Was Hilltops defence in 2023 the best in team history?

Saskatoon gave up club record low 6.3 points per game

The Hilltops knock down a last play pass on October 8.

One play in “garbage time” typified the tenacity and compete level of the Saskatoon Hilltops defence in 2023.

To put it bluntly, there was no such thing as “garbage time.”

Back on October 8, the Hilltops were leading the visiting Winnipeg Rifles 39-1 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field in the final CJFL regular season game for both sides. On the last play of the contest, the Rifles were in range to throw one pass into the Hilltops end zone to try and get a major score.

The Hilltops had been playing with their reserves on defence for a solid stretch as the outcome of the contest wasn’t in doubt. Saskatoon was going to finish out the regular season with a perfect 8-0 record, and the Rifles would miss the CJFL playoffs with a 2-6 mark.

All there was to play for was competitive pride on one play.

Rifles quarterback Myles Desmarais heaved a “Hail Mary” pass into the end zone looking for a major. Hilltops safety Jackson Dean and defensive backs Carter O’Reilly and Carter Borsa all leaped up to knock the ball to the ground to ensure the final outcome finished 39-1.

DC Jeff Yausie calls played for the Hilltops defence.

That knockdown resulted in the Hilltops allow just 51 points against over their eight regular season games. It was the lowest points allowed total for the team in regular season play dating back to 1949.

At the time that knockdown was made, no one knew the historical significance of what had been accomplished with respect to the storied history of the team. The current modern day version of the Hilltops began play in 1947.

Had the Rifles gotten a last play touchdown, that historical accomplishment of giving up the fewest point in regular season play since 1949 would have been gone just like that.

Word spread amongst the team at practice the following week as the Hilltops prepared to host a PFC semifinal against the high-powered Calgary Colts. After the players on the Hilltops defence heard what they had accomplished, they took things took things to another level and things on that side of the ball took on a life of their own.

The Hilltops defensive players didn’t want to allow opposing teams to get anything in the post-season. The players on the Hilltops defence wanted to live up to what had been accomplished in the regular season.

The Hilltops proceeded to crush the Colts 53-2 in the PFC semifinal. Saskatoon slugged past their provincial rivals the Regina Thunder 21-13 in the PFC final.

Linebacker Matt Wist controlled the middle of the Hilltops defence.

The ’Toppers then blanked the OFC champion St. Clair Saints from Windsor, Ont., 43-0 in a CJFL semifinal. In the CJFL championship game – the Canadian Bowl – held this past Saturday, the Hilltops downed the host and BCFC champion Westshore Rebels 17-10 at Starlight Stadium in Langford, B.C., which is a suburb of Victoria.

Saskatoon gave up just 25 points in four post-season games. On the campaign itself, the Hilltops posted a 12-0 overall record giving up a total of 76 points against, which is the team’s lowest total in that department since 1949.

In 1949, Canadian Football Hall of Fame member Ron Atchison was playing his final campaign for the Hilltops on the offensive and defensive lines. The Hilltops gave up 70 points in 10 overall games that season falling in the Western Canada Championship game 16-12 to the Vancouver Blue Bombers.

For historical references, touchdowns in 1949 were worth five points instead of six points before team tried to tack on a one or two-point conversion.

When the 2023 Hilltops beat the Rebels last Saturday, the venerable Saskatoon club captured a 23^rd CJFL title and the sixth perfect season in team history. The 2023 Hilltops gave up fewer points than any of the team’s previous 22 CJFL championship winners.

Riece Kack (#47) had six sacks in the CJFL semifinal.

Actually when it comes to combined action in both the regular season and post-season, the 1949 Hilltops are the only squad in the history of the team to give up fewer points against that the CJFL championship winning 2023 Hilltops did.

When you break things down to average points allowed per game, the 2023 Hilltops in overall play gave up an average of 6.3 points a game, which is the lowest total in team history.

Looking at all those statistical facts, it can be strongly argued that the defensive unit of the 2023 Hilltops was the greatest defensive unit of all-time in the team’s history.

Of course, the Hilltops teams from 1947 onwards played with various different rules as the years and decades went on. With that noted, the rules in today’s version of football are geared to allow the offences to ride high.

In theory, today’s football rules should have prevented the Hilltops from giving up their second lowest points allowed total of all-time in team history.

The crazy part of the Hilltops defence in 2023 was it wasn’t just a finesse unit. The players on the Hilltops defence in 2023 could hit hard.

Wade Keating, right, makes a sack for the Hilltops.

The defence of the 2023 Hilltops was aided by a veteran presence. Out of the eight players the Hilltops had on their roster who were playing in their final campaigns of CJFL eligibility, five of those players were on defence.

Middle linebacker Matt Wist, outside linebacker Wade Keating, defensive back Carter Wingert and defensive tackle Craig Torgerson were all holdovers for the Hilltops 12-0 CJFL championship winning team in 2019, which marked the last time the Hilltops captured the Canadian Bowl until 2023. Linebacker Jordan Levesque joined the Hilltops following the 2019 campaign, but he missed a sizable portion of the 2023 season due to a leg injury.

Wist, Keating and Wingert all started, while Torgerson was part of a regular rotation on the defensive line, which saw him take some repetitions at defensive end.

The defence was anchored by first team CJFL all-Canadian all-stars in defensive end Riece Kack and defensive tackle Johnathon Stevens. Wist and hard hitting and ball hawking safety Dalton Urban were named second team CJFL all-Canadian all-stars.

During the post-season, Kack had a memorable performance in the CJFL semifinal win over the Saints on October 29 at SMF Field. Kack pile up six sacks to set a new record for a CJFL playoff game. He actually became the first player to register six sacks in any CJFL contest be it regular season, playoffs or CJFL championship game.

Carter Wingert (#21) made big plays in the Hilltops secondary.

In the Canadian Bowl win over the Rebels, Wist accumulated 36 defensive points, which is a new record for a CJFL championship game. He also equaled the record for most interceptions in a CJFL championship game at three, which had been achieved on five previous occasions.

Legendary Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant and his long time defensive coordinator in Jeff Yausie saw the Hilltops defence play at a level that that has rarely been seen in the CJFL. The Hilltops have traditionally played in the CJFL’s toughest conferences for most of their history be it the Manitoba-Saskatchewan Junior Football League or the Alberta Junior Football League that became the PFC.

It can even be argued that the 2023 Hilltops had one of the greatest defences in the history of the CJFL. 

Of course, there will be arguments from the 1947 Vancouver Blue Bombers, various Winnipeg Rods teams from the 1950s, the Edmonton Huskies of the early 1960s, the Gord Currie coached Regina Rams of the 1960s and 1970s, the Frank McCrystal coached Regina Rams of the 1980s and 1990s and the 2021 Langley Rams.

With that said, the Hilltops are an uncommon football team that strives to hit new heights of competitive greatness.

The Hilltops defence celebrated many big plays in 2023.

What the 2023 Hilltops did on the defensive side of the ball raised a bar that might not be reached for a very, very long time.

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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