Colts surge past Hilltops for top spot in PFC

Balance of power shifts in CJFL with Calgary victory

Defensive back Dylan Niedermaier returns an interception for the Colts.

    The Calgary Colts were ready to take care of business, and they did just that.

    On Sunday at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, the Colts took a big step to joining the upper echelon of the Canadian Junior Football League downing the defending league champion Saskatoon Hilltops 36-21. The Colts stormed out to a 36-0 lead after three quarters against their biggest nemesis before the venerable Hilltops tried to make a desperate rally in the fourth quarter.

    Having hired British Columbia Football Conference legend Matthew (Snoop) Blokker as head coach before the start of the 2014 season, the Colts have been on the rise. After going 0-8 in 2013 the season before Blokker came on board, the Colts advanced to the Prairie Football Conference final in each of the last two years posting a 9-7 record in regular season play only to fall to the Hilltops. The storied Hilltops advanced to win the Canadian Bowl after each of those victories.

Quarterback Bailey Wasdal (#4) dives in for a Colts touchdown.

    Coming into this first and only regular season encounter with the Hilltop in the 2016 campaign, the Colts visibly had a different demeanor. When the dust settled, they improved to 3-0 to sit alone in first place in the Prairie Football Conference, while the Hilltops fell to 2-1.

    “We came in here with a different kind of mentality than we had in previous years,” said Colts starting quarterback Bailey Wasdal. “We came in ready. We weren’t scared.

    “We knew we were coming home with two points. I wasn’t too surprised with the way we came out flying. We just have to be better in the second half.”

    Calgary’s defence set the tone early as defensive back Dylan Niedermaier returned an interception 40 yards deep into Saskatoon territory. That set up a short drive that ended with Wasdal hitting receiver Jake Creasey on a nine-yard scoring toss to put the visitors up 7-0 just over four minutes into the contest.

The Colts celebrate a fumble return touchdown by Dallas Burke (#17).

    Due to bad field position, the Hilltops were forced to concede a safety with 1:59 to play in the first quarter to give Calgary a 9-0 edge. The Colts proceeded to go up 16-0 just as the opening frame expired as Wasdal hit receiver Richard Sindani with a 12-yard scoring toss coming off a swing pass play.

    Things only got worse for the Toppers in the second quarter, when Colts defensive back Luk Catellier made an interception to set up another Calgary scoring drive. That ensuing offensive series was capped by a one-yard touchdown dive by Wasdal to put the Colts up 23-0.

    The hole got deeper for the hosts, when the Hilltops proceeded to muff the ensuing kickoff. The ball was recovered by Colts receiver Dallas Burke, who ran the ball home 20 yards for another major score to put the Colts up 30-0 with 6:44 to play in the second quarter.

    Colts kicker Stephen Fabian booted a 37-yard field goal to give Calgary a 33-0 edge at halftime.

    “We definitely did a lot of things well, and it is going to show in the film for sure,” said Wasdal. “I think we came out trying to be physical, and I think that is what we did.

Dylan Minshull (#21) ran for 169 yards on 22 carries for the Colts.

    “We kind of asserted ourselves in the first half, and we just showed that we weren’t afraid. We were ready to bang, and we came out doing that.”

    Fabian nailed a 40-yard field goal early in the third quarter to put the Colts up 36-0.

    The Hilltops attempted a comeback in the fourth quarter. Just 15 seconds into the frame, Hilltops receiver Jason Price outfought a couple of Colts defenders for the ball to pull in a 12-yard scoring toss from quarterback Jared Andreychuk to cut Calgary’s lead to 36-7.

    Andreychuk proceeded to hit Price on a deep 32-yard connection for another Hilltops major score to trim Calgary’s lead to 36-14 with 8:08 to play in the game. With 2:53 remaining on the clock, running back Logan Fischer muscled in a major on the ground from three yards out to pull the Hilltops to within 36-21.

    The rally was sniffed out on Saskatoon’s next offensive series, when Andreychuk was intercepted by Colts defensive back Jordan Rae.

    Andreychuk completed 19-of-34 passes for 227 yards, two touchdowns, but he was intercepted three times. Fischer piled up 110 yards rushing on 23 carries.

Jason Price hauls in a 32-yard TD catch for the Hilltops.

    Wasdal completed 18-of-23 passes for 165 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for the Colts. Calgary running back Dylan Minshull piled up 169 yards rushing on 22 carries.

    The Colts defence forced five takeaways in the contest, while the Hilltops were only able to force one turnover from the opposition.

    While both teams have six games remaining on their respective regular season schedules, the Colts hold the standings tiebreaker with Sunday’s win over the Hilltops going forward.

    “It is absolutely huge,” said Wasdal. “We had our own destiny in our own hands.

    “We had to get it done against the Hilltops. We just have to get it done the rest of the season, and we will have that home field playoff game.”

    The Hilltops return to action this coming Sunday, when they travel to Edmonton to take on the Wildcats (0-3). The Colts host the Edmonton Huskies (1-2) on Saturday.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Hilltops Canadian Bowl bound

Outstanding coaches help keep Saskatoon on top

The Hilltops celebrate with the PFC championship trophy.

            It was Sunday beautiful Sunday for the Saskatoon Hilltops.

            The venerable Canadian Junior Football League franchise had a day that was as picture perfect as the weather at the club’s long time home the Saskatoon Minor Football Field, which is formerly known as Gordie Howe Bowl.

            Quarterback Jared Andreychuk came out gunning the ball all over the field staking his club out to a 24-7 lead against the visiting Calgary Colts. The Toppers cruised to a 27-7 victory, which allowed them to capture another Prairie Football Conference title.

            With the win, the Hilltops advanced to the CJFL title game, the Canadian Bowl, on November 8 in Langley, B.C., against the host Rams.

            After starting the season 1-2, the Hilltops rolled into the PFC final riding a six-game winning streak. The Colts had won four in a row, so the two hottest teams in the conference were battling for spot in the national final.

            Calgary went 0-8 in 2013, which saw the club hire legendary British Columbia Football Conference head coach Matthew “Snoop” Blokker. Blokker guided the Colts to a 4-4 regular season record and a playoff win.

            Unfortunately for Calgary’s bench boss, Sunday belonged to Saskatoon’s stellar coaching staff.

            The energetic Tom Sargeant has been guiding the Hilltops as head coach since 1998. During his time, the team has won seven CJFL championships, and he has become the iconic standard to which all other Hilltops bench bosses past and present are measured. “The Sarge” has almost seen it all, and his teams always improve as the season goes on.

When he comes out fired up for a practice or a game, it is hard not to get pumped up too. Sargeant always seems to know the right things to say. He has also surrounded himself with some outstanding coaches.

One of the best known is defensive coordinator Jeff Yausie, who is the executive director of Football Saskatchewan and the head coach of the powerhouse Saskatoon Valkyries women’s football team. Yausie’s defences are always aggressive, tough and opportunistic when it comes to forcing turnovers.

A key takeaway came on the Colts first drive of the second half. Calgary drove down to about the Saskatoon 11 yard line and was going for a quarterback sneak on a third-and-one gamble. At the time, the Hilltops led 24-7, but a Calgary major would make it game on again.

Colts quarterback Brett Hunchak fumbled the ball away into the hands of a Hilltops defender to bring an end to the scoring threat. Saskatoon got a field goal on that cough up to go up 27-7.

Evan Kopchynski takes off to score a first quarter TD.

On the other side of the ball, offensive coordinator Sheldon Ball might be one of the more underrated coaches on the Saskatoon staff. “Coach Goose” had a masterful game plan drawn up, which allowed the offence to land a lot of huge early body blows.

Andreychuk completed 20 of 31 passes for 329 yards and three touchdown strikes. The best throw was a 54-yard pass and run strike to Evan Kopchynski that put Saskatoon up 14-7 in the first quarter.

The Colts managed to get a couple of picks including an acrobatic end zone pick by Dylan Niedermaier in the second quarter. Andreychuk wasn’t deterred and proceeded to calmly drive his squad.

            Running back Logan Fischer, who was filling in for injured starter Wayndel Lewis, rolled off 183 yards rushing on 28 carries. Fischer will have to carry the load again in the Canadian Bowl, as Lewis’s ankle won’t be healed up by that time.

            The offence showed huge improvement under Ball’s guidance, and his influence on Andreychuk, who showed really good vision on Sunday, was obvious. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Ball quarterbacked the Hilltops and then the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, and he developed a great analytical understanding of the game during that time.

            With their outstanding coaching staff, the Hilltops will likely be favoured to claim their 17^th CJFL championship in team history. The Hilltops claimed their 16^th CJFL title downing the Rams in Langley 23-21 in the 2012 Canadian Bowl.

            It seems like the blue and gold are in perfect position to add another sweet close to their already storied history.

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