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| Ben Abrook piled up 206 yards rushing for the Hilltops on Sunday. |
Before the
current season started, legendary Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant challenged
Abrook with the goal of rushing for 1,000 yards this season. Abrook was
entering his third year with the team, but was in his first year holding the
starting role at running back.
Last season
with one start and relief duty, he had a strong campaign appearing in all eight
of the Hilltops regular season games running the ball 83 times for 503 yards
and scoring six touchdowns.
On Sunday
at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, Abrook roared past the 1,000-yard plateau
for the season.
In a 49-22 romp over the Winnipeg Rifles in a CJFL regular season clash played before 902 spectators, Abrook ran the ball 18 times for 206 yards and scored two touchdowns.
In a 49-22 romp over the Winnipeg Rifles in a CJFL regular season clash played before 902 spectators, Abrook ran the ball 18 times for 206 yards and scored two touchdowns.
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| Ben Abrook (#32) follows his blocking downfield. |
Upon
obtaining the impressive milestone, Abrook reflected back to the goal he talked
about with Sargeant in the pre-season.
“I thought
if he (Sargeant) believes it I can maybe get it then,” said Abrook. “That is
awesome.
“It helps
me. It helps my confidence, so I’m glad I was able to get her done.”
While
Abrook entered Sunday’s contest needing to rush for 92 yards to hit the
1,000-yard mark, the Hilltops remained committed to being balanced on offence.
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| Ben Abrook (#32) breaks downfield on a 52-yard touchdown run. |
Winnipeg
was forced to attempt a 38-yard field goal, but kicker Alex Minor hit the left
upright on his try resulting in no points and the Hilltops taking the ball on
their own 20 yard line.
On their
first play on offence, Hilltops quarterback Tyler Hermann hit receiver Dillan
Heintz with a deep pass, and Heintz took the play 90 yards for a touchdown and
a 7-0 lead for the host side.
That play
seemed to back off the Winnipeg defence, and Abrook went to work. Abrook
exploded out of the gates in the first half carrying the ball 16 times for 192
yards and scoring both his touchdowns helping the Hilltops build a 35-8 lead by
halftime.
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| Keegan Dicks (#3) helps celebrate at TD run by Ben Abrook (#32). |
Late in the
second quarter, he broke off a 52-yard run for his second major that put the
Hilltops up 28-8.
“The O-line
was just blocking so hard,” said Abrook. “The receivers were blocking well.
“We were
able to spring some big runs. It was awesome. It looked great out there.”
Kicker/receiver
Rylan Kleiter hit field goals from 12 and 27 yards out and recorded a point
from a missed 40-yard field goal attempt for the Hilltops in the first half.
Hermann hit
fifth-year receiver Tanner Rhode on a deep slant pass for a 65-yard touchdown
toss to round out Saskatoon’s first half scoring.
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| Ben Abrook, left, has 1,114 yards rushing on the season. |
Abrook ran
the ball twice more on the Hilltops first offensive series of the second half
to get over 200-yards rushing for the game before being rested for the rest of
the contest. Saskatoon completed that series with fifth-year receiver Connor
Graham making an acrobatic 26-yard touchdown catch on a pass from Hermann to
put the Hilltops up 42-8.
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| The Hilltops O-line allowed Ben Abrook to surpass 1,000 yards rushing. |
“That is
just awesome,” said Sargeant. “You know any time you have a 1,000-yard rusher
that speaks volumes to your program, to the players within the program and to
the mindset of the program.
“We love to
run the ball. This is as good as I’ve seen Benny (Abrook) look. He looked fast
today.
“We’re
going to build on that. I’m excited for next week as the games get a little
more important now.”
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| The Hilltops’ defence stops the Rifles on a third-and-one gamble. |
The Rifles
scoring was rounded out by starting quarterback Riley Naujoks hitting receiver
Eric Klein with a 20-yard touchdown toss, a one-yard touchdown run from
Urciuoli and conceded safety by the Hilltops.
The Rifles
tried to make two-point converts after both of their second half touchdowns,
but they came up empty on both tries.
Winnipeg
fell to 1-6 with the loss and was eliminated from playoff contention.
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| Hilltops right guard Taylon Elderkin runs the ball for 13 yards. |
“We had a
little bit of a lull in the third quarter, when we put our second and third
stringers in. At the end the day, I am happy. There are a lot of plays out
there.
“There is a
lot of fun and a lot of good energy. Once again, we got to unload the bench,
and it makes us all feel good as coaches, players and families.”
Hermann
completed 10-of-19 passes for the Hilltops for 254 yards, three touchdowns and
no interceptions.
Naujoks
connected on 20-of-38 passes for the Rifles for 270 yards, one touchdown and
one interception. Winnipeg backup quarterback Kyle Logan entered the contest
for a relief appearance competing 7-of-13 passes for 121 yards.
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| QB Tyler Hermann (#12) threw three TD passes for the Hilltops. |
Defensively,
fifth-year defensive end Tristan Hering had a sack for the Hilltops, and
fifth-year defensive back Logan Kelsey-Stern had an interception. Linebacker
Riley Keating topped Saskatoon with 6.5 total tackles.
Linebacker
Barrett Mueller had a big day for the Rifles making 10 total tackles and
recovering a fumble.
The
Hilltops have won their last 26 games in a row including action in the regular
season and playoffs.
With Abrook
surpassing 1,000-yards rushing for the season, it marked the second straight
year the Hilltops had a runner break the 1,000-yard mark in rushing.
Last
season, Josh Ewanchyna, who now plays for the University of Saskatchewan
Huskies football team in U Sports, surpassed 1,000 yards rushing for the
Hilltops. In 2018, Ewanchyna appeared in seven regular season games for the
Hilltops carrying the ball 134 times for 1,007 yards and 14 touchdowns.
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| The Hilltops Cheerleading Team performs at halftime. |
Ochs,
Klisowsky, Arno and Elderkin were on the Hilltops starting offensive line last
season that helped produce Ewanchyna’s 1,007-yard rushing season.
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| Tristan Hering had a sack for the Hilltops. |
“They are
an athletic O-line, and they play hard every game, so I was happy I was able to
get that for us and as a team.”
The
Hilltops will now close their regular season schedule this coming Sunday, when
they host the Edmonton Wildcats (2-5) at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football
Field.
It isn’t
likely Abrook will be able to surpass the Hilltops record for most rushing
yards in one regular season in that contest.
That mark
is held by current Hilltops running backs coach Andre Lalonde. In his final
campaign as a Hilltops running back in 2013, Lalonde ran the ball 182 times for
1,367 yards and seven touchdowns in eight regular season games.
Lalonde was
the CJFL’s offensive player of the year and an all-Canadian all-star that
season.
Going
forward, Abrook said the focus will be on improving as a team week in and week
out.
“It is just
forget about what we’ve done,” said Abrook. “Whoever we play next, we need to
play them hard.
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| The Hilltops hope to enjoy more big games from Ben Abrook (#32). |
With one
week to play in the regular season schedule of the Prairie Football Conference,
the PFC semifinal playoff matches, which are expected to be held on Sunday,
Oct. 20, have been cemented.
The
Hilltops will host the Wildcats in one semifinal, while the Regina Thunder
(5-2) and the Edmonton Huskies (5-2) will go at it in the other semifinal. The
host site for the playoff clash between the Thunder and Huskies depends on the
results of the final week of regular season play.
The Calgary
Colts (1-6) will miss the post-season for a third straight year.
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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