Hilltops run of six straight CJFL title wins a spectacular era
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| The Hilltops celebrate their Canadian Bowl win in 2015. |
From 2014 to 2019, the Saskatoon Hilltops had a run that
even the most optimistic person involved with the storied CJFL club wouldn’t
have thought possible.
Since the modern version of the team hit the field in 1947,
the Hilltops have become one of the most fabled teams in all of Canadian sport
having won 22 CJFL championships. With all the accolades the Hilltops have
collected over the past 75 years, the most impressive high point might have
been the team’s run at winning six straight CJFL titles from 2014 to 2019.
The run was capped with the Hilltops posting two straight
perfect seasons going 11-0 in 2018 and 12-0 in 2019.
“It was amazing,” said Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant,
whose 218 career wins entering this season are the most in Canada’s amateur
post-secondary football ranks. “I guess you remember the championship teams a
little bit different than the other teams, and it is too bad.
“I’m not saying that is right, but you have that tendency to
do that. It was just a great energy and a great confidence. These guys knew
when they showed up in big games they were going to play their best football,
and that is what championship caliber football is all about is playing your
best when your best is needed.”
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| From left, Justin Filteau, Tom Sargeant and Jeff Yausie in 2014. |
While the Hilltops strive to hit new levels of competitive
greatness which they did during the run of six straight CJFL title wins, the
run actually had an auspicious start.
Going into the 2014 season, the Hilltops were looking to
bounce back after falling 21-16 in the PFC final against the Regina Thunder at
Griffiths Stadium. The Thunder went on to win the Canadian Bowl to become CJFL
champions for the first time in team history.
The Hilltops and Thunder opened the 2014 campaign playing
each other at Taylor Field in Regina, and the Thunder prevailed in that contest
19-16 in overtime. After rebounding with a 19-13 victory over the Edmonton
Huskies in Week 2 at Griffiths Stadium, the Hilltops hit a low point that
seemingly came out of nowhere.
On Sept. 6, 2014, the Hilltops were set to play at their
long time home park, which was newly renovated and rechristened Saskatoon Minor
Football Field, against the Thunder. A lot of extra functions took place around
that contest to commemorate the improvements at the park.
It appeared it was going to be a great day for the Hilltops
as they held a 25-3 lead at one point in the contest and were up 25-6 going into
the final two minutes of the game. Before those final two minutes elapsed, the
Thunder scored three touchdowns to pull out a shocking 26-25 victory.
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| Justin Filteau sets to make a tackle in the PFC final in 2014. |
Sitting with a 1-2 record, the Hilltops were in a soul
searching position, and they were looking to just win a game.
“We had lost at Griffiths to Regina at the end of the year
(in 2013),” said Sargeant. “They kicked the door down, and they were rocking
and rolling.
“The next year they showed up with a lot of confidence, and
they took us down. I wasn’t worried about them. I was just worried about us.
“I remember meeting with our leadership group, and I said,
‘Guys, you keep playing like this at the end of the day I’m going to have to
play young guys, and we’re going to have to move forward.’ I said, ‘If this isn’t
ground zero then we are in trouble.’”
The
Hilltops in 2014 were a younger team with only five fifth-year players. One of
those was linebacker Justin Filteau, who got a read on what needed to be done.
Filteau,
who passed away in a plane crash on June 1, 2019, called a players’ only
meeting in the basement of the Hilltops old clubhouse building. He spoke to the
team about coming together as a family and working on the brotherhood within
the squad.
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| Wayndel Lewis, right, takes a handoff in 2014. |
In unique
Filteau fashion, he was able to pull on the heartstrings of his teammates.
“That is one of the things we ended up writing on our rings
was the brotherhood,” said Hilltops safety James Vause, who was in his rookie
year in 2014. “I think it probably stemmed from that players’ only meeting that
we had downstairs after we were 1-2 there.
“He (Filteau) definitely did bring the guys together. We had
a good chat and the leaders all spoke. It was mostly Filteau speaking, but it
was good to have something without the coaches around.”
Jordan
Walls, who was a first-year quarterback with the Hilltops in 2014, said it was
perfectly accurate to say that the players’ only meeting Filteau called was the
point the team that season truly came together.
“It was a bunch of strangers that came in the first couple
of weeks and then kind of after that meeting we all bought in,” said Walls. “We
started doing things a lot more together as a team and going out as a group and
making sure everyone was feeling included.
“As a first year guy, I definitely felt that way.”
After an intense week of practice, the Hilltops traveled to
Edmonton and crushed the Huskies 68-17, which started a run where they closed
the campaign with eight straight wins. The 2014 season culminated on November 8
with a 39-14 victory over the Rams in Langley, B.C. in the Canadian Bowl to
become CJFL champions.
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| The Hilltops celebrate winning the PFC final in 2014. |
Hilltops fifth-year star running back Wayndel Lewis, whose
season came to an end with a left ankle injury in the team’s first playoff
game, was named the CJFL’s offensive player of the year. Filteau took home
individual honours as a CJFL all-Canadian all-star. Vause said you couldn’t
overstate the impact Filteau had on the team.
“He was super important,” said Vause. “He definitely led by
example.
“Being a young guy and kind of seeing his stature for a
linebacker and how many plays he made and how much heart he showed on the
field, he really put his heart and soul into every single practice and game. As
a young guy seeing that, it was something that I definitely wanted to try and
emulate as well. There wasn’t too many fifth years on the team, but they were
definitely great leaders and players that we looked up to.
“A huge mantra on the Hilltops is to always try to help our
fifth years leave as champions. With only having a few of them on our team, we
really wanted to do it for them. Being a young guy, you really played for them,
so they could leave the program as national champions.”
The Hilltops returned most of their roster in 2015, which in
a lot of ways made it feel like a continuation of the 2014 season. A total of
16 players were playing out their final campaign of junior eligibility.
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| Jared Andreychuk, right, throw a pass in the 2015 Canadian Bowl. |
It could be argued the Hilltops in 2015 were the most
talented group out of the teams that won six straight CJFL titles from 2014 to
2019.
Jared Andreychuk was the cool and calm leader at
quarterback. Logan Fischer was the star all-purpose running back, who could run
hard through the tackles or make catches and big plays in space in the passing
game. Des Vessey started at fullback, but he could carry the load at tailback if
needed.
At receiver, Andreychuk seemingly had five or six number one
receivers to throw to in Chad Braun, Evan Kopchynski, Davis Mitchell, Preston
Njaa, Tyson Sawatzky and Evan Turkington.
On defence, outside linebacker Cole Benkic would be named
the CJFL’s defensive player of the year, and he was joined by a highly talented
duo in middle linebacker Cam Schnitzler and outside linebacker Quinn Pierce. The
secondary was loaded with playmakers in Vause, Dylan Larson, Arnold Osam,
Austin Thorarinson and Derek Sadownick.
The most remembered part of the 2015 Hilltops team were the
starting offensive and defensive lines, which were arguably the best the team
ever had. The starting offensive line featured Jordan Hydomako at centre, Tyler
Hoath at right tackle, Terry Thesen at left tackle, Drayke Unger at right guard
and Nathan Heide at left guard. The defensive line benefited from the stellar
play of Blake Adams and Matt Kozun at the inside tackle spots and Tom
Schnitzler and Blake Hermann at the defensive end positions.
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| Cole Benkic, right, sets to make a hit in the 2015 Canadian Bowl. |
“(Matt) Kozun and (Blake) Adams were probably two of the
best interior D-linemen that I’ve ever played with,” said Vause. “They were a
force.
“Of course, you add the athleticism of (Tom) Schnitzler and
(Blake) Hermann on the side, it was really fun to watch. You sit back and watch
them play.”
The Hilltops rolled to a 7-0 start before having a hiccup
and dropping their last regular season game to the Calgary Colts 34-4 at SMF
Field. Saskatoon quickly reset for the post-season holding homefield advantage
through the entire CJFL playoffs.
The “Blue and Gold” downed the Winnipeg Rifles 49-21 in the
PFC semifinal and rocked the Colts in the PFC final 38-16. In the Canadian Bowl
on November 7, 2015, the Hilltops battled the Okanagan Sun in a tightly
contested game.
The 38-24 victory was only sealed when Andreychuk hit
Turkington with a 33-yard touchdown pass with under two minutes to play in the
fourth quarter to give the Hilltops their 14-point lead. Fischer ran the ball
23 times for 102 yards and two touchdowns, and he caught seven passes for 107
yards.
“Probably, my greatest memories as a Hilltop were that
season,” said Vause, who became the Hilltops starting safety late in the
regular season after Thorarinson went down to injury. “Winning at home in front
of that crowd, it was an incredible experience.
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| Blade Adams kisses the Canadian Bowl in 2015. |
“I still sort of think that 2015 team is one of the most
dominant teams ever to play, which is a huge credit to Okanagan as well,
because they gave us a really good game in that final. That 2015 team from top
to bottom had a loaded roster. When I sort of think about Hilltop football, it
was that season.”
After a mass amount of graduations, the Hilltops looked to
be in a reloading phase in 2016, but one of their key fifth-year players was
Andreychuk. While Andreychuk was throwing to a younger group of receivers
outside of Sawatzky, who was also in his fifth year, the signal caller’s
leadership showed through as the younger Hilltops grew.
The Hilltops took it
on the chin in an early season loss to the Colts but pulled out a number of
close games to again finish first in the PFC with an 8-1 mark.
With Andreychuk calling the signals, the Hilltops got past
the Colts 43-31 in the PFC final and advanced to the Canadian Bowl to play the
Westshore Rebels in Langford, B.C. In the Canadian Bowl played on November 12,
2016, the Hilltops trailed the Rebels 19-16 late in the third quarter before
hitting high gear to pull out a 37-25 victory.
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| Tom Sargeant eyes up the action in the 2015 Canadian Bowl. |
Andreychuk finished his CJFL career posting a 9-0 record as
a starting quarterback in the post-season and became just the third starting
quarterback in CJFL history to lead his team to three straight CJFL
championships.
“It was very eye-opening about how you need to play,” said
Walls, who backed up Andreychuk from 2014 to 2016. “He (Andreychuk) was so
good, so dialed in with everything he did.
“I really fed off of him. We did a lot of things together
during the season. We always sat together at films and roomed together on the
road.
“Every rep he took in practice I was watching and just
trying to soak everything in from him, because he is one of the all-time great
quarterbacks for the Hilltops. (It was big) getting the front row seat to see
how he performed and how he acted and prepared and just ultimately on game day
went out and performed at a very high level every single game. I can’t remember
a game where he was ever bad.”
Walls took over the starter’s role at quarterback in 2017,
and the Hilltops machine kept rolling. Their only loss came on September 9 of
that year, when they dropped a 29-26 decision to the Thunder at SMF Field. That
ultimately would be the last game the Hilltops would lose until 2021.
The Hilltops finished first in the PFC with a 7-1 record in
the regular season. In the PFC final, a one-yard touchdown plunge from
defensive tackle Garth Knittig with 96 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter
sealed a 36-24 victory over the Thunder. Saskatoon proceeded to host the
Nanaimo, B.C., based Vancouver Island Raiders in a CJFL semifinal contest and
romped to a 48-0 victory.
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| Logan Fischer runs the ball in the 2016 PFC final. |
On November 11, 2017, the Hilltops became the first club to
win four straight CJFL championships overwhelming the host Windsor AKO Fratmen
56-11 in the Canadian Bowl. For Vause, the Canadian Bowl win over the Fratmen
marked an end to his playing career with the Hilltops.
“I would have done anything to have another year with the
Hilltops,” said Vause. “I still think that those years playing football were
some of the best years of my life.
“(There were) so many memories during those times. Aside
from even the football aspect, it is just the relationships you build. It is
the brotherhood that really makes you love the program.”
The 2018 campaign might have been one of the most dominant
statistical seasons the Hilltops ever had. They opened the regular season on
August 18 at Mosaic Stadium in Regina and thumped the host Thunder 41-7. The
Hilltops took off and never looked back.
They went 8-0 in the regular season outscoring their
opponents 402-70. Between the regular season and playoffs, the Hilltops trailed
on the scoreboard for a combined 81 seconds. The Thunder held a 17-16 lead for
an 81-second span in the second quarter in a regular season game against the
“Blue and Gold” at SMF Field September 22, which the Hilltops took by a 48-24
final score.
“We played a lot as rookies, because the old guys would get
up so much,” said Hilltops linebacker Konner Johnson, who was a rookie in 2018.
“I think every home game we got the rookies in for at least the fourth quarter
and some of the third quarter sometimes.
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| Rylan Kleiter holds up the PFC Championship Trophy in 2016. |
“That is huge in getting the young guys developed. It has
definitely paid dividends for us.”
Saskatoon’s closest margin of victory came in the PFC final
with a 28-9 triumph over the Edmonton Huskies. In the Canadian Bowl played on
November 17 at SMF Field, the Hilltops stormed out to a 28-0 lead and cruised
to a 58-21 victory over the Langley Rams.
“Reflecting back on that season, I think we all just had the
most fun not necessarily because we were winning, but because we were such a
developed team at that point,” said receiver Jason Price, who was a CJFL
all-Canadian all-star in 2018. “We were such a brotherhood.
“We always talk about the Hilltops brotherhood. It was just
like that was our family. We just had the most fun with our family kind of
thing.”
With the Hilltops becoming the first team to ever win five
straight CJFL titles, Sargeant had the team’s eight fifth-year players take the
field for the final knee down snap of the Canadian Bowl. The group included
Walls, Price, receiver Adam Ewanchyna, right tackle Kirk Simonsen, defensive
end Connor Guillet and linebackers Cody Peters, who was the CJFL’s defensive
player of the year in 2018, Bobby Ehman and Adam Benkic.
All eight players played their entire CJFL careers from 2014
to 2018 with the Hilltops.
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| Garth Knittig scores a touchdown in the 2017 PFC final. |
“That was probably one of my fondest memories as a Hilltop
just being out there with the guys that you had been through it all with from
year one to year five,” said Walls. “It was a nice gesture of ‘Sarge’ to do
that and put us out there and make sure that we were all bonded over that thing
and we were kind of remembered for that.”
The Hilltops returned a veteran roster in 2019 that would
see 15 players graduate at the end of the campaign. The club had a different
dynamic as a number of fifth-year players were starting for the first time due
to how deep the team was in previous seasons.
Some of the Hilltops first time fifth-year starters who had
stellar campaigns included quarterback Tyler Hermann, receiver Connor Graham,
and linebackers Jadyn Pingue and Riley Keating. Pingue was named the CJFL’s
defensive player of the year for the 2019 campaign, and he said winning that
award, which is named after Hilltops all-time great Larry Wruck, was life
changing in opening doors in the sport.
Going into the 2019 campaign, Pingue said he wasn’t on
anyone’s radar when it came to staying in football after his time with the
Hilltops was complete, because he had been a backup. He just wanted to have a
good season in his final campaign with the Hilltops to show he could be at a
league best level as a player.
“I didn’t just want to be an all-star,” said Pingue, who is
still playing football with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds
with aspirations to make the professional ranks. “I wanted to be the best.
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| James Vause runs back and interception in the 2017 PFC final. |
“I knew I was going to be doubted a lot, because not a lot
of people have seen me play, and it was my first year as a starter. I put my
heart into that season to be the impact player and a leader immediately. I knew
that they needed to count on me to make it in the defence and to help our team
win.
“I spent the off-season working, training, watching film of
NFL players that I knew, and I took time to manifest on how I could be the best
player possible and a national champion again. That award and season were
really special for me, because it set a new standard for me that I knew how to
achieve.”
The Hilltops were in tight battles in the first four weeks
of the season. In Week 3, they downed the Huskies in Edmonton 24-22, and in
Week 4, they outlasted the Thunder 28-21 at SMF Field.
In both those games, the
Hilltops needed rushing touchdowns from star power running back Ben Abrook to
erase deficits inside the final two minutes of play.
“Those games were down in the final two minutes, and it took
a drive to kind of come back and win,” said Hermann. “To me, that showed a lot
of character in the team including myself.
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| Jordan Walls throws a pass in 2018. |
“That gave me the kind of confidence that you know what it
is not always sunshine and roses in the Hilltop world. There is adversity, and
it is nice to know that when were facing that we can rise above it and rally
around each other.”
Saskatoon proceeded to roll from there. In the PFC final,
the Hilltops downed the Huskies 30-14 at SMF Field and bombed the Beefeaters on
London, Ont., 51-1 in a CJFL semifinal contest.
In the Canadian Bowl played on November 16, 2019, the
Hilltops took on the Rams for a second straight year with this clash taking
place McLeod Stadium in Langley, B.C.
Saskatoon claimed the defensive slugfest
11-6 thanks to three field goals coming from receiver/kicker Rylan Kleiter.
“I hadn’t cried like that in five years before or five years
after,” said Hermann. “That was the most special moment being able to enjoy it
with my parents and those coaches and specifically with one of my best friends
Connor (Graham), and we able to do this whole thing together.
“I just remember hugging him on the field after and just
crying. All that hard work and all those times when we were like questioning if
it was worth it, we were just putting in so much time. We were just kind of
buried in the depth chart.
“At the end of the day, feeling that moment at the end of
the game, and it wasn’t the most beautiful game from an offensive standpoint,
but I didn’t even care at the time. I was just so happy to climb that mountain
and done it with my brothers and all the people that believed in me and really
supported me throughout.”
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| Jason Price runs downfield after a catch in 2018. |
Johnson hopes he can help the Hilltops defence emulate this
year what they did in 2019, when he was a sophomore with the team.
“It was unreal, and that is what we are trying to get back
to this year,” said Johnson. “Close games like that where it is low scoring and
defences are kind of ruling the field both ways, it is super exciting as a
defensive player.
“You’re kind of the star of the show out there and what everyone
is watching. Hopefully our defence can stand up like that again this year.”
The 2019 season had extra special meaning for Pingue due to
Filteau’s passing before that CJFL campaign began. Pingue was wearing the same
#45 number that Filteau wore, and he was aware of the impact Filteau had on the
program.
Pingue said the Hilltops played that season to honour
Filteau, and one of his best memories was Sargeant being lifted on the
shoulders of the Hilltops players while raising the Canadian Bowl to the sky to
Filteau after the CJFL title win in Langley.
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| Jadyn Pingue in action for the Hilltops in 2019. |
“Wearing the #45 that season had a new meaning for me,” said
Pingue. “I had that number since my rookie season right after Filteau graduated
from the program.
“After Justin’s passing, it turned into a number that meant
more than my own, and it became one that I needed to honour as it had another
legacy that needed to be respected. Back in that season, I went to ‘Sarge’ and
the coaches in their office before the season kicked off to offer his number up
for retirement, and I was open to changing my number. In my head at that time,
it was the right thing to do, and I was open to changing my number.
“‘Sarge’ had a better idea and said that it would be better
to honour it by wearing it for him, not by retiring it at that time. We added
the JF45 decal on the back of our helmets to keep the memory alive of our
Hilltop brother. We wanted to win not only for ourselves but for him too.”
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the
world caused the cancellation of the 2020 CJFL season.
In 2021, the Hilltops finished second in the PFC with a 6-2
regular season record, but traveled to Regina and downed the Thunder 29-9 in
the PFC final at Mosaic Stadium.
Saskatoon proceeded to fall in a CJFL
semifinal contest 17-14 to the Rams in Langley, B.C., on November 20 to end the
quest to win a CJFL title for the seventh straight year.
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| Tyler Hermann throws a pass in 2019. |
During the run of winning six straight CJFL championships,
the Hilltops won a CJFL record 22 straight post-season games.
The 2021 season saw
an overall winning streak of 33 games and a road winning streak of 31 contests
including play in the regular season and post-season come to an end for the
Hilltops. It is believed both of those streaks are CJFL records.
For many of the team’s followers, the Hilltops run of
winning six straight CJFL titles is arguably the most memorable era of the
modern version of the club that first took the field in 1947.
Walls said he was
humbled by any type of praise that comes the way of the Hilltops teams of that era.
“You’re honoured to be a part of it,” said Walls. “You’re
honoured to be involved with the entire team.
“For the guys that had been around for the majority of the
years and they’ve seen a lot of football, for them to say that six year stretch
out of the all years they’ve been there is the one of the most memorable, that
means a lot. You just start to think about all the teams and all the guys
you’ve played with.
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| The Hilltops celebrate their Canadian Bowl win in 2018. |
“We’ve all kind of gone our separate ways now, but when you
get together for things outside of football or you see them at the field and
you are coaching against them, that is one thing you always think back to.
There were just so many guys that were involved with it. It was a good time for
sure a good time.”
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com. This
piece originally ran in the Saskatoon Hilltops game program for their home game
on August 14, 2022. A huge thanks goes out to Louis Christ for supplying a
large number of photos for this feature.
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