“Sarge” shoulders blame in Hilltops loss to Thunder

Regina prevails 24-21 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field

The Thunder celebrate a pick-six by Jake Mayo (#9).

Legendary Saskatoon Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant is falling on the sword.

On Saturday night before 1,766 spectators at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, Sargeant saw his Hilltops drop a heartbreaking 24-21 decision to their provincial rivals the Regina Thunder in a CJFL regular season clash. The Hilltops trailed 17-7 at halftime and after three quarters until furiously trying to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter.

The win saw the Thunder improve to 6-1 and move alone into first place in the CJFL’s Prairie Football Conference. The Hilltops saw their five game winning streak come to an end as they fell to 5-2.

“You know at the end of the day we got out coached,” said Sargeant. “It is as simple as that.

Hilltops QB Brexton Elias threw four interceptions on Saturday.

“My player sure played hard today. I thought they competed. They grinded right to the very end.

“At the end of the day, I didn’t put my players in the best spots to be successful, so I own that. Obviously, I’ve got to do a better job of coaching this football team. That is pretty obvious today.”

While the victory moved the Thunder to the top of the PFC standings, they were not able to clinch top spot in the conference. That is because the Thunder and Hilltops split their two head-to-head games in their regular season series playing to a tie 39-39 score in those two contests.

At the moment, the Hilltops hold the head-to-head standings tiebreaker holding a 121 differential in points for and against in the regular season. Regina has a 104 differential in points for and against.

Jake Mayo had two interceptions for the Thunder.

The Thunder can lock up top spot in the PFC by winning their final regular season contest against the visiting Edmonton Wildcats on Sunday, October 12 at 1 p.m. at Leibel Field. If the Wildcats pull off an upset, the Hilltops would be able to move back into first place in the PFC by winning their final regular season contest against the visiting Calgary Colts on Sunday, October 12 at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.

The team that finishes first in the PFC will have home field advantage through the entire CJFL playoffs, because the PFC champion will host the CJFL championship game – The Canadian Bowl.

Both the Thunder and the Hilltops are guaranteed to finish in the top two of the PFC standings and will host PFC semifinal games.

Hilltops HC Tom Sargeant said he got out coached.

In Saturday’s clash, the turnover battle proved to be the undoing of the Hilltops. Saskatoon turned the ball over five times, while Regina committed two turnovers.

Hilltops quarterback Brexton Elias would take his first loss as the team’s starter. He completed 16-of-29 passes for 240 yard and one touchdown, while throwing four interceptions. Elias also ran the ball four times for 26 yards.

Sargeant said coaching errors resulting in Elias having a tough day in the turnover department.

“I love how Brexton (Elias) rallied up, and he put is in the position (to win),” said Sargeant. “He is a playmaker.

Jackson Harnett had a 72-yard TD run for the Thunder.

“He is trying to grind at the end and make plays. That is what we coach him to do. He did everything we needed him to do.

“He gave is a chance, and we just didn’t finish it at the end.”

Elias was appreciative that Sargeant wanted to shoulder the blame, but the signal caller said he had to cut down on his mistakes and same goes for all the players on the team.

“The coaches coached their ass off, and they gave us a good game plan,” said Elias, who is in his fifth and final season of CJFL eligibility. “We had to come out and execute, and we made a few mistakes and a few too many.

“A good team like that is going to take advantage when a team like us makes mistakes. They (the Hilltops coaches) will keep coaching us up, and we’ll keep executing plays. We’ll try to beat them (The Thunder) next time.”

David Collins ran the ball 19 times for 106 yards and two TDs.

Near the start of Saturday’s contest, it appeared the Hilltops would be the big beneficiaries in the turnover department. Early in the first quarter, Hilltops fourth-year defensive end Noah Chelsom recovered a fumble on the Thunder 19 yard line.

On the very next play, Elias connected with fifth-year receiver Isaiah Vallderruten on a 19-yard touchdown pass coming off a corner pattern to give the hosts a 7-0 lead.

A short time later, Hilltops kicker Ryden Gratton tried to hit a 40-yard field coach to increase Saskatoon’s lead. He was wide, and Carter Ashman ran the ball out of the end zone for the Thunder.

On the ensuing offensive series, receiver Jackson Harnett ran home a touchdown from 72 yards out taking the ball at the quarterback position on a sweep play to the left. Harnett’s major evened the score at 7-7 at the 8:50 mark of the fourth quarter.

The Hilltop Cheerleading Team performs at halftime.

The contest would remain tied until Thunder kicker Shawn Green nailed a 35-yard field goal with 50.7 seconds remaining in the second quarter to give the visitors a 10-7 edge.

On the Hilltops ensuing possession, Elias was intercepted by Thunder cornerback Jake Mayo to set the Regina side up at the Saskatoon 36. Thunder starting quarterback Adam Mosher capped a short scoring drive hitting receiver Andrew Sweeney with a 17-yard touchdown pass to push the visitor’s lead out to 17-7 with 25.5 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

“It was just a mistake on my part,” said Elias. “I’ve got to make better decisions in the pocket.”

After a scoreless third quarter, the Hilltops attempted to rally. Just past the midway point of the fourth quarter, Hilltops star running back David Collins ran in a major from four yards out to cut the Thunder lead to 17-14.

Peter Boersch ran the ball 24 times for 129 yards on Saturday.

Saskatoon would proceed to stop Regina defensively and get the ball back. With 2:44 remaining in the fourth quarter, Mayo would intercept Elias for the second time on the night, but Mayo ran this pick back 34 yards for a touchdown to push the Thunder lead out to 24-14.

The Hilltops answered with a quick scoring drive that was capped by a one-yard touchdown run by Collins with 1:46 remaining in the fourth quarter to cut Regina’s lead to 24-21.

With two timeouts at their disposal, the Hilltops proceeded to kick off deep and forced the Thunder to punt the ball away one last time. Saskatoon’s attempt at a rally finally came to an end when Thunder defensive halfback Jackson Ashman came up with a game-sealing interception.

Isaiah Vallderruten caught five passes for 97 yards and one TD.

“Obviously, you want to get the comeback,” said Elias. “The boys were rallying together and just couldn’t make it happen in the last fourth quarter.

“Obviously, we want to get a comeback and win that game.”

Collins ran the ball 19 times for 106 yards to go with his two rushing majors for the Hilltops. Vallderruten had five catches for 97 yards to go with his receiving touchdown.

Mosher completed 9-of-17 passes for 117 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions for the Thunder.

Thunder star running back Peter Boersch ran the ball 24 times for 129 yards break the 1000-yard rushing barrier for the season. On the campaign, Boersch has carried the ball 156 times for 1,117 yards and three touchdowns leading the PFC in carries and rushing yards.

A Thunder receiver and a Hilltops defensive back collide.

Middle linebacker Isaac Michayluk topped the Hilltops with 7.5 total tackles. Outside linebacker Zaden Taylor has six total tackles, one quarterback sack and one pass knockdown for Saskatoon.

Defensive end Kohl Thomson had six total tackles and one quarterback sack for the Thunder. Joey Palagian, who is also a defensive end, also had one quarterback sack for Regina. Middle linebacker Kenten Effa had six-and-a-half total tackles for the Thunder.

Mayo had four solo defensive tackles and a pass knockdown to go with his two interceptions for the Thunder. Defensive halfback Marcus Butz also had an interception for the Thunder.

While Saturday’s loss was a tough one, Sargeant said his squad will be focused on making corrections as the 2025 campaign hits its final stretch.

Hilltops R Khyler Kok, right, eludes a Thunder defensive back.

“We get back in the lab,” said Sargeant. “We look at the game tape.

“We look at how we can coach better, and maybe there are a few things that they can do to play better. Then in the long run, we just keep growing this football team. This is game seven.

“We’ve got one more regular season game, and then here comes the playoffs. Hopefully, we all learn from the process, and we get excited and engaged in the process, and we figure out how we can make this team a better football team.”

The Thunder and Hilltops were co-winners of the Shrine Bowl.

NOTE – The Shrine Bowl is awarded annually to the team that wins the head-to-head season series between the Hilltops and Thunder. With the total score of the two head-to-head games between the two sides coming out as a 39-39 tie, both clubs will be listed as co-winner of the trophy in 2025.

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