

The Hilltops celebrate their PFC championship win.

“Whatever it takes.”

The Saskatoon Hilltops lived out that cliché made famous by late Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach Chuck Noll, who coached the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl championships. On Sunday at Saskatoon Minor Football Field taking part in a gutty PFC final clash played before 1,712 spectators, the Hilltops entered the fourth quarter trailing their provincial rivals the Regina Thunder 13-9.

Saskatoon closed out the contest scoring 12 straight points to capture the PFC title with a 21-13 victory. With the win, the Hilltops improved their overall record to 10-0. They advance in the CJFL playoffs to host a CJFL semifinal game this coming Sunday at 1 p.m. at SMF Field against the Ontario Football Conference champion St. Clair Saints (10-0) from Windsor.

Evan Ward makes a big 42-yard catch for the Hilltops.

The Thunder closed out the 2023 campaign with a 7-3 overall mark.

“We just have that championship heart,” said legendary Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant. “We have a tradition that is second to none and a belief system.

“At the end of the day, we knew if we just stayed positive, and I wasn’t that positive myself today, but the players were even saying, ‘Coach, we’ve got this. We’ve got this,’ and they did. We flipped the field with the wind. We got some special teams flavor.

“The defence picked up their end, and the crowd was outstanding. The offence made plays when they needed to, so at the end of the day, it is just a great gutsy win that, you know what, these fifth year players deserve.”

The Hilltops celebrate a fourth quarter TD from Boston Davidsen.

This was the third straight year the Hilltops and Thunder collided in the PFC final with the encounters in 2021 and 2022 taking place at Mosaic Stadium in Regina. The Hilltops claimed the conference crown with a 29-9 victory in 2021, and the Thunder captured the conference title with a 39-21 win in 2022.

Hilltops star power running back Boston Davidsen thought his squad showed great resolve in Sunday’s win over the Thunder.

“This is a very special win with a special group of guys,” said Davidsen, who was named the MVP of the PFC on Friday. “Regina, that was a great test for us.

“That was a really good team. That was the closest game we’ve played, and we showed some resilience. We’re excited about it.

Boston Davidsen ran the ball 21 times for 161 yards and two TDs.

“We’ll have fun tonight, and then we have to focus on next Sunday.”

Going into the fourth quarter trailing 13-9, the Hilltops first started to slowly close the gap. With 9:49 remaining in the fourth, the Hilltops forced the Thunder to concede a safety due to bad field position, and that cut Regina’s lead to 13-11.

A short time later, Hilltops star middle linebacker and punter Matt Wist booted a long punt single that trimmed the Thunder lead to 13-12.

About three minutes after that, the Hilltops looked like they were going to have a drive stall just pass midfield after taking a holding penalty. On the ensuing play after the holding infraction, Hilltops star quarterback Trey Reider was forced to scramble to his right.

The Hilltops celebrate a safety touch in the fourth quarter.

While on the roll out, he fired a pass deep to 22-year-old veteran receiver Evan Ward. Ward hauled in the pass for a 42-yard gain that set the Hilltops up with a first down inside the Thunder 15 yard line.

Following Ward’s catch, the Hilltops got set up on the Thunder’s one yard line after the Regina side took a roughing the passer penalty. With 4:57 remaining in the fourth quarter, Davidsen plunged in from one yard out to put the Hilltops in front 19-13.

Davidsen said it was sweet to see Ward make that big catch that ultimately resulted in the Hilltops winning score.

“Ward is a real special player for us, because he does a lot of blocking,” said Davidsen. “He doesn’t get a lot of those opportunities like that.

Ryland Leichert ran the ball 23 times for 98 yards for the Thunder.

“When he gets them, he makes the most of it. We’re very privileged to have him on our team.”

On Regina’s ensuing offensive series, it appeared the pressure of the moment started to get to the Thunder. An errant shotgun snap went past 20-year-old Thunder quarterback Ethan Hugg into the Regina end zone.

Hugg corralled the ball in the end zone, but he was downed by Hilltops star defensive end Riece Kack and standout defensive tackle Johnathon Stevens for a safety that put the Saskatoon side up 21-13 with 3:44 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Thunder would ultimately have one desperation Hail Mary throw on the final play of the fourth quarter towards the Hilltops end zone to try and pull even on the scoreboard. Hugg’s final prayer deep pass was intercepted by Hilltops star safety Dalton Urban.

Boston Davidsen reacts to scoring on a 49-yard touchdown run.

Kack, who was wearing the cleats of injured teammate Jordan Levesque, was elated his side pulled out the win.

“It feels awesome man like holy cow,” said Kack, who had six total tackles and 1.5 quarterback sacks in the win. “It was a good last two quarters by the defence there.

“We came out of the halftime and let up a fricken score, and we were a bit shaky. I just have so much love and trust for this group I love it. I think that this team the veteran core of leaders we all made sure that every was level going into the fourth (quarter).

“We acted like we’ve been here before, and we executed our game plan pretty well. It was phenomenal.”

Austin Wood, right, reacts to making a TD catch for the Thunder.

The Hilltops got the only points in the first quarter taking a 2-0 lead, when the Thunder were forced to concede a safety due to bad field position.

With 6:19 remaining in the second quarter, the Thunder jumped in front 3-2 thanks to a 17-yard field goal from kicker Shawn Green.

On the Hilltops ensuing offensive possession, Davidsen broke off a 49-yard touchdown run to give the hosts a 9-3 advantage with 4:46 remaining in the second quarter. Saskatoon took that 9-3 lead into the halftime break.

Davidsen thought his long touchdown big play run helped the Hilltops offence get out the quicksand it was stuck in at that point in the contest.

Matt Wist booted a long punt single for the Hilltops.

“I think that play it kind of let our offence know that we can do this that we can make big plays,” said Davidsen, who carried the ball 21 times for 161 yards to go with his two major scores. “We had good blocks especially the O-line on that play that allowed us to have that big run.

“I think when we made that play we kind of had this, ‘you know, we can do this.’”

The Thunder received the second half kickoff. On that first offensive possession, they quickly went downfield. That series concluded with Hugg hitting receiver Austin Wood with a five-yard touchdown pass to give the Thunder a 10-9 lead just 2:14 into half.

Later in the third quarter, the Thunder proceeded to drive deep into the Saskatoon end of the field. The Hilltops forced the drive to stall causing the Thunder to settle for a 13-yard field goal from Green to push their lead out to 13-9. That set up the dramatics in the fourth quarter.

The Hilltops pressure Thunder QB Ethan Hugg.

Kack said, once the Hilltops went ahead with Davidsen’s major score with 4:57 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Hilltops defensive unit had the vibe that the game would be closed out from that point.

“I think once we got the lead our defence knew what we had to do,” said Kack, whose Hilltops gave up 51 points in the regular season which was the team’s lowest total in that department dating back to 1949. “We all believed in each other.

“I don’t think they got many yards after that. It was phenomenal, the best defence I’ve ever played on by far. I never lost trust in the process.”

Reider completed 12-of-20 passes for 165 yards, while throwing one interception for the Hilltops. He ran the ball seven times for 12 yards. Ward topped the ’Toppers with 60 receiving yards on two catches.

Hilltops safety Dalton Urban makes an interception.

Hugg completed 18-of-36 passes for 220 yards and one touchdown, while throwing two interceptions. 

Isaiah Woodley led the Thunder with 73 receiving yards coming off five catches. 

Star running back Ryland Leichert led the Thunder in rushing with 23 carries for 98 yards.

Wist had a monster game for the Hilltops with 13 total tackles. 

Standout defensive back Carter Wingert had an interception for Saskatoon.

Star middle linebacker Stephen Smith, who was named the PFC’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year on Friday, led the Thunder with 7.5 total tackles. 

The Hilltops receive the PFC championship trophy.

Defensive end Payton O’Connor had a pair of sacks for the Regina side. Defensive back Cooper Filazek had an interception for the Thunder.

Soon, the Hilltops will turn their attention towards the Saints, but Sargeant wanted his squad to soak in Sunday’s conference championship win over the Thunder.

“Hey, I’m just celebrating today,” said Sargeant. “We had to put everything on the line to beat Regina.

Hilltops players enjoy picture time with the PFC championship trophy. 

“That is it. That is all. You know what, you throw out all of the stats at the end of the day when you get going against these guys, and we had to do everything in our power to get success.

“You know what, we did it, and now we move on. Hey, at this stage you just want to live another week, and we’re living.”

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