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| DL Garth Knittig (#59) dives in for a Hilltops touchdown. |
Garth Knittig got
to live a defensive lineman’s dream at a critical point of a championship game.
On Sunday at
Saskatoon Minor Football Field, the third year defensive tackle for the
Saskatoon Hilltops was called upon to carry the ball on a first-and-goal from
the one yard-line. The Hilltops were holding a slim five-point lead on the
Regina Thunder with less than two minutes to play in the fourth quarter of the
Prairie Football Conference final.
Knittig, who stands
5-foot-10 and weighs 285 pounds, made no mistake diving over a pile of bodies
at the line of scrimmage to score the touchdown that put the Hilltops up 36-24
with 96 seconds to play. That score held up as a final as the Hilltops claimed
a fourth straight PFC championship.
“All I knew was that
I couldn’t be stopped,” said Knittig. “I just had to motor through anyone who
was in my way.
“The O-line had an
unreal push, and they gave me a nice place to go through. It was my first
touchdown ever in my life, so it was unreal. I will never forget it.”
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| Garth Knittig lines up at defensive tackle for the Hilltops. |
“It is an unreal
feeling right now,” said Knittig. “I can’t even put it into words. It is unreal
having this experience with the boys.”
Knittig’s touchdown capped
a hard-fought battle of a game that has become a trademark of the clashes between
the Hilltops and Thunder.
Just 90 seconds into
the contest, Hilltops running back Adam Machart burst through the middle of the
Thunder defence on a 48-yard touchdown run to put the hosts up 7-0. The
Hilltops lead increased to 9-0, when fifth-year defensive lineman Tom
Schnitzler forced a Thunder safety.
Schnitzler knocked
the ball out of the hands of Thunder star quarterback Sawyer Buettner, when the
signal caller was throwing out of his own end zone.
Thunder offensive lineman
Logan Ferland dived on the loose ball, and he was downed in the end zone, when
Schnitzler tagged him in attempting to recover the ball as well.
 |
| Safety James Vauses runs back an interception for the Hilltops. |
Regina responded
with a 10-point surge to pull ahead 10-9. With 37.7 seconds to play in the
first quarter, rookie kicker Eric Maximuik booted a 28-yard field goal to give
the Thunder their first points. Early in the second quarter, Buettner hit star
receiver Levi Paul with a 14-yard touchdown pass to give the visitors a
one-point edge.
The Hilltops
answered back. Facing a third-and-one from the Thunder 40 yard line, the
Toppers elected to gamble. Sophomore running back Joshua Ewanchyna broke a
short-yardage play into a 40-yard touchdown run to give Saskatoon a 16-10
advantage.
With 23.3 seconds to
play in the first half, the Hilltops added another major score coming from a
one-yard touchdown plunge from fullback Colin Stumborg to surge in front 23-10.
 |
| QB Sawyer Buettner threw for 325 yards for the Thunder. |
Buettner quickly
drove the Thunder downfield on a short drive that was capped with a 13-yard
touchdown pass to receiver Lee Brown to cut the Hilltops lead to 23-17.
The Hilltops pushed
their edge back out to 29-17 before the third quarter ended, when fourth-year
safety/kicker James Vause hit field goals from 33 and 36 yards out
respectively. Vause had a big night for the Hilltops making six solo tackles
and a second quarter interception.
The graduate of
Saskatoon’s Aden Bowman Collegiate was pleased he was able to come through with
a big performance.
“It was really good,”
said Vause. “Honestly, I’ve had a tough year. I really just dialed in mentally
this week, and I just did my job.
“Those field goals
have to go in. They are big points. I’m glad I could contribute that for the
team as well.”
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| Joshua Ewanchyna (#18) ran for 81 yards on eight carriers for the Hilltops. |
That set the stage
for Knittig’s score near the end of the fourth quarter.
“That was one of the
most intense games I was a part of,” said Vause. “You have to be focused every
play. It was a battle.
“Give full credit to
Regina. They battled back like they always do. We just have to stay the course
and react and come back stronger every time they have a nice drive or a
touchdown.
“We pulled it
together. I couldn’t be happier for the guys.”
Buettner had a big
day for the Thunder completing 29-of-39 passes for 325 yards, two touchdowns
and one interception. Paul topped all Thunder receivers hauling in nine passes
for 86 yards to go with his major score.
 |
| Adam Machart (#20) ran for a massive 206 yards for the Hilltops. |
The Hilltops did
most of their damage offensively on the ground piling up 297 yards as a team
rushing. Machart carried the ball 22 times for 206 yards to go with his rushing
touchdown.
With Hilltops
fifth-year star running back Logan Fischer not dressed due to a lower body
injury, Machart wanted to come through with a big outing and was pumped about another
conference title win.
“It feels amazing,”
said Machart. “Our guys are super pumped. It feels really, really good.
“This game meant a
lot to the team and to our coaches. To come out and have a good game and get
the “W” just feels amazing.”
 |
| The Hilltops begin celebrating their PFC title win. |
Hilltops quarterback
Jordan Walls completed 11-of-17 passes for 117 yards. Tom Schnitzler and middle
linebacker Cameron Schnitzler both had sacks for the Hilltops.
With the win, the
Hilltops, who are 9-1 overall, have won 11 straight playoff games having claimed
the last three straight Canadian Junior Football League championships. Saskatoon’s
last post-season loss came back in the 2013 PFC final by a 21-16 score to the
Thunder at Griffiths Stadium on the campus of the University of Saskatchewan.
The Hilltops will
host a CJFL national semifinal match this coming Sunday at 1 p.m. at SMF Field
against the Vancouver Island Raiders (8-3-1), who are based in Nanaimo, B.C.
 |
| The Hilltops raise the PFC championship trophy. |
The winner of the
match between the Hilltops and Raiders advances to the CJFL championship game –
the Canadian Bowl. The Canadian Bowl will be held on Nov. 11 in Ontario against
the winner of the Ontario Football Conference.
The Windsor AKO
Fratmen (8-1) host the Hamilton Hurricanes (6-3) in the OFC final, and the
schedule of that clash is still to be announced.
In the present,
Machart is pumped his team gets to play the Raiders this coming Sunday.
“I couldn’t be
happier right now,” said Machart. “I love this sport, and we wanted to win
today, and we got that.
“To continue on in
our season just feels awesome.”
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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