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| Hilltops HC Tom Sargeant, second from left, gives orders last Saturday. |
The
Hilltops star running back means that is the most respectful way too.
During his
first two full seasons with the Hilltops in 2018 and 2019, McLean’s first
impressions when his Hilltops visited Mosaic Stadium to face the host Regina
Thunder were good ones. When the Hilltops travel to Regina for games, they are
usually accompanied by a large contingent of supporters from Saskatoon.
Since the
Thunder started playing games in Mosaic Stadium in 2017, the Hilltops faithful
seem to have found this one section on the west side of the facility to occupy
that seems to be good for cheering.
Mosaic
Stadium is designed to hold crowd noise inside the facility, and the Hilltops
supporters seem to have found the one section to where the noise circulates and
gets amplified inside the stadium.
When the Hilltops are introduced to the crowd first being the visiting team, the players often get a bit surprised by how loud their fans sound when they come out on to the field.
“It is so fun to play at Mosaic,” said McLean. “The fans come, and it is awesome seeing the support from them.
“They are loud out there. We have some of the loudest fans for sure and some of the best ones here in the CJFL. We’re looking forward to that game for sure in Mosaic.”
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| Carter McLean sits second in the PFC in rushing. |
Regina’s
victory ended a 33-game winning streak including action in the CJFL regular
season and post-season for the Hilltops.
The two
sides have met three times at Mosaic Stadium, and the Hilltops have claimed
victory in each of those encounters with McLean being on the roster for the
2018 and 2019 wins.
Actually,
last Saturday’s setback to the Thunder was the first time the 21-year-old ever
experienced a loss as a member of the Hilltops.
“Since I’ve been here, we haven’t lost a game, so it is a real eye-opener and a real humbler that we have to learn from,” said McLean, who stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 180 pounds. “This week it is going to be a lot of focus to details and a lot of focus on the plays to get better for each and every one of us here.”
From that
encounter last Saturday, the Thunder posted 409 yards of total offence, while
the Hilltops had 288 yards of total offence. Regina had 34 minutes and 26
seconds in time of possession, while Saskatoon had the ball for 25 minutes and
36 seconds.
Legendary
Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant said film study showed obvious points where
his team needs to be better.
“Real simple, number one the offence has to stay on the field longer and the defence has to get off the field sooner,” said Sargeant. “When you look at time possession, their offence was on the field 10 more minutes than we were.
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| The Hilltops defence aims to keep the Thunder offence in check. |
“You know what, that didn’t happen. Obviously, our offence has got to do a better job of getting things sorted out, and that is on me.”
During the
Hilltops first three games, their offensive unit has had its ups and downs. In
two of those games including last Saturday’s loss, the Hilltops have pulled
starting quarterback Doug Fleming in favour of backup Damon Dutton.
No matter who
has been at quarterback, the Hilltops offence has been inconsistent. Sargeant
wants to see better play for the quarterback position.
Since the
sideline boss doubles as the Hilltops offensive coordinator, Sargeant said he
has to do his part in ensuring the offence plays better.
“We need these guys to step up and do their jobs and make the plays when they need to make them and that didn’t always happen,” said Sargeant. “We’re going to own it first.
“We have to coach better. We have to make sure that we put our players in better spots. We have to make sure our players are confident in the spots we put them in, and then they have to execute the plan.”
Sargeant is
looking forward to the opportunity to bounce back from a loss.
“We’re excited to go redeem ourselves,” said Sargeant. “At the end of the day, we’re not proud with our performance.
“We believe we have to step up. In the last three or four minutes, Regina just wanted it more than we did, and they showed a little more of that killer instinct. This team has to rise to the challenge, and I’m excited to see how they respond.”
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| The Hilltops look to return to the win column this Saturday. |
After
falling to the Thunder this past Saturday, McLean believes it is good for his
Hilltops to have the chance to take on the Thunder again this coming Saturday
in Regina.
“It will be nice to see them right away here again,” said McLean. “We will try to play better than they do obviously and get the win.
“We know their tendencies. We see them during film, and we know what their tendencies are and we don’t forget about that. We are ready to go.”
Hilltops’ Fossen named PFC’s defensive
player of the week
Last Saturday, Fossen had five defensive tackles, one defensive tackle assist, one quarterback sack and one forced fumble in the Hilltops 16-13 setback to the Regina Thunder at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.
In the 2019 season, Fossen played in all of the Hilltops games as they went 12-0 to win a sixth straight CJFL title. In those games, he had 35 defensive tackles, 12 tackle assists, three sacks, two special teams tackles and one special teams tackle assist.
The Watrous, Sask., product is playing in his fourth full season with the Hilltops.
Thunder’s Maximuik takes weekly special
teams honour
Last Saturday, Maximuik hit a 51-yard field goal on the last play of the game to lift the Thunder to a 16-13 victory over the host Saskatoon Hilltops at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.
Maximuik, who is in his fourth full season with the Thunder, made 3-of-4 field goals in the contest and connected on his only convert attempt. He also punted the ball seven times for an average of 38.1 yards per kick.
Huskies’ Gayle dubbed PFC’s top weekly
offensive player
This past Sunday, Gayle had a big outing as his Huskies hammered the visiting Calgary Colts 62-14 at Jasper Place Bowl in Edmonton. Gayle carried the ball 18 times for 112 yards and scored one touchdown.
He also caught four passes for 41 yards.
Thanks to Gayle’s performance, the Huskies improved to 2-1, while the Colts fell to 0-3.
Alberta declares state of public health
emergency
On Wednesday evening, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney declared a state of public health emergency for his province due to the rising cases of coronavirus (COVID-19).
As of Wednesday, Alberta had 18,421 active cases of COVID-19. As of Wednesday evening, Alberta had 270 COVID-19 patients in intensive care units.
Alberta Health Services is asking for help from other provinces to take patients who are in ICU.
Alberta reported 1,609 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, which is the second single highest day increase during the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the world.
A large majority of the COVID-19 cases are made up of people who haven’t gotten vaccinated against the virus.
Alberta also introduced numerous public health orders. Some of those orders start on Thursday and others take effect on Monday.
One of the measures states that starting on Thursday indoor private gatherings are limited to a single household plus one other household to a maximum of 10 people and all the people in the gathering must be vaccinated. Gatherings are not permitted for those who are not vaccinated.
On the sports front starting on Thursday, spectator attendance for indoor events is limited to one-third of fire code capacity.
Albertans who are not vaccinated can’t socialize indoors without anyone outside of their household beginning on Thursday.
Starting on Monday, no indoor group classes or activities for adults will be permitted. One-on-one training or individual workouts will be permitted with three metres of physical distancing required.
There are no restrictions on outdoor sports activities.
Also on Monday, Alberta is introducing a proof of vaccination system to access non-essential businesses under what the provincial government there calls the “restriction exemption program.”
People accessing those business must show proof of vaccination or produce a negative privately-paid COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of accessing that business.
Businesses such as restaurants, bars, entertainment and recreation facilities that adopt the system will be able to operate as usual without any of the new restrictions as long as they deny access to unvaccinated individuals or those who cannot provide a negative test result. Documentation of a medical exemption will be accepted as well.
Over the next few days, it is likely exemptions for these orders will be declared for sports leagues like the NHL, WHL, AJHL and U Sports that hold competitions indoors. U Sports has a number of outdoor sports that won’t be affected in Alberta.
The Edmonton Journal story regarding the new COVID-19 restrictions coming in for Alberta 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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