Hilltops CJFL title wins always beat solo honours for ‘Sarge’

Sideline boss still deserves another CJFL coach of the year nod

Tom Sargeant has guided the Hilltops to 14 CJFL titles as head coach.

Being named CJFL coach of the year isn’t high on the priority list of Tom Sargeant.

The legendary head coach of the Saskatoon Hilltops is doing just find lifting the Canadian Bowl over his head as his team wins another CJFL championship. It gives him great pride in his players knowing that the Canadian Bowl will once again reside in the trophy case of the Saskatoon Hilltops clubhouse.

In posting a perfect 12-0 record during 2023 CJFL campaign, the Hilltops captured all the team trophies they could possibly win. The Canadian Bowl was the last of the trophies the Hilltops needed to win to complete the set.

They accomplished that on Saturday when they downed the host Westshore Rebels 17-10 in a CJFL championship game played under a Biblical style downpour at Starlight Stadium in Langford, B.C., which is a suburb of Victoria. The victory marked the 23^rd time the Hilltops won the CJFL title

With that win in the books, Sargeant has won 14 CJFL titles as the Hilltops head coach, two as an assistant coach and his first came as a receiver in 1985. He is the owner of 17 CJFL championship rings in total.

Despite the impressive total of league title wins, Sargeant has only been named CJFL coach of the year on two occasions. The first came in 2000, when the Hilltops fell 36-28 in the CJFL title game to the Okanagan Sun in Kelowna, B.C. That marked the first time the Hilltops played in the CJFL championship game with Sargeant as head coach.

Sargeant was named the CJFL’s coach of the year for a second time in 2003. The Hilltops blanked the Rebels, who were known as the Victoria Rebels at that time, 59-0 in the CJFL championship game.

Tom Sargeant, second from right, contemplates an offensive play.

The storied Saskatoon club capped a 12-0 perfect season with that win where they set a record that still stands for most points scored in a CJFL championship game. That was the third CJFL title Sargeant won as the Hilltops head coach completing a run where the Hilltops won three straight CJFL titles.

While Sargeant was named the coach of the year for the Prairie Football Conference on numerous occasions since 2003, he has not been given another CJFL coach of the year award even with the Hilltops winning 11 CJFL championships since 2003.

Sargeant has a beyond impressive 236-37-2 career record as the Hilltops head coach, and he holds the record for most amateur post-secondary football head coaching victories in Canada.

The CJFL coach of the year award is named after the late Gord Currie, who is the Canadian Football Hall of Fame having won six CJFL championships as head coach of the Regina Rams from 1965 to 1976. If Currie was still alive, he would have been uncomfortable with the fact Sargeant has only been named the CJFL Gordon Currie Coach of the Year twice despite his Hilltops winning 14 CJFL titles under his watch.

In 2023, Dexter Janke, who was serving his first year as Rebels head coach and assistant general manager, was named the CJFL coach of the year. 

Janke was deserving of the honour as the Rebels posted a 12-1 overall record win 2023, with the one loss coming to the Hilltops in the Canadian Bowl by a seven-point margin.

He is well-known in Saskatoon’s football circles having played running back for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in the U Sports ranks from 2010 to 2013. Janke is a quality person, and the odds are high the Rebels will remain in contention to win CJFL titles for however long he wants to remain head coach.

Tom Sargeant has 236 victories as the Hilltops head coach.

With having played defensive back in the CFL with the Calgary Stampeders from 2015 to 2017 and winning a Grey Cup with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2019, Janke will likely have an opportunity to coach at that level somewhere down the road, especially with the fact he is still relatively young at age 31.

Still, the Hilltops under Sargeant put together a special campaign in 2023. In the teams eight regular season games, the Hilltops gave up just 51 points, which is the storied squad’s lowest points against total dating back to 1949. 

The 2023 Hilltops gave up fewer points during the regular season than any of the club’s previous 22 CJFL championship winners.

The Hilltops gave up just 25 points in their four post-season games. In their 12 overall contests, the Hilltops outscored their opposition 469-76.

They had this impressive campaign coming off a 2022 season, where they were 6-4 overall and fell in the PFC final to their provincial rivals the Thunder in Regina 39-21. The Hilltops lost 20 players to graduation following that contest, and they didn’t know where they would stack up as the PFC went through a great reset will all clubs graduating a number of players.

At this point at age 58, it seems like the only way Sargeant will win another CJFL coach of the year award if he announces at the start of a season that campaign will be his last as the Hilltops head coach before riding off into the sunset, and the Hilltops proceed to go to the CJFL championship game. 

While that type of last dance run would bring out Hilltops alums in big numbers to their home games to wish Sargeant well, Sargeant wouldn’t be one to have a known final farewell tour season.

On top of that, the idea of Sargeant having a last run isn’t on the radar at the moment. With how passionately his wife, Kris, and adult daughters, Macy and Abby, are into the Hilltops, Sargeant has a strong backing at home to continue coaching the Hilltops for the foreseeable future.

Hilltops HC Tom Sargeant stands for the national anthem.

With that said, it shouldn’t take the notion of going on a farewell tour to bring up the possibility of Sargeant winning the CJFL’s coach of the year award again. Still, winning that award is of little concern to Sargeant.

In the big picture, it is about getting the Hilltops players to be at their best on the field in game day action and away from the field in their everyday lives in the community. If the team’s coaches do their job correctly, the CJFL title will follow.

Plus, Sargeant will tell you it is always a beautiful site when the Hilltops keep their trophy case full of all the trophies they can possibly win over the course of a campaign.

The team that wins the Canadian Bowl as CJFL champions will be the happiest and most satisfied at the end of the day, and Sargeant has experienced his share of memorable championship moments at the end of a season.

Wist set CJFL title game record, equals another, other notes

Matt Wist (#44) had an all-time great game in the Canadian Bowl.

Matt Wist’s final CJFL game was one for the record books.

The 22-year-old star middle linebacker and punter had a spectacular outing for the Saskatoon Hilltops as they downed the Westshore Rebels 17-10 on Saturday in the CJFL championship game – the Canadian Bowl. In that contest played in a heavy downpour at Starlight Stadium in Langford, B.C., which is a suburb of Victoria, Wist was named the defensive player of the game recording three interceptions, nine solo defensive tackles, four defensive tackle assists and one pass knockdown.

With those defensive statistics, Wist accumulated 36 defensive points, which is a new record for a CJFL championship game. The old record of 28 defensive points was set by Okanagan Sun defensive lineman Matt Lammerding on October 30, 2004. Lammerding piled up his defensive points as the Sun fell 24-7 in the CJFL title game to the host Huskies in Edmonton at Commonwealth Stadium.

Wist’s three interceptions equals the record for most interceptions by an individual in a CJFL championship game. That record was achieved on five previous occasions before Wist picked up three Rebels passes on Saturday.

Larry West of the Edmonton Wildcats was the first individual to intercept three passes in a CJFL championship game. He achieved that feat on November 12, 1967 in the Wildcats 29-6 over the Burlington Braves from Ontario in a CJFL title game played at a neutral site in Regina, Sask.

Bob Korpan was the first Hilltops player to intercept three passes in a CJFL title game making his three picks on November 15, 1969. The Hilltops downed the host Sooners in Ottawa 28-7 in that CJFL championship contest.

Before Wist made three interceptions, Hilltops defensive back Graig Newman has been the last player to record three interceptions in a CJFL championship game on November 12, 2011.  Newman intercepted three passes in the Hilltops 29-1 victory over the host Hurricanes in Hamilton at Ivor Wynne Stadium in that CJFL title game.

On the punting side of things in adverse conditions, Wist punted the ball 10 times for 306 yards for an average of 30.6 yards per kick and a net average of 27.3 yards per kick.

• In the Hilltops 17-10 CJFL championship game over the Rebels on Saturday, Rebels receiver Cairo Berry was named the special teams player of the game. Berry returned one kickoff for 81 yards for a touchdown and seven punts for 33 yards.
• The CJFL handed out its major award last Friday. Head coach Dexter Janke of the Rebels was named the Gordon Currie Coach of the Year, quarterback Te Jessie of the Rebels was the Peter Dalla Riva Outstanding Offensive Player, linebacker Stephen Smith of the Regina Thunder was the Larry Wruck Outstanding Defensive Player and defensive back Dylan Roberts of the London Beefeaters was special teams player of the year. The offensive rookie of the year was receiver Darius France of the St. Clair Saints, and the defensive rookie of the year award went to linebacker Noah Nelson of the Ottawa Sooners. Kicker Ethan Hartman of the Edmonton Huskies took the Past Commissioners Award for community involvement, Paul Dimini of the Calgary Colts took the CJFL Stewart MacDonald Executive of the Year award, CJFL deputy commissioner Paul Shortt took the Ed Henick Meritorious Service Award, Darcy Park of the Edmonton Wildcats took the CJFL Life Member Award and the Hamilton Hurricanes claimed the Rick Smoke Community Involvement Award.
• Trey Reider has a 16-1 career record as the Hilltops starting quarterback. He is eligible to play one more season for the storied CJFL club.
• Rob Vanstone, who is the senior journalist and team historian of the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders, put together a great piece on the Hilltops CJFL championship game win over the Rebels. That piece can be found by clicking right here.
• Vanstone checked in with another great piece on Darren Abel, who is a football consultant on the Weyburn Comprehensive School Eagles Football Team. Abel has a long history with the Eagles that includes playing for the team from 1981 to 1983 and serving as head coach from 1995 to 2019. The piece came out this past Wednesday before the Eagles downed the visiting Aden Bowman Collegiate Bears from Saskatoon 35-15 in the SHSAA’s 5A championship football game. The piece on Abel can be found by clicking right here.
• Regina’s Miller Comprehensive Catholic High School Marauders won the SHSAA’s 6A football championship on Saturday for a third straight year. In Saturday’s title game, the visiting Marauders slipped past the host Holy Cross High School Crusaders of Saskatoon 12-10 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.
• On Saturday at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver, B.C., the host University of British Columbia Thunderbirds slipped past the University of Alberta Golden Bears 28-27 in the Canada West Conference championship game – the Hardy Cup. Trailing 27-21, Thunderbirds quarterback Garrett Rooker hit receiver Sam Davenport with time expired in the fourth quarter with a 13-yard touchdown toss to win the game.

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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Hilltops’ “Sarge” should have been CJFL coach of the year

Hilltops HC Tom Sargeant makes a point during the Canadian Bowl.

    The Langley Rams fate against the Saskatoon Hilltops was sealed the night before the Canadian Bowl.

    Last Friday at the Canadian Junior Football League awards banquet at the Radisson Hotel, Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant was up for national coach of the year honours due to winning the coach of the year award in the Prairie Football Conference. Sargeant, who is the all-time leader in regular season coaching victories in the history of the CJFL at 147, was given CJFL coach of the year honours twice way back in 2000 and 2003.

    With Hilltops trying to complete a perfect season and win their fifth straight CJFL and eighth league title in the last nine years, it should have been a slam dunk that Sargeant would be named coach of the year this season.

    The CJFL Gord Currie Coach of the Year award went to Bob Reist, who is the head coach of the Chilliwack, B.C., based Valley Huskers of the British Columbia Football League.

    The next day after the awards banquet, the Hilltops proceeded to wipe out the Rams 58-21 in the Canadian Bowl at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. The win game the Hilltops a perfect season at 11-0, a fifth straight CJFL title, an eight CJFL title win in the last nine years and the 21^st CJFL championship in team history.

Hilltops HC Tom Sargeant gets set for the national anthem.

    If you talk to Sargeant about the coach of the year award, he will shrug it off and say it isn’t that important in the bigger picture. In the big picture, it is about getting the Hilltops players to be at their best on the field in game day action and away from the field in their everyday lives in the community.

    If the team’s coaches do their job correctly, the CJFL title will follow.

    Sargeant has the CJFL championship rings to prove that fact. He has 12 as the Hilltops head coach, two as an assistant coach with the team and one as a player. His first championship ring as a player was earned way back in 1985.

    Still, the fact that the Hilltops won the CJFL national title in eight of the last nine years and Sargeant wasn’t named coach of the year once over that span of time is just wrong. He took on the role of Hilltops offensive coordinator in 2017 and 2018 as well.

    The CJFL lost a good chance to make up for an oversight that definitely added up over the eight previous seasons.

    In Canadian sports, the Hilltops run of success is matched and only exceeded by one team in recent history, and that would be the Carleton University Ravens men’s basketball team in U Sports.

    From 2002-03 to 2016-17, the Ravens 13 won out of 15 U Sports national titles, which includes a run of seven straight national titles from 2010-11 to 2016-17.

    Over those 15 seasons, Ravens head coach Dave Smart was named the U Sports coach of the year in men’s basketball eight times, and every one of those wins came in a Ravens championship season.

Hilltops HC Tom Sargeant backed by DC Jeff Yausie.

    When the Hilltops run in the last nine CJFL seasons is compared that 15-season run of the Ravens men’s basketball team in U Sports, the CJFL comes away looking really bad when it comes to giving out the coach of the year award.

    With that said, the coaches in the CJFL that claimed coach of the year honours have always had a sound case and were deserving of being bestowed that honour.

    Reist guided the Huskers to a 6-4 regular season record and their first playoff berth since 2008. The Huskers had been winless the three previous campaigns before the 2018 season.

    Still, the Hilltops had one of their greatest moments in team history with their Canadian Bowl win last Saturday. In posting their fourth perfect season in team history, the Hilltops had arguably their most dominant campaign.

    Between the regular season and playoffs, the Hilltops trailed on the scoreboard for a combined 81 seconds. Just think about that. They trailed all year for a total of 81 seconds.

    The odds of doing that in any football league are astronomical.

    In posting an 8-0 regular season, the Hilltops outscored their opponents 402-70. Looking at all 11 games they played, the Hilltops closest margin of victory came in the PFC final, when they downed the Edmonton Huskies 28-9.

    Many members of the Hilltops had great seasons. Running back Josh Ewanchyna surpassed 1,000 yards rushing in the regular season. He carried the ball 134 times for 1,007 yards and 14 touchdowns, which included missing one game due to injury.

Hilltops HC Tom Sargeant talks to QB Jordan Walls.

    Quarterback Jordan Walls threw for over 2,000 yards in the regular season. He completed 122-of-197 passes for 2,010 yards, 18 touchdowns and four interceptions.

    Walls favourite target in receiver Jason Price hauled in 31 passes for 709 yards and scored four touchdowns.

    Linebacker Cody Peters was named the CJFL’s Larry Wruck Defensive Player of the Year award and was named a CJFL all-Canadian all-star. Hilltops star defensive tackles Garth Knittig and Jesse McNabb were both named all-Canadian all-stars for their outstanding campaigns.

    You could keep going down the roster.

    Sargeant pulled one of the best first class moves ever last Saturday putting his eight fifth-year players on the field for the final kneel downs of the Canadian Bowl in Walls, Price, Peters, receiver Adam Ewanchyna, offensive tackle Kirk Simonsen, defensive end Connor Guillet and linebackers Bobby Ehman and Adam Benkic.

    “Sarge” also has the backing of a stellar coaching staff. Hilltops defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Jeff Yausie is one of the best coaches you will find anywhere in Canada.

    Quarterbacks coach Shane Reider, defensive backs coach Brent Turkington, offensive line coaches Donnie Davidsen and Ben Hodson, defensive line coach Dave Fisher, running backs coach Andre Lalonde and receivers coaches Barclay Schlosser and Evan Turkington and life coach Bruce Rempel all contributed greatly to the Hilltops success this season.

Head coach Tom Sargeant walks the Hilltops sidelines.

    Still, Sargeant is the one who makes the Hilltops machine run and builds the coaching staff. He has had a great impact on the lives of countless Hilltops players for about the last three decades.

    You can be certain the focus of the Hilltops players was sharpened that much more last Saturday, when Sargeant wasn’t named the CJFL coach of the year.

    He is also backed by a great team at home in wife, Kris, and daughters, Macy and Abby. If the veteran sideline boss does have a bad day and it does happen, Kris, Macy and Abby are there to set him straight.

    If there was a Mount Rushmore for great amateur football coaches in Saskatchewan, Tom Sargeant would be on it along with late Regina Rams head coach Gord Currie, who the CJFL coach of the year award is named after, retired University of Saskatchewan Huskies head coach Brian Towriss, and retired Regina Rams/University of Regina Rams head coach Frank McCrystal.

    Currie and Towriss are in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. McCrystal and Sargeant should be there one day.

    The Hilltops this season clicked in all facets that is rarely seen in sports.

Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant contemplates a play call.

    The coach of the year award does help show that a team had a good year.

    Ultimately, the Hilltops in 2018 will be remembered for their Canadian Bowl victory. Team championships always create the lasting memory.

    Sargeant will always take team success over any individual honours.

    With that noted, it would have be great to see the CJFL do the right thing and name him coach of the year even if it would have been just once over the past nine seasons.

    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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    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.