Adversity gives Hilltops chance to show resiliency

Hilltops QB Damon Dutton is sacked by Thunder LB Ryan Mills.

The Saskatoon Hilltops find themselves in unaccustomed territory these days.

The powerhouse CJFL club is actually on a two-game skid after falling two straight games to their provincial rivals the Regina Thunder. The setbacks to the 4-0 Thunder dropped the Hilltops to 2-2.

The storied Saskatoon side hasn’t had a 2-2 record after four regular season games since the 2014 campaign. After four games, the Hilltops are usually used to holding 3-1 or 4-0 records.

The Hilltops also sit tied for the third and fourth spots in the Prairie Football Conference standings with the Edmonton Wildcats, who are also 2-2.

Saskatoon will try to halt the skid on Sunday taking on the Winnipeg Rifles (1-3) at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.

Before the 2020 CJFL campaign was lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hilltops had won the Canadian Bowl to become CJFL champions six years in a row. In the last 10 completed CJFL campaigns, the Hilltops have won nine CJFL titles.

If you dropped by the Hilltops clubhouse facility or checked out one of their practices at Ron Atchison this past week, the club is still upbeat and positive. The coaches and players believe they are going to get better and the best is yet to come in the current campaign.

For onlookers of the team, the 2-2 start might be surprising, because the Hilltops looked like a squad that may never lose in recent years.

The two-game skid halted the Hilltops 33-game winning streak and their 31-game road winning streak. Both those streaks are believed to be CJFL records.

Saskatoon won the CJFL title in 2018 with fifth-year star quarterback Jordan Walls guiding the way with an 11-0 perfect season. The Hilltops were so impressive in that campaign that they trailed on the scoreboard for a combined 81 seconds in the regular season and post-season.

Their closest margin of victory in 2018 came in the PFC Final, where they posted a 28-9 win over the Edmonton Huskies.

Carter McLean sits second in the PFC in rushing.

The statistical dominance the Hilltops posted in 2018 was something you rarely see at any level of sports.

In 2019, Saskatoon followed up with a 12-0 perfect season to once again capture the CJFL championship. Fifth-year quarterback Tyler Hermann impressed in his one lone campaign as the team’s starting quarterback.

Still, the Hilltops weren’t as dominant needing comeback victories to pull out games and taking the Canadian Bowl in an 11-6 defensive slugfest against the host Langley Rams in Langley, B.C.

The Hilltops entered the 2021 campaign with a roster that contains just three players who are in their fifth and final full season with the team in boundary cornerback Jared Giddings, star left tackle Mason Ochs and right tackle Jonathan Chisholm.

Legendary Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant and his staff likely anticipated that bumps in the road were going to happen.

In their season opener on August 22 at Jasper Place Bowl in Edmonton, the Hilltops trailed the host Huskies 14-0 before rallying for an 18-17 victory.

On August 29 at Shouldice Park in Calgary, the Hilltops downed the host Colts 35-18, but that contest had rocky moments for the blue and gold.

The two losses to the Thunder followed, but the Hilltops were two or three plays from coming out on top in each of those outings.

On Sept. 11 at SMF Field, the Thunder used a last play 51-yard field goal from kicker Eric Maximuik to pull out a 16-13 victory.

This past Saturday at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, an end zone interception by Justin McKerracher with seven seconds remaining in the fourth quarter preserved a 30-27 victory for the Thunder in an all-time classic CJFL match.

Konner Johnson sits second in the PFC in defensive points.

While the Hilltops have had inconsistent play over their first four games, there have been lots of bright spots, which could help spark a surge upwards for the rest of the campaign.

Running back Carter McLean sits second in the PFC in rushing piling up 415 yards on 86 carries and scoring three touchdowns. He has also caught seven passes for another 47 yards.

Linebacker Konner Johnson sits second in the PFC with 61 defensive points coming on 24 total tackles, one quarterback sack, three pass knockdowns and one interception.

Teijon Abel-Douglas, who is an 18-year-old rookie kicker just out of high school, has made all five of his field goals and all eight of his converts.

In their first three games, the Hilltops didn’t get the consistent play they wanted at quarterback from Doug Fleming and Damon Dutton. Fleming was the starter for the first three games but was pulled in favour of Dutton in two of those contests.

Dutton made his first CJFL start in the Hilltops fourth game and had a solid outing in the 30-27 loss to the Thunder completing 28-of-34 passes for 332 yards, one touchdown and one interception. That might be a sign that the Hilltops might be starting to get the consistent play at quarterback they’ve been seeking.

Sargeant, who doubles as the Hilltops offensive coordinator, is the all-time wins leader for post-secondary football in Canada. He has navigated teams through seasons like this before.

The Hilltops coaching staff has lots of veterans like defensive coordinator Jeff Yausie, who won’t get rattled by a two-game skid.

Saskatoon likely won’t catch the Thunder for first in the PFC, unless the Thunder collapse over the final four regular season games.

The Hilltops can still finish second in the PFC, if they win their last four regular season games. That would be helpful this season, because all teams in the PFC make the post-season.

The first and second place squads will have byes to host contests in the semifinal round.

The Hilltops aim to enjoy making more big plays this season.

In their history, the Hilltops have won more CJFL titles than any other team at 22, and the current team isn’t totally that far off from rounding into that type of form.

You can bet the coaches and players will keep their focus up the rest of the way to give the Hilltops a chance to finish the campaign in a memorable way.

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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