Hilltops aim to lock up first in PFC, Abrook nears 1,000 yards

Ben Abrook is closing in on 1,000 yards rushing.

    Ben Abrook has an outside shot to hit a big personal milestone, if the Saskatoon Hilltops lock up first place in the Prairie Football Conference on Sunday.

    The Hilltops (5-0) will travel to Edmonton on Sunday to take on the Wildcats (2-3) in a CJFL regular season game. Saskatoon would clinch first place in the PFC for a seventh straight year with a win in that contest.

    On a personal front, Abrook, who is the Hilltops third year power running back, is closing in on 1,000 yards rushing for the campaign. Over the Hilltops first five games, Abrook has carried the ball 140 times for 794 yards and scored four touchdowns.

    He needs 206 yards rushing to hit the 1,000-yard milestone.

    “It would be awesome,” said Abrook. “It would be something that you obviously want to do and something that would be great to achieve.”

    If Abrook hits the 1,000-yard milestone in rushing, it would mark the second straight year a Hilltops running back has hit that feat. Last year, Josh Ewanchyna carried the ball 134 times for 1,007 yards and 14 touchdowns for the ’Toppers.

Ben Abrook, right, has initiated contact as a power back.

    Ewanchyna hit that milestone mainly running behind an offensive line consisting of right tackle Kirk Simonsen, right guard Taylon Elderkin, centre Patrick Arno, left guard Ryder Klisowsky and left tackle Mason Ochs. Simonsen was the only member of that starting offensive line group to exhaust their CJFL eligibility at the end of the 2018 campaign.
    Jonathan Chisholm took over the right tackle starting spot to play beside the four returning starters. Looking at the veteran presence on the Hilltops offensive line, Abrook hoped that breaking the 1,000-yard barrier would be possible.

    “Whenever you come in with a veteran O-line like that, you definitely want to do well,” said Abrook, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 210 pounds. “Yeah, that would certainly be a goal of mine I guess to do that.”

    Before the Hilltops, who have won the last five straight CJFL title, can turn their attention towards personal milestones, they are focused on earning one more win to lock up first in the PFC. Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant expects the Wildcats present a challenge for his squad.

    The Wildcats have been getting strong performances from running back Ramone English and quarterback Dante Tabacu.

Ben Abrook has been a key reason to the Hilltops 5-0 start.

    “I’ll tell you at the end of the day right now we feel there is a good chance we’re going to see them in the playoffs,” said Sargeant. “They are a physical team.

    “They have the third ranked defence in our league. They are really starting to run the ball. They are pounding it.

    “They are aggressive, and they play physical Edmonton Wildcats football is what we’ve seen in the past. They’ve had a quarterback change which has really helped them, and he certainly gives them a lot of run clout.”
    Sargeant said his side is aware the Wildcats can make plays and won’t be pushed over.

    “At the end of the day, they are just playing better football, and we have to come out and play our best game,” said Sargeant. “There is a lot of meaning for us.

    “If we perform well, we’ll wrap up first place this weekend, and we’re very motivated to do that.”

    With all that said, Sargeant would like to see Abrook break the 1,000-yard barrier in rushing.

    “That would be huge,” said Sargeant. “Any time you have a 1,000 yard rusher, it doesn’t happen very often, so we’d be very blessed, if we were able to do that.

Ben Abrooks loves running behind the Hilltops offensive line.

    “Ben (Abrook) certainly has had a great year. Not a lot of people were talking about him at the beginning of the season, but he has certainly come in and been one of our high end football players. Full credit goes to the offensive line and (offensive line) coach (Donnie) Davidsen and the work that they do.
    “It has been a great plan. Ultimately, that is one of our rallying cries. If he (Abrook) stays healthy and we keep playing the way we are playing, we are going to get there and it’ll be exciting when it happens.”

    It is possible Abrook could have one of those dream nights where he rushes for 206 yards on Sunday. In reality, Abrook expects to break the 1,000-yard barrier in one of the Hilltops final two regular season games that will be held after Sunday’s encounter with the Wildcats.

    “You never know,” said Abrook. “We’re going to run the ball hard like we do every week.

“If it happens, it happens. If not, then hopefully next game.”

Kleiter tabbed with PFC player of the week honours

Rylan Kleiter (#7) boots one of his three field goals last Sunday.

    Rylan Kleiter, who is a reliable receiver/kicker for the Saskatoon Hilltops, was recognized for his solid work on special teams.

    On Wednesday, Kleiter was named the CJFL’s special teams player of the week for the Prairie Football Conference. In the Hilltops 53-6 romp over the Calgary Colts last Sunday at Saskatoon Minor Football field, Kleiter hit all three of his field goal attempts and connected on all six of his converts.

    He piled up 347 yards on seven kickoffs.

    Kleiter is in his fourth season with the Hilltops, and when he is not dressed for the blue and gold, he can be found on the curling sheet as he is a standout skip on his own curling team.

    Running back Ramone English of the Edmonton Wildcats was the PFC’s offensive player of the week. Defensive backs Justin Hodinsky of the Edmonton Huskies and Brandyn Martin of the Regina Thunder shared the honour of being the PFC’s defensive player of the week.

Are Hilltops win streaks CJFL records?

Doug Fleming runs into the end zone for a Hilltops touchdown.

    The Saskatoon Hilltops have three impressive active streaks going for consecutive victories, but it doesn’t appear they will be in the CJFL record book for any of them.

    Currently, the Hilltops have won their last 24 games in a row including action in the regular season and playoffs. They have won their last 26 straight games on the road including three victories in the CJFL championship game – the Canadian Bowl.

    Saskatoon has won its last 16 straight games in the post-season resulting in five straight CJFL titles.

    With all that noted, the CJFL in its online record book doesn’t keep records for consecutive victories. It does keep track of the record for consecutive losses.

    That record is held by the now defunct St. James Rods, who lost 51 straight games from 1979 to 1985. The Rods were based in Winnipeg, Man, and folded following the 1989 season.

    The CJFL has all of its post-season results listed online. From those figures, the Hilltops active streak of winning 16 straight games in the playoffs is a league record.

    The overall winning streak and streak for consecutive road victories could possibility be records, but there is a chance they are not records.

    The defunct Rods might have one of those streaks. While the Rods weren’t very successful at the end of their existence, they were a dominant force in the CJFL in the 1950s and early 1960s being known first as the Winnipeg Rods before changing their name to St. James Rods in 1959.

    When the Regina Rams were still in the CJFL, they could have posted longer streaks under the guidance of head coach Gord Currie in the 1960s and 1970s and under head coach Frank McCrystal in the 1980s and 1990s.

    The Hilltops have posted four perfect seasons in team history, and they could have possibly posted longer winning streaks somewhere in their history.

    Still, the overall, road and post-season winning streaks are still impressive marks.

Nyhus watch comes to an end for Huskies?

Mason Nyhus is expected to return to action for the Huskies.

    The short-lived Mason Nyhus watch looks to be coming to an end for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

    Back on Sept. 13, Nyhus was injured in a 44-9 romp over the University of Regina Rams at Mosaic Stadium. Nyhus, who is in his third year of eligibility, was nailed on a delayed blitz by the Rams late in the third quarter and hit his head hard on the stadium’s turf.

    Nyhus had been under concussion protocol since that hit. He didn’t play in the Huskies heartbreaking 19-17 setback to the University of Alberta Golden Bears last Saturday in Edmonton, Alta.

    On Wednesday, Huskies head coach Scott Flory told the assembled media before a team practice that Nyhus has been cleared to play and will start this Friday, when the Huskies (2-2) host the University of Calgary Dinos (4-0) in a U Sports regular season contest at 7 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium.
    The Huskies are rated ninth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, and the Dinos are rated fourth in those very same rankings.

    The Huskies thumped the Dinos 43-18 in last year’s Canada West final in Calgary, Alta., to claim the Hardy Cup.

    It should be noted the watch on when Nyhus would return wasn’t as intense as it would have been in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the Saskatoon StarPhoenix had a sports staff of about seven, CTV had a full sports department and Global had a half-hour sports highlight show.

    If a similar injury situation happened to the Huskies starting quarterback in those days, then legendary Huskies head coach Brian Towriss would have faced stretches of consecutive days with questions about the health of the starting signal caller.

    Worry about Nyhus was heightened a little bit. In last Saturday’s loss to the Golden Bears, one Edmonton media member said Huskies second string quarterback Ethan Watson was playing with an injured foot. That brought to mind the likelihood the Huskies could face the Dinos with a third-string quarterback.

    Nyhus’s presence on the field will make the Huskies encounter with the Dinos an intriguing one.

Huskies offer free tickets to KFL members in honour of Bowers

Adam Machart and the Huskies are back in action on Friday.

    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team is honouring the life and legacy of Kelly Bowers by offering free admission for members of the Kinsmen Football League for one night.

    On Friday when the Huskies host the U of Calgary Dinos at 7 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium in a U Sports regular season contest, all members of the Kinsmen Football League will receive complimentary admission, when they wear their KFL jersey to the game. Bowers was the sitting president of the KFL at the time of his passing.

    Bowers passed away from a heart attack at his home on Sept. 17 at age 70. He is a member of the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame and spent over five decades coaching, officiating and volunteering in the sports scene in “The Bridge City.”

    Bowers was best known for his involvement in football with the Bedford Road Invitational Tournament, which is one of the best high school tournaments in Western Canada.

    He had involvement with the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops, the Huskies and the WWCFL’s Saskatoon Valkyries.

Blades deal Hughes to Blazers

The Blades traded Ryan Hughes to the Blazers.

    The Saskatoon Blades got down to the WHL’s limit of three overage players thanks to a trade.

    On Wednesday, the Blades dealt overage right-winger Ryan Hughes to the Kamloops Blazers in exchange for 18-year-old forward Jerzy Orchard, a second round selection in the 2022 WHL Bantam Draft and a third round pick in the 2021 Bantam Draft.

    The Blades originally acquired Hughes in a deal with the Portland Winterhawks last Jan. 10 before the passing of that day’s WHL trade deadline. Last season, Hughes played in 61 regular season games between the Winterhawks and Blades recording 30 goals, 39 assists and a plus-13 rating in the plus-minus department.

    Hughes, who stands 5-foot-8 and weighs 157 pounds, had a goal and two assists playing in both of the Blades games so far this season.

    Orchard, who stands 6-feet and weighs 161 pounds, appeared in 41 regular season games last season with the Blazers collecting a goal and two assists. The Delisle, Sask., product hadn’t seen action with the Blazers this season.

    With Hughes being dealt to Kamloops, the Blades three remaining overagers are left-winger and ace agitator Riley McKay and defencemen Nolan Kneen and Scott Walford.

    On Thursday, the Blades released 15-year-old forward Brandon Lisowsky from their active roster. The Blades selected Lisowsky in the first round and ninth overall in the Bantam Draft left last May.

    He had one game-winning goal and four assists in five pre-season games. Lisowsky is expected to join the Burnaby Winter Club Midget Prep team of the Canadian Sport School Hockey League.

    Jayden Wiens, who is a rookie 16-year-old centre, was moved from the Blades affiliate player list to the club’s regular roster. Wiens was selected in the eighth round and 155^th overall in the 2018 Bantam Draft.

    He played in both Blades regular season games so far in the current campaign. Last season, Wiens netted seven goals and 27 assists in 44 regular season games with the Tisdale Trojans of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League.

    The Blades (1-1) return to action on Friday, when they host the Winnipeg Ice (1-1) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    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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