Defensive lineman returned for final CJFL campaign
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| Connor Guillet missed the 2017 season with a ruptured Achilles tendon. |
Going into his
fourth season with the team a year ago, the Humboldt, Sask., product, who plays
defensive end, ruptured his Achilles tendon near the end of main training camp.
The injury forced Guillet, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 245 pounds, to miss
all of the 2017 campaign.
Guillet still hung around
the team attending practices and making games to offer support for his
teammates. He wasn’t going to allow the injury to prevent him from playing in
his fifth and final season with the venerable Canadian Junior Football League
club.
While on the
comeback trail, Guillet received a lot of encouragement from the Hilltops organization
to make it back.
“It is just my last
year as a fifth year,” said Guillet. “The Hilltops pretty much drove me to come
back.
“It was a good
off-season just to strengthen my Achilles and get into training and get back
into the weight room. Two weeks after the surgery I was right back in the
weight room lifting, and I was just preparing for this next season.
“I just kind of knew
that it had to be done.”
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| Connor Guillet (#76) charges on to the field. |
He wants to help the
Hilltops win an unprecedented fifth straight CJFL title.
The Hilltops (10-0)
host the CJFL championship game – the Canadian Bowl – on Saturday at 1 p.m.
against the Langley Rams (10-3).
Guillet has the chance
to be one of eight fifth-year players that wins a CJFL championship in every
year they were eligible to play in the league with one team. The other seven veterans who look to share in that
distinction include quarterback Jordan Walls, receiver Jason Price, right
tackle Kirk Simonsen, receiver Adam Ewanchyna and linebackers Adam Benkic,
Bobby Ehman and Cody Peters.
If the Hilltops can win
the Canadian Bowl again, Guillet said he would be happy for the other
fifth-year players and everyone else on the team.
“It would be awesome,”
said Guillet. “I would be super thankful, especially to the Hilltops
organization just for kind of giving us eight guys the opportunity to come out
here and play.
“There are a lot of
talented younger guys out there, and you have to hand it to them, they are
really playing their roles in all of this.”
Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant said he was proud that Guillet made to back to play his final season. The legendary sideline boss knows there are times players leave the CJFL to focus on school or work, if a major injury happens.
Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant said he was proud that Guillet made to back to play his final season. The legendary sideline boss knows there are times players leave the CJFL to focus on school or work, if a major injury happens.
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| Hilltops DE Connor Guillet (#76) spies into the Winnipeg Rifles backfield. |
“It was just
devastating,” said Sargeant. “Guys work so hard to get ready and get going.
“You never know when
a guy takes a year off. What I like, he (Guillet) came back and wasn’t quite
right, but each game he got more confident in it. He is playing at a high
level.
“He is doing what we
need him to do. He is going to be an impact player come Saturday in the
Canadian Bowl.”
Guillet went through
all sorts of emotions watching the team last season. He was happy to be around “the
Hilltops family” and felt he acted as a good support person for the defensive
lineman.
When he saw Riley
Pickett and Tom Schnitzler have outstanding seasons playing the defensive end
positions, Guillet was happy for the pair,
but he wondered what could have been had he been healthy.
“I’m not going to
lie, it made me miss it quite a bit,” said Guillet, who is studying education
at the University of Saskatchewan. “Hats off to those guys especially Pickett
and Tommy.
“They really stepped
up I think. They just had a great year.”
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| Hilltops DE Connor Guillet (#76) helps stop an Edmonton Huskies runner. |
“He (Guillet) is a
super kid and the guys really like him,” said Sargeant. “He is just a positive
influence.
“He is a great
leader. He does everything we want a Hilltop to be. He is going to school. He
works hard.
“He has a passion
for life, a passion for the game and as I said, he is just a real popular
player, popular kid, who has bigger and better things in his horizon.”
After the Hilltops
won their fourth straight Canadian Bowl in 2017, Pickett joined the University
of Saskatchewan Huskies football team and has helped them win a Canada West conference
title. Schnitzler graduated from the CJFL ranks and moved on to join the
University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.
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| Connor Guillet listens for a play from the sidelines. |
“Truthfully, I had
pretty low expectations,” said Guillet. “I was just coming into the season, and
I was just hoping for the best.”
He became a starter,
but admits he still gets bothered by plays he missed. Taking everything into
consideration, Guillet believes he had a good campaign.
“I think it went not
bad,” said Guillet. “I’m probably pretty critical, so there are definitely a
couple of missed plays and a lot of things I could have improved on.
“Overall, I can’t
really complain.”
Guillet is aiming to
play his best game ever for the Hilltops in the Canadian Bowl. He expects the
Rams to supply a big challenge.
He also believes it
is strange to think that Saturday’s CJFL title game will be his last as a player
for the Hilltops.
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| Connor Guillet (#76) and the Hilltops D-linemen with the PFC title trophy. |
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