‘Sarge’ wants Hilltops to be aware of Saints in CJFL semi

Legendary sideline boss says OFC is much improved

HC Tom Sargeant will ensure his Hilltops are on point this weekend.

Tom Sargeant doesn’t want to hear any talk of OFC teams being a free space on the bingo card.

The legendary head coach of the Saskatoon Hilltops believes his team is facing a foe in the St. Clair Saints from Windsor, Ont., who is coming out of a much improved Ontario Football Conference. The Hilltops, who are champions of the Prairie Football Conference, host the OFC champion Saints on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field in a battle of teams that both have 10-0 overall records.

The Hilltops last three encounters with OFC opponents have been wipeouts for the storied Saskatoon side. The last time the Hilltops played and OFC team was in the CJFL semifinal on Nov. 2, 2019, when they hammered the Beefeaters 51-1 in London, Ont. Saskatoon moved on to win the CJFL title.

On November 11, 2017, the Hilltops faced the Saints franchise then known as the Windsor AKO Fratmen in the CJFL title game – the Canadian Bowl. The Hilltops flattened the Fratmen 56-11 in that contest played in Windsor.

On August 26, 2017 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, the Hilltops hosted the Ottawa Sooners in an inter-conference CJFL regular season game. The Hilltops smashed the Sooners 49-15.

Those contests all occurred before the 2020 CJFL campaign was lost due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that gripped the world.

Last season on October 29, 2022, the Saints hosted the British Columbia Football Conference champion Okanagan Sun in a CJFL semifinal at Acumen Stadium in London. The Saints put of a fight before falling 42-24 to the Sun, who advanced on to win the CJFL title.

Last Saturday, the Saints prevailed in a highly entertaining OFC final 32-31 over the Beefeaters at Acumen Stadium. The Beefeaters looked to be on their way to scoring the winning points in the game’s final seconds only to fumble the ball away at the Saints four yard line, and the Saints made a recovery in their own end zone to preserve the win.

Trey Reider became a PFC all-star at quarterback this season.

“Traditionally, a lot of times there is a big separation in their final,” said Sargeant about the OFC final. “London had every opportunity and right to win that football game too.

“They fumbled the ball in the end zone to lose. They were just playing for a field goal. At the end of the day, their football has improved, because they’ve played us more and more.

“You play us or you play the B.C. league you get a sense of what the level is and what the expectations are.”

On offence in the regular season, the Saints biggest playmakers are MJ Doyle-Marshall and receiver Javier Lewis, who were both named OFC all-stars. Doyle-Marshall carried the ball 64 times for 593 yards and seven touchdowns, and Lewis caught 20 passes for 536 yards and seven touchdowns.

Saints quarterback Maurice Sodja was named an OFC all-star completed 44-of-73 passes for 900 yards and 11 touchdowns, while throwing two interceptions during the regular season. Sodja split time at the quarterback positions with Matthew Guenette. Guenette completed 43-of-71 passes for 892 yards and nine touchdowns, while throwing one interception for the Saints.

Receiver Darius France was the OFC’s offensive rookie of the year and an OFC all-star hauling in 18 passes for 391 yards and three touchdowns. Ezzat Elnagmi was the OFC’s most outstanding offensive lineman and an OFC all-star. Saints head coach and offensive coordinator Mike LaChance claimed honours as the coach of the year for the OFC.

While the Saints are an unknown foe, Hilltops star defensive tackle Johnathon Stevens said his side can’t over think things in preparation. He said that he and his teammates just have to go out and execute the game plan the Hilltops coaches create.

“I feel like it will be like just any other game,” said Stevens, who collected 20 solo defensive tackles, four defensive tackle assists, three quarterback sacks, one pass knockdown, two forced fumbles and two interceptions. “We just create a game plan, stick to it and feel it out.

“You just have to adapt to the situation that is coming your way, and that is what we will do with them and with any other team.”

Johnathon Stevens is a standout on the Hilltops D-line. 

On defence, the Saints had OFC all-stars in defensive linemen Carl Fabre and Mo Ibraheem, linebacker Keewone Parker and defensive backs Nathanial Norton and Billy Patterson Jr. During the Saints eight regular season games, Parker collected 19 solo defensive tackles, 18 defensive tackle assists, one special teams solo tackle, one forced fumble and three fumble recoveries.

Hilltops star quarterback Trey Reider said his team is doing their work in the classroom to study the Saints. He expects there will be a bit of a feeling out process when the game starts.

“We’re going to watch a whole bunch of film and see how that goes,” said Reider. “Once you get in the game it is a whole different world than just the film.

“You can only watch so much film before you actually have to play. When it comes to game day, we’ll make some adjustments on the field if we have to.”

The Hilltops have a stockpile of star power on their side. Reider completed 108-of-167 passes for 1,571 yards and 16 touchdowns, while throwing five interceptions during the regular season. He topped the PFC with a 114.6 quarterback efficiency rating.

Hilltops star power running back Boston Davidsen led the PFC in carries (170), rushing yards (1,184) and rushing touchdowns (nine). Sure-handed receiver Drake Douglas hauled in 56 passes for 591 yards and four touchdowns.

Reider said his Hilltops are going to focus on what they can control to be ready for the Saints.

“We’re just working on us and preparing for how good we can be like individually and how we are going to be and just trusting the coaches’ plan,” said Reider. “They are going to give us a good plan, and we just have to trust it.

Boston Davidsen led the PFC with 1,184 yards rushing.

“At the end of the day, they are a really good team. We can’t take them lightly. We just have to come out and practice every day and do what we do best and just trust our coaches out here.”

On defence, the Hilltops gave up just 51 points in eight regular season games, which was their lowest points allowed total dating back to 1949. Defensive end Riece Kack topped the PFC in sacks in each of the past two seasons recording 7.5 sacks in each of those campaigns respectively. Safety Dalton Urban finished second in the PFC in interceptions with five.

Defensive back Carter Wingert had three interceptions and two fumble recoveries playing out his final CJFL campaign for the Hilltops. Matt Wist, who is the Hilltops star 22-year-old middle linebacker, recorded 22 solo defensive tackles, 17 defensive tackle assists, two pass knockdowns, two forced fumbles and three interceptions this season.

Outside linebacker Noah Gedir had a breakout season for Saskatoon with 17 solo defensive tackles, 14 defensive tackle assists, nine special teams solo tackles, one quarterback sack, two pass knockdowns, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

Teijon Abel-Douglas was named a PFC all-star at kicker. He was good on 23-of-27 field goal attempts for an 85.2 per cent success rate. Abel-Douglas led the PFC in scoring with 104 points coming off 23 field goals, 31 converts and four singles.

Wist, who doubles as the Hilltops punter, punted the ball 47 times for a gross average of 37.7 yards per kick, a net average of 32.2 yards per kick and three singles. In being named at PFC all-star at both linebacker and punter, Wist led the PFC in gross average, net average and punt singles.

Sargeant said his team will focus on trying to take away the Saints run, which is what they usually aim to do against their opponents.

“That is our mantra,” said Sargeant. “We want to stop the run first and force them to become one dimensional.

Riece Kack has made lots of big sacks for the Hilltops.

“If we can do that, then I think we are going to put everyone in good space. That is why our mission always offensively is 50 per cent run and 50 per cent pass and be unpredictable. They’re going to look at our film and come up with a game plan.

“We’re looking at their film coming up with a game plan. Whoever executes the plan the best traditionally is going to be the one that has the most success.”

Besides all the game planning, Sargeant is looking forward to playing at SMF Field. He believes his Hilltops gain an edge having their home supporters behind them.

“It is going to be a great battle this weekend,” said Sargeant. “We’re just excited we are playing at home, because we have a great fan base and great energy.

“When we seem to play at home, good things seem to happen for the Saskatoon Hilltops.”

CJFL final four lines up with final power rankings

The Hilltops charge on to the playing surface at SMF Field.

The final four teams left in the CJFL playoffs took the top four spots in the final CJFL Top 10 Power Rankings.

The CJFL has been releasing power rankings for a number of seasons, and for the most part, league followers and those with the teams themselves take a glance at them. In the final power ranking for the 2023 campaign that came out on October 12, the top four teams happen to be the four clubs that still remain in the CJFL post-season.

In the final power rankings, the Westshore Rebels were rated first, the Saskatoon Hilltops were second, the St. Clair Saints were third and the Okanagan Sun were fourth.

The Rebels topped the BCFC regular season standings with a 10-0 record and are 11-0 overall. The Sun, who are the defending CJFL champions, finished second in the BCFC regular season standings with an 8-1 mark and are 9-1 overall.

Those two clubs will battle for the Cullen Cup to become BCFC champions when the Rebels host the Sun on Saturday at Starlight Stadium in Langford, which is a suburb of Victoria, B.C., at 3 p.m. local time. The winner will host the CJFL championship game on Saturday, November 11 against the winner of the CJFL semifinal between the PFC champion Hilltops and OFC champion Saints.

The CJFL semifinal between the Hilltops and the visiting Saints is set for Sunday at Saskatoon Minor Football Field at 1 p.m. local time. Both squads enter that contest with 10-0 overall records.

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