Feel good football Saturday for folks in Saskatoon

Roughriders, Valkyries provide sweet moments at SMF Field

Roughriders players meet their fans at SMF Field.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Saskatoon Valkyries brought out the warm and fuzzy feelings.

On Saturday, the CFL’s most popular franchise and the WWCFL’s most decorated powerhouse club took centre stage at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. The Roughriders were hosting their Green and White Day during the afternoon and the Valkyries hosted and downed their provincial rivals the Regina Riot in a night time WWCFL regular season contest to improve to 3-0 on the 2024 campaign.

Overall, it was a great day for football, and if you stayed for both events, you spent a fantastic nine hours at the storied football facility that dates back to 1960.

The festivities started at 1 p.m. with the annual “Rider State of the Nation” fan forum held in the main hall at the Gordie Howe Sports Centre building on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds. Dave Thomas, who is the new play-by-play voice of the Roughriders, moderated a panel discussion that included the team’s first year head coach in Corey Mace, vice-president of football operations and general manager Jeremy O’Day and president and CEO Craig Reynolds.

Along with the panel discussion, a question and answer period was held for the fans in attendance.

Mace was the most popular person with the fans representing Rider Nation due to being the team’s new head coach. The sideline boss drew cheers when he said he wanted to build a team that reflected the natural makeup of the people of Saskatchewan.

The Saskatchewan Roughrider Pep Band plays on Saturday.

He said he plans for the team to field an aggressive defence. Mace added for another Grey Cup championship to be won the team and the province will do it together and hopefully have a celebration soon. Those words drew another ovation.

Outside in the plaza area that is shared by the Gordie Howe Sports Centre building, SMF Field and Joe Gallagher Field, all sorts of activities were happening during the time the fan forum was going on up until the Roughriders took part in on field activities at SMF Field.

There were kids’ games and also a play area for the youngsters. 

The Saskatchewan Roughrider Pep Band put on a performance and members of the Rider Cheer Team were stationed at the main gates along with wandering the grounds to meet the team’s supporters. Fans also got to interact with the team’s famed mascot in Gainer the Gopher.

On field activities started around 3:15 p.m. They started with a performance by the Rider Cheer Team, the introduction of Gainer and the Roughriders came out to their traditional “Bring ’Em Out” entrance.

In most past years, the on field activities usually saw the Roughriders hold an intrasquad game. With the Roughriders slated to host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in an exhibition contest on Monday at 2 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, the Roughriders on field activities on Saturday focused more on preparation leading to the tilt with Winnipeg.

The Rider Cheer Team performs at SMF Field.

The team did special teams return drills, some scrimmage drills, seven-versus-seven drills, offensive line versus defensive line drill and field goal drills. Those activities wrapped up about 4:45 p.m., and the players and coaches proceeded to meet the fans hanging along the fence line.

Once the Roughriders departed the scene, the Valkyries and Riot took over SMF Field for their clash that kicked off at about 7:15 p.m. The contest was played under a setting sun that gave way to night fall with the game continuing under the stadium’s lights.

The clash turned into milestone night for the Valkyries, who rolled to 32-7 lead at halftime and cruise to a 41-7 victory. 

The win allowed the Valkyries to improve to 3-0 and lock up first place in the WWCFL’s Prairie Conference. The Riot fell to 1-2.

The victory improved the Valkyries overall winning streak to 30 games. Their last loss came way back on June 24, 2018, when they dropped a 14-10 decision to the Riot in the WWCFL’s Championship Game played at Mosaic Stadium. Saskatoon has since won the last three WWCFL title games that have been played.

Alex Eyolfson fires a pass downfield for the Valkyries.

Valkyries star quarterback Alex Eyolfson completed 19-of-29 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns. 

Valkyries star receiver Haley Girolami, who missed much of last season with a leg injury, showed she was back in top form catching five passes for 120 yards.

Star slotback Reed Thorstad hauled in seven passes for 99 yards and one touchdown for the host side. Star running back Sarah Wright led the Valkyries with 76 yards rushing coming on 13 carries. She scored one touchdown along the ground and one through the air.

Veteran receiver Ricki Obed had a receiving and a rushing touchdown for the Valkyries. Kicker Grace Moehler had a field goal, five converts and a single.

Riot star quarterback Aimee Kowalski completed 25-of-49 passes for 202 yards and one touchdown. 

Riot star receiver Shanelle Rioux caught nine passes for 112 yards and one touchdown. Morgan Taylor converted the Riot’s major score.

The Riot now take on the Manitoba Fearless (0-2) on May 26 at 1 p.m. at Leibel Field in Regina.

The Valkyries close their regular season schedule by traveling to winning on June 2 to face the Fearless at St. Vital Mustangs field at 1 p.m. local time.

The Valkyries are all smiles after their win on Saturday.

Overall, Saturday both day and night were alright at SMF Field. The Roughriders and Valkyries made it a feel good time for football fans in “The Bridge City.”

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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Return to play honeymoon over for Roughriders

Outrage back in Rider Nation over losing

Cody Fajardo (#7) sets to throw a pass in 2019.

So do any Saskatchewan Roughriders fans remember missing the CFL a year ago at this time?

Judging by the reaction to the Roughriders 22-19 setback to the Calgary Stampeders on Saturday night at Mosaic Stadium, it appears the answer is no.

After jumping out to a 3-0 start, the Roughriders have lost four of their last six games. Fans consumed by ragehol have returned too.

The Roughriders sit second in the CFL’s West Division with a 5-4, but the hold on second spot is far from secure. The British Columbia Lions sit third at 4-4 and the Stampeders sit in fourth place with a 4-5 mark.

Having posted two straight wins over the Roughriders, the Stampeders have already claimed the seasonal series between the two clubs and hold the head-to-head standings tiebreaker.

With the way the records are shaping up in the East Division, it is conceivable the Roughriders could miss the playoff all together.

When the losing happens, the members of Rider Nation point the fingers in all directions. It is the fault of vice president of football operations and general manager Jeremy O’Day, head coach and special teams coordinator Craig Dickenson, franchise quarterback Cody Fajardo, the offensive line, the receivers who aren’t catching passes and the defence that gives up big plays at inopportune times.

The misfortune is a team effort.

Roughriders HC Craig Dickenson works the sidelines in 2019.

This type of outrage wasn’t even thought about a year ago at this time.

A year ago at this time, a lot of different public health orders were in place across Canada to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. At the moment, the world is still firmly in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic, but vaccines have allowed sporting events to be held in front of full capacity venues at a large number of places in North America.

The CFL wasn’t able to navigate the public health orders in 2020 and didn’t hit the field at all. A year ago at this time, there was a lot of speculation that the CFL might have played its last game and might become a pandemic casualty.

There was a lot of speculation that the financial losses the CFL’s nine teams would incur would end the league.

There were people who wondered if you would get to see a Roughriders game again at Mosaic Stadium.

For the longest time, the Bombers 33-12 Grey Cup victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Nov. 24, 2019 at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alta., stood as the last game played in the CFL.

As the calendar turned to 2021, news of team financial losses for 2020 came in.

In late March of this year, the community owned Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who won the Grey Cup in 2019, announced a loss of $6,982,217 for 2020. In May, the community owned Edmonton Elks announced a loss of $7.1-million for 2020.

Dan Clark calls signals at centre in 2019.

Just past the middle of June, the community owned Roughriders announced a loss of $7.5-million for 2020.

It is believed the six other CFL franchises posted bigger financial losses for 2020 than the three community owned teams did.

Somehow, the CFL returned.

On August 5 at IG Field in Winnipeg, the host Blue Bombers downed the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 19-6 before 29,376 spectators to open the CFL regular season.

I personally thought it was a miracle the CFL returned to play.

One day later on August 6, the Roughriders returned to a sellout crowd of 33,350 spectators at Mosaic Stadium to down the visiting Lions 33-29. 

Most in Rider Nation savoured this day as a sign that things were returning more to normal.

It was safe to say the fans were just happy to see the Roughriders play a game again.

Another normal also returned, as fans went crazy over analyzing and cutting down the team when losses started to happen. 

That was pretty evident in the aftermath of Saturday’s setback to the Stampeders.

Gainer the Gopher makes his rounds in 2019.

When you look at the complaining in comparison to what has happened in the world since March of 2020, the phrase “this is why we can’t have nice things” rings true.

On the bright side, attendance was still listed as a solid 27,964 to see the Roughriders fall to the Stampeders on Saturday.

For myself personally, I give the Roughriders a mulligan for everything that happens this season. They’ve already played nine more games than I thought they would play.

For a half glass full argument, at least Rider Nation has a team to complain about. That is better than not being able to complain, because the team ceased to exist.

Raiders stumble out of the gate, other thoughts

The Raiders have stumbled to an 0-4 start this season.

It appears the Prince Albert Raiders are on the road to a reload.

After topping the WHL regular season standings in 2018-19 and winning the league championship, the Raiders have stumbled out of the games to start the 2021-22 campaign dropping their first four games getting outscored 21-5 in the process.

On Saturday, the Raiders dropped an 8-0 decision to the Winnipeg Ice at the Wayne Fleming Arena in the Manitoba capital. The Ice, who improved to 4-0, appear to be the powerhouse team for the current campaign.

Right-winger Connor McClennon had a hat trick for the Ice, while centre Matthew Savoie had three assists. Savoie appears ready to take on star status fitting the fact he was selected first overall by the Ice in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft, which is now known as the WHL Prospects Draft.

Jakin Smallwood had a pair of goals for the Ice, while Mikey Milne, Conor Geekie and Zachary Benson had singles.

Ronin Geraghty went the distance in goal for the Raiders turning away 26 shots. Gage Alexander turned away all 13 shots he faced to pick up the shutout for the Ice.

The Raiders have had to deal with the fact they have had guys away at NHL training camps. At the moment, they are still missing star defenceman Kaiden Guhle, who is still at camp with the Montreal Canadiens.

By the sound of media reports coming out of Montreal, Guhle is having a great camp with the Canadiens. Due to the fact Guhle is 19-years-old, he has to be returned to the major junior ranks unless he cracks the Canadiens NHL roster.

I still would like to see what the Raiders would look like with Guhle and Nolan Allan as a top defensive pairing.

If the season turns into a reloading campaign, general manager Curtis Hunt and head coach Marc Habscheid are the right guys to have in their respective places to guide the club through rough waters.

They are both experienced hockey leaders who have seen and dealt with all types of scenarios before. The Raiders will always be in good hands with Hunt and Habscheid on board.

During my 10 seasons covering the Medicine Hat Tigers for the Medicine Hat News from 2004 to 2014, I saw how key it was to have good people in those leadership positions as Willie Desjardins and Shaun Clouston ensured the Tigers kept being an elite franchise over that time period.

After the Raiders won the WHL title in the 2018-19 campaign, they captured a banner for finishing first in the East Division in a 2019-20 that got cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.

They finished fourth in the seven-team WHL East Division bubble last season.

With the way junior hockey cycles go, it is hard to avoid the reload year after having highly successful seasons.

• The Saskatoon Blades have started out 2-1 thanks to a familiar sight. Veteran 19-year-old left-winger Kyle Crnkovic has three goals and two assists, and veteran centre Tristen Robins, who will turn 19-years-old in November, has one goal and four assists.
• Can you see the Calgary Stampeders running the table to win their last five straight games to running their current winning streak to seven games and finish the regular season 9-5 after a 2-5 start? If any team can do that in the CFL, it is the Stampeders quarterbacked by Bo Levi Mitchell.
• Could this be a big year for football in Winnipeg? The Blue Bombers sit first overall in the CFL with an 8-1 record, and the University of Manitoba Bisons football team has started the U Sports regular season 2-0 to sit first in the Canada West Conference. If both the Grey Cup and Vanier Cup end up residing in Winnipeg in December, you can bet you will hear all about it.
• The University of Saskatchewan Huskies and University of Regina Rams have both started their U Sports regular seasons with 1-1 records. It would be fun if one of those teams could have a special campaign in 2021 with a Vanier Cup win.
• One of the most fun moments this season might occur if Saskatoon Blades general manager Colin Priestner makes a visit to Prince Albert in the role as president and governor of the NLL’s Saskatchewan Rush. In branding themselves as Saskatchewan’s team, the Rush like visiting communities across the province, and I suspect Priestner would be able to ham it up with Raiders fans being on the same side when it comes to the Rush.

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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’Riders lose frustrating West final, surprise season still fun

Cody Fajardo was the breakout star for the Roughriders.

    No matter how well things go for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, fans always have to fear one of those moments is just around the corner where you ask yourself, “Why do I cheer for this team?”

    The latest installment of asking that very question went down on Sunday, when the Roughriders fell 20-13 to their archrivals the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the CFL’s West final before a near capacity crowd of 33,300 spectators at Mosaic Stadium.

    With the Bombers holding their 20-13 edge, they turned away the Roughriders on two defensive stands inside the Winnipeg 10 yard line to preserve victory.

    The last play of the game saw Roughriders breakthrough star quarterback Cody Fajardo wire a pass intended for open receiver Kyran Moore off the upright in the Winnipeg end zone. With that thud, the Roughriders magical 2019 campaign came to an end.

    Winnipeg advances to the Grey Cup this coming Sunday in Calgary, Alta., to face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for the CFL championship. The Tiger-Cats romped to a 36-16 victory over the Edmonton Eskimos in the CFL’s East final on Sunday in Hamilton, Ont.

    For Roughriders fans, the West final loss to the Bombers was a painful way to season come to an end that far exceeded expectations.

Shaq Evans led the Roughriders with 1,334 receiving yards.

    When training camps opened for CFL clubs back in late May, most pundit predictions had the Roughriders posting a record that would allow them to just scrap into the playoffs as a best case scenario.

    Only those on the inside with the team would have had higher hopes.

    During the off-season, the Roughriders went through a head coaching change with Chris Jones leaving his head coach and general manager duties behind to bolt or an assistant coach position with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns.

    Craig Dickenson, who is a player’s coach type that everyone likes, took over as the Roughriders head coach, and Jeremy O’Day became the club’s new general manager.

    At the start of the campaign, the Roughriders were bringing back Zach Collaros as the team’s starting quarterback. Fans feared Collaros might potentially suffer another concussion injury, and the season would go down the drain.

    That fear played out as a reality on the fourth play of the Roughriders regular season opener on June 13 against the Tiger-Cats in Hamilton. Collaros ran for a seven-yard gain and gave himself up on a feet first slide only to have Tiger-Cats linebacker Simoni Lawrence drive his shoulder into the signal caller’s head.

Charleston Hughes, right, led the CFL with 16 sacks.

    Collaros left the game due to a concussion, and the Roughriders ultimately dropped that contest 23-17.

    After the first four weeks of the regular season, the Roughriders had a 1-3 record. No one could have seen they would turn their campaign around in a big way topping the West Division for the first time since 2009 with a 13-5 record.

    The 13 victories were the most for the Roughriders in the regular season since finishing 14-2 in 1970.

    The surprising first place campaign resulted due to the emergence of Fajardo as a star. Before signing with the Roughriders, the Brea, Calif., product spent about two-and-a-half seasons as a reserve quarterback with the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts and British Columbia Lions.

    The 27-year-old had an out of nowhere fantastic season completing 338-of-473 passes for 4,302 yards, 18 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He became the West Division nominee for the CFL’s most outstanding player award.

William Powell led the Roughriders with 1,093 yards rushing.

    Thanks the Fajardo’s meteoric rise, Collaros was deemed expendable. The Roughriders traded Collaros to the Toronto Argonauts in late July.

    Before the CFL’s trade deadline on Oct. 9, the Argonauts dealt Collaros to the Bombers. The Bombers were looking for more consistent quarterback play after star signal caller Matt Nichols was lost for the season due to shoulder injury in the Bombers 32-16 victory over the B.C. Lions on Aug. 15 in Winnipeg, Man.

    Roughriders 35-year-old defensive end Charleston Hughes played like an ageless wonder leading the league with 16 sacks and piling up 50 defensive tackles.

    Linebacker Cameron Judge is the West Division’s nominee for the CFL’s most outstanding Canadian player award. Judge posted 61 defensive tackles, 11 special teams tackles, five sacks and two interceptions for the Roughriders.

    Pass catcher Shaq Evans topped the Roughriders in receiving catching 72 passes for 1,334 yards and five touchdowns.

    Running back William Powell came over from the Ottawa Redblacks and broke the 1,000-yard barrier in rushing for a third straight season. He carried the ball 215 times for 1,093 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Cameron Judge is up for the CFL’s most outstanding Canadian award.

    Dickenson is the West Division’s nominee for CFL coach of the year.

    Just when all things seem great for the Roughriders, adversity strikes. In a practice leading to their final regular season game, Fajardo suffered an oblique muscle injury. He revealed after the West final loss he tore two oblique muscles.

    In another crazy twist, Collaros was healthy entering the West final with the Bombers. The Bombers had many pundits predicting in training camp they would make the Grey Cup game, but they finished third in the West Division still with a solid 11-7 mark.

    Had the Bombers overcome their injury bug, they could have had more wins. Still, Collaros’s arrival and strong play restored Grey Cup hopes in the Manitoba capital.

    In leading the Bombers to their West final win over the Roughriders, Collaros completed 17-of-25 passes for 267 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.

    Fajardo had a strong game despite his injuries completing 27-of-41 passes for 366 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.

Makana Henry (#74) had a solid campaign at DT for the Roughriders.

    The Roughrider struggled inside of the Winnipeg 10 yard line, and those struggles were costly.

    On the first of two defensive stands the Bombers made inside of the final 2:30 of the fourth quarter, the Roughriders gambled on a third and goal from the one on a Fajardo quarterback run. He was stopped creating a turnover on downs, but knowing his injury status, the play call was a curious one.

    When Fajardo rang his final pass off the crossbar of the goalpost on the game’s final play, it was the final sign to show this wasn’t the Roughriders day.

    The Bombers will try to win their first Grey Cup since 1990 going in as underdogs against the Tiger-Cats, who finished first in the East Division with a 15-3 regular season record.

    When the Roughriders host the Grey Cup next season, hopes will be high they can win it all at home like they did in 2013 downing the Tiger-Cats 45-23 at Taylor Field.

    Going into the 2019 campaign, the Roughriders had a lot of question marks, and those question marks have disappeared.

Craig Dickenson, middle, is up for the CFL coach of the year award.

    There will be questions and chances this off-season too. On the local front, one wonders if 37-year-old Regina product Jon Ryan will return as the punter and 33-year-old Weyburn, Sask., product Brendon LaBatte will be back on the offensive line.

    Age and life pursuits could play part in decisions on those fronts.

    The Roughriders have a franchise quarterback in Fajardo, who has the potential to play for a large number of years. That instils a bigger belief it is possible to build on the club’s meagre total of four Grey Cup titles.

    While it seems something always happens to dampen hopes of Roughriders fans, Rider Nation continues to find reasons to keep believing the best is still possible.

    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.

Hilltops’ Schnitzler loved riding with CFL’s Roughriders

DL spent five weeks on pro team’s practice roster

Hilltops DL Tom Schnitzler (#56) fires off the line to rush the quarterback.

    Tom Schnitzler was thankful he was smart on the spot, when he got a surprise call from the CFL ranks during a six-week travel trip in Europe.

    The star defensive lineman with the Saskatoon Hilltops was surprised to receive a text invite to Saskatchewan Roughriders training camp. The call came shortly before the Roughriders opened training camp in Saskatoon on May 28.

    At first, Schnitzler’s spirits sank, because wasn’t able to attend training camp, but he made sure to send a response that intended to keep the door open.

    “I told them when I was going to be back,” said Schnitzler. “Right when I got back, I got a text from (Roughriders assistant vice-president of football operation and administration) Jeremy O’Day.

    “He was like if you want to come down, come down.”

Tom Schnitzler listens to a call from the sidelines.

    Schnitzler was added to the Roughriders practice roster as a territorial junior player on July 4. He spend five weeks with the team living in Regina the entire time and only came home on weekends when the Roughriders were on the road.

    On Saturday, Schnitzler celebrated his 22^nd birthday helping his Hilltops bury the Ottawa Sooners 49-15 in a cross-conference Canadian Junior Football League regular season clash at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. While the Hilltops improved to 3-0 winning their home opener, the chance to join the Roughriders practice squad turned out to be an early birthday gift. Schnitzler’s confidence in himself grew the more he hit the field with the CFL club.

    “The first week or two I was there I felt completely out of place,” said Schnitzler, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 235 pounds. “By the end of end of it, realistically, I felt like I belonged there, and I feel like it drives me to be a better athlete and practice harder and work for it.

    “I think one day, hopefully, I can get there.”

    While with the Roughriders, Schnitzler again benefited from the fact he said the right thing at the right time. He initially came to the CFL club as a linebacker and didn’t get a lot of repetitions, because the Roughriders are deep in that position.

Hilltops DL Tom Schnitzler checks out his pre-snap reads.

    Two weeks into his stay with the CFL club, the Roughriders made some transactions creating an opening on the defensive line. Schnitzler mentioned what his natural position was with the Hilltops and was moved to the defensive line.

    During his last three weeks with the Roughriders, Schnitzler was playing on the defensive line’s second team and receive a lot of repetitions. He loved every moment of that opportunity and soaked in the experience as much as he could.

    Overall, he said his experience with the Roughriders helped him both on and off the field.

    “I feel like I learned a lot not only like physically on the field, but just like studying film and everything too,” said Schnitzler. “It is just being a pro.

    “It is crazy. It is a full-time job. It is awesome.”

DL Riley Pickett makes a sack for the Hilltops.

    While Schnitzler hopes of playing with the Roughriders one day took a boost upwards, he was still pumped to rejoin the Hilltops to play out his fifth and final season of junior eligibility. He sees the Hilltops as a big extended family, and he sometimes almost doesn’t believe he is playing out his final campaign.

    “These five years have gone by crazy fast,” said Schnitzler, who is one of the defensive captains for the second straight year. “Being one of the older guys and one of the leaders on the team, it is awesome giving back to the younger guys like I was given to when I was a rookie and a second-year guy too.

    “I just want to give back and help them learn everything.”

    Against the Sooners on Saturday, Schnitzler spent a lot of time encouraging and helping the team’s younger players as the starters sat for much of the second half in the runaway win.

    The Hilltops rolled out to a 28-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. Star running back Logan Fischer ran home three majors in the opening 15 minutes finding paydirt from seven, 10 and eight yards out.

Receiver Jason Price hauls in a touchdown reception for the Hilltops.

    Quarterback Jordan Walls hit receiver Jason Price with a 33-yard touchdown strike on a streak pattern to round out the first quarter scoring for the home side.

    Saskatoon’s lead grew to 35-0 just past the midway point of the second quarter, when Fischer ran the ball in from five yards out to complete a personal four-touchdown night. He piled up 137 yards rushing on 15 carries.

    The Sooners got on the board with 4.1 seconds to play in the second quarter, when backup quarterback Evan Yourth hit receiver Enzo Trunzo with a 10-yard touchdown toss to cut the Hilltops lead to 35-7. Sooners starting quarterback Tyler Scott left the game due to injury near the start of the scoring drive that ended on Trunzo’s major score.

    Early in the third quarter, the Hilltops went ahead 42-7, when Walls hit receiver Sam Mike with an 18-yard scoring strike to eliminate any faint hopes the Sooners had of a rally.

Running back Logan Fischer scores one of his four TDs for the Hilltops.

    Ottawa’s scoring was rounded out in the fourth quarter with the Hilltops conceding a safety and Yourth hitting receiver Malcolm Carter with a seven-yard touchdown toss. The Sooners two-point conversion attempted after Carter’s score was unsuccessful.

    Running back Joshua Ewanchyna ran the ball in from a yard out late in the fourth quarter to conclude the Hilltops scoring on the night.

    Walls completed 14-of-23 passes for 225 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for the Hilltops.

    Yourth connected on 12-of-22 passes for 150 yards, two touchdown passes and one interception for the Sooners (0-3). Trunzo hauled in seven passes for 106 yards to go with his major score on the night for Ottawa.

Receiver Sam Mike makes a catch in the air for the Hilltops.

    Defensive end Riley Pickett and defensive back Colton Holmes each recorded a sack for the Hilltops. Sophomore defensive back Johnathon Sexsmith had an interception for the hosts.

    While the win was convincing, Schnitzler said the game was an up and down one for the Toppers.

    “I liked the start, but I feel as the game went on we kind lost focus, and we kind of lost our pop in there,” said Schnitzler, who had a forced fumble and was often faced double team blocks in the win. “The start was good.

    “We got some young guys in, which was always good. I feel like we took some plays off in there. There was just ultimately lack of focus at some points.”

    As the season progresses, Schnitzler is savouring each moment as it comes. Ultimately, he would like to help the Hilltops win the CJFL championship for a fourth year in a row.

The Hilltops celebrate improving to 3-0 this season.

    After seeing a number of his former fifth-year teammates graduate from the program winning the CJFL title in their final game over the past three years, Schnitzler would like to follow in their footsteps.

    “Being a fifth-year guy, that is why you come back every year,” said Schnitzler. “You see the fifth-year guys go out (on top), and that is the best feeling in the world for them.

    “You want to go out the same way as them. Sarge (Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant) treats his fifth-year players well. That is why we all stick around. We try to win for the fifth-year guys, and it would be unbelievable to go out on top.”

    The Hilltops return to action when they host the Regina Thunder at 7 p.m. on Sept. 9 at SMF Field.

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