Friday, 30 August 2019

Hilltops aim to improve for big CJFL clash with Huskies

HC Tom Sargeant, left, wants to see improvement from his squad.
    Head coach Tom Sargeant knows his Saskatoon Hilltops have to do more than just find ways to win.
    The five time defending Canadian Junior Football League champions have started 2-0 this season with two road victories. They downed the Rifles in Winnipeg 34-20 on Aug. 18 and the Thunder in Regina 34-16 last Sunday.
    Having lost a number of key starters to graduation and the university ranks, the Hilltops haven’t looked smooth in the early going.
    In the win over the Rifles, Winnipeg outgained Saskatoon in gross offensive yards 466 to 440. The Hilltops came away with victory winning the turnover battle 6-1.
    In the victory over the Thunder, the Hilltops forced five turnovers but gave the ball away themselves three times. Saskatoon managed to outgain Regina in gross yards 384 to 342.
    “We’re just a little bumpy right now,” said Sargeant, who picked up his 200th career CJFL win in both action in the regular season and playoffs with the victory over the Thunder. “We’re just not trusting what we do.
    “What we practice is not what I am seeing.”
Jared Giddings, left, intercepts the football at its high point.
    The Hilltops finish a stretch of opening the regular season with three straight road contests this Sunday, when they travel to Edmonton to face the Huskies (2-0). The clash is an early season big game and marks the only time the two sides will meet in the regular season.
    The winner will not only improve to 3-0 but hold the head-to-head standings tiebreaker between the two sides as well.
    Going into this contest, the Hilltops have won their last 21 overall games in a row including action in the regular season and playoffs and their last 25 straight on the road including three victories in the CJFL championship game – the Canadian Bowl.
    Third-year running back Ben Abrook has been the Hilltops workhorse carrying the ball 64 times for 310 yards and scoring one touchdown over the club’s first two games. He said the team’s offence needs to have better outings than what happened in the game against Regina.
Ben Abrook, right, has been a workhorse for the Hilltops.
    “Our offence didn’t play as good as we should have,” said Abrook. “Our defence held us in there all game and made some huge plays.
    “We have a long road ahead of us to get where we want to go.”
    The defence provided the biggest highlights for the Hilltops in the win over the Thunder. Defensive back Colton Holmes stripped the ball away from Thunder short-yardage quarterback Carter Shewchuk at the Saskatoon one yard line late in the first quarter.
    The Hilltops put together an 11-play, 109-yard scoring drive that was capped by a three-yard touchdown run by Abrook.
    On the final play of the third quarter, Hilltops safety Brant Morrow intercepted a pass inside of his own end zone and raced 113 yards the other way for a touchdown. Morrow had two interceptions, two tackles and his 113-yard interception return was a new Prairie Football Conference record.
    Morrow was named the PFC defensive player of the week for his efforts.
    Fourth-year boundary corner Jared Giddings had an interception and three tackles in the Hilltops win over the Thunder, and he said the defence could still play better.
The Hilltops want to get to the end zone more frequently.
    “As a unit, we played alright,” said Giddings. “We had a couple of breakdowns.
    “Myself, I had a breakdown on the one sideline pass. We’ll learn from it. We watch a lot of film.”
    Sargeant expected the 2019 campaign to be a bit more a challenging campaign for his squad compared to recent seasons. The Hilltops have won eight of the last nine CJFL titles.
    The legendary sideline boss said the Hilltops coaches need to do a better job preparing players to play. He expects a better performance against the Huskies.
    “The good thing is I have a lot of experience, and my coaches have a lot of experience and a lot of pride in that room,” said Sargeant. “We’re going to work real hard to make sure that our team comes out and performs better.”

Getzlaf guest speaker at Hilltops End Zone Dinner

Chris Getzlaf on the Taylor Field big screen in 2013.
    Saskatchewan Roughriders great Chris Getzlaf will be the guest speaker at this year’s Saskatoon Hilltops End Zone Dinner.
    Getzlaf suited up as a receiver in 11 CFL campaigns from 2007 to 2017 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Saskatchewan Roughriders and Edmonton Eskimos. The Regina, Sask., product spent the bulk of that time with his hometown Roughriders.
    Over his 11 campaigns, Getzlaf appeared in 147 regular season games hauling in 414 passes for 6,192 yards and 41 touchdowns.
    Before joining the CFL, Getzlaf played two seasons with the University of Regina Rams in 2005 and 2006 in the U Sports ranks. 
Chris Getzlaf makes a training camp catch in 2015.
    Before his time with the Rams, Getzlaf played with the Regina Thunder, when the team was still called the Prairie Thunder.
    The Prairie Thunder name was last used in the 2004 CJFL campaign.
    When he was a member of the Roughriders, Getzlaf was a fan favourite right across Saskatchewan. 
    Throughout his football career, Getzlaf was known as the quiet type who led by example.
    He was a member of the Roughriders Grey Cup winning teams in 2007 and 2013. Getzlaf was named the most valuable Canadian player in the 2013 Grey Cup.
    The End Zone Dinner is slated for Saturday, Sept. 7 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. 
    The gates open at 4:15 p.m. and the meal is served at 5:15 p.m. 
    The dinner will include a silent auction.
    Tickets are $100 per single person or a table of nine can be purchases for $825.
    Tickets to the dinner also include game tickets to that night’s CJFL regular season contest between the Hilltops and Thunder.
    There will be a pre-game address at the End Zone Dinner by Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant.
    Those looking to purchase tickets can do so by clicking right here.

Huskies play giveaway to Bisons, other notes


    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team was too generous in sharing the ball with the University of Manitoba Bisons.
    On Friday night before 1,001 spectators at IG Field in Winnipeg, the Huskies gave the ball away to the Bisons seven times including three fumbles, two interceptions and two turnovers on downs. The Bisons weren’t as generous and didn’t turn the ball over once.
    As a result, the Bisons romped to a 43-19 victory in the U Sports regular season opener for both sides. Manitoba led 27-9 at halftime and cruised to victory from that point.
    The Huskies entered the season as the defending Canada West champions. They were rated fourth in the initial U Sports Top 10 rankings and second in the Canada West pre-season coaches poll.
    In his first U Sports start, Huskies quarterback Mason Nyhus completed 27-of-39 passes for 313 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
    Running back Adam Machart led the Huskies in rushing carrying the ball 13 times for 93 yards. Running back Josh Ewanchyna ran the ball eight times for 66 yards and scored one touchdown. He had two long runs called back due to holding penalties.
    Receiver Daniel Perry topped the Huskies in receiving yards at 76 coming off six catches. Yol Piok had five catches for 68 yards and one touchdown.
    Kicker David Solie made both his field goal attempts but missed one of two convert attempts.
    Bisons quarterback Des Catellier completed 14-of-19 passes for 163 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
    Receiver Macho Bockru hauled in six passes for 99 yards and scored three touchdowns for the Bisons. Running back Michael Ritchott topped the Bisons with 70 yards rushing on four carries including a 58-yard touchdown run.
    Bisons kicker Matt Riley made all five of his field goals.
    The Huskies return to action this coming Friday when they host the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds at 7 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium.

  • The Saskatoon Blades thumped the Pats in Regina 8-3 in their pre-season opener on Friday night. Colton Dach, who is a 16-year-old rookie, scored twice for the Blades, while Kyle Crnkovic, Spencer Shugrue, Hayden Smith, Chase Wouters, Radek Kucerik and Nolan Kneen had singles. Nolan Maier went the distance making 37 saves to pick up the win in goal.
  • The defending WHL champion Prince Albert Raiders opened their training camp on Friday with 90 players participating. On Thursday, the Raiders signed 18-year-old centre Ilya Usau to a WHL standard player agreement. Usau, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 181 pounds, is from Denver, Colorado and had seven goals and nine assists in 28 regular season games for Salisbury School in Connecticut last season.
  • Gerry Thompson, who is the retired legendary head coach of Regina’s Thom Collegiate Trojans football team, wrote a letter to the Regina Leader-Post about his insight to the storied Trojans football program taking a year leave of absence from the Regina Intercollegiate Football League. That piece can be found by clicking right here.
    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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