Hilltops set sights on rebound

The Hilltops storm on to SMF Field on September 11.

When it comes to his Saskatoon Hilltops sporting a 2-2 record at this point in time, head coach Tom Sargeant said an old cliché is proving to be true.

“Right now, it is who we are,” said Sargeant. “We are an average football team hence the 2-2 record.

“The mood is good. At the end of the day, a lot of conversations and a lot of tough talks and lots of reality checks. At the end of the day, I have to coach better, and they have to play better.

“We’re all in this thing together. We’ve all committed and signed up that you know what we can do a better job and we can do more than what we are doing. Ultimately, it is my job to find the right players and put them in the right spots and do the right things.”

The Hilltops sport a 2-2 record after losing two straight games to their provincial rivals the Regina Thunder, who are 4-0 and lead the Canadian Junior Football League’s Prairie Football Conference.

The venerable Saskatoon side aims to begin the first step towards a rebound on Sunday, when they host the Winnipeg Rifles (1-3) at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field in a CJFL regular season clash.

The storied Hilltops were close in their two setbacks to the Thunder. 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.

The losses halted the Hilltops overall winning streak at 33 games and their road winning streak at 31 games.

Sargeant said the confidence on his team is still high, and the Hilltops are focused on continuing to grow and learn. The legendary sideline boss said the club has dealt with adversity like this before in past seasons.

Damon Dutton had a solid outing in the Hilltops last game.

“You know what, this is old hat,” said Sargeant. “We’ve been here many times before.

“People forget about that maybe because we’ve had a lot of success lately. What is the old saying? It doesn’t matter how you start the race. It is how you finish it.

“We have four more games in front of us to dictate where we end up. The real season starts when playoffs begin. It is our job in these next four weeks to get us ready for those moments.”

Barring a Thunder collapse during the second half of the regular season, the highest the Hilltops can realistically finish in the PFC standings is second place, and they will likely have to win all four of their remaining games to do that.

Finishing first and second in the PFC has extra meaning in the 2021 campaign, as the post-season format for the conference has been expanded an extra round.

The last time a CJFL campaign was completed in 2019 before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic gripped the world in March of 2020 causing shutdowns in North America, the top four teams in the PFC made the playoffs.

It was decided that this season all six of the conference’s teams would take part in post-season play. The first and second place clubs get byes to host PFC semifinal games.

The post-season for the PFC opens with a quarter-final round with the third place club hosting the six place team and the fourth place squad hosting the fifth place finisher.

In the semifinal round, the first place team will host the lowest seeded club that advances from the quarter-final round.

During their first four games, the Hilltops have juggled things at the quarterback position. Doug Fleming started the Hilltops first three games and was pulled in favour of Damon Dutton.

Dutton started the Hilltops last outing, which was the 30-27 setback to the Thunder at Mosaic Stadium.

The Hilltops still have big plans for Doug Fleming on offence.

In that contest, Dutton was really good completing 28-of-34 passes for 332 yards and one touchdown, while throwing the one inception with seven seconds remaining in the game.

“We are judging everybody week by week, and there is no question,” said Sargeant. “Damon (Dutton) came in and was one of our better players on Saturday night in a hostile environment.

“It was quite an environment. He showed a lot of poise, lot of confidence and made some real good decisions. He is certainly going to start this weekend.

“We look forward to him continuing his play and improving and continuing to move that offence.”

Sargeant said the Hilltops haven’t given up on Fleming, who is also the team’s punter. The sideline boss said the Hilltops coaches have been honest and real with both signal callers in working to keep things moving forward.

“Doug (Fleming) is a captain,” said Sargeant. “Doug (Fleming) is a great kid.

“He is doing all the right things. You don’t worry about Doug Fleming. If we need him, you can count on him.

“As I said, he is still our veer quarterback and short yardage quarterback. He is our punter. The thing about quarterback is you are one play away from being the guy in there.”

Fleming and Dutton joined the Hilltops together back in 2018, and Sargeant said the duo has worked well together and both want to see each other have success.

“They’ve been together for three years,” said Sargeant.” They’ve been teammates for a long time.

“They support each other. That is what we look for and that is what we expect and that is why the Hilltops have been so successful in the past.”

Sargeant believes a bright future is still ahead for the Hilltops in the 2021 campaign. The team’s practices this week have been upbeat and positive as the players strive to improve.

The Hilltops want to hit the end zone lots the rest of the season.

“There is so much in front of us,” said Sargeant. “It is a team that we thought would be ahead of schedule, and right now, we’re behind schedule.

“That is on me. That is not on anybody else. We’re just going to have to work and dig and grind. Ultimately, it is my job and our job to get this right.”

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