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| Boston Davidsen has 224 rushing yards for the Hilltops. |
On Sunday, the Hilltops, who sport a 2-0 record, travel to the Manitoba capital to face the Rifles in a CJFL regular season clash at East Side Eagles Field for a 1 p.m. Winnipeg time kickoff. The two sides opened their respective regular season schedules playing each other in Week 1 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, where the Hilltops pulled out a 19-10 victory in a defensive battle on August 14.
Following that contest, the Hilltops remained at home for Week 2 this past Sunday and dumped the Edmonton Huskies 38-10 in solid fashion at SMF Field.
The Rifles traveled to Regina in Week 2 to face the Thunder this past Sunday at Leibel Field. Winnipeg held a 22-18 lead going into the fourth quarter, but the Thunder got two field goals from kicker Zack Schmidt to rally for a 24-22 victory.
Schmidt, who was playing in place of injured veteran Eric Maximuik, booted home the winning field goal from 28 yards out with 5:14 remaining in the fourth quarter.
In both Rifles setbacks, Winnipeg quarterback Bryson McNeil surpassed 300 yard passing. McNeil has completed 47-of-76 passes for 645 yards and three touchdowns, while throwing three interceptions, in the Rifles two games to date.
“When you have a quarterback, then you’re always in a game,” said Sargeant, whose 220 career wins are the most for Canadian amateur football in the post-secondary ranks. “At the end of the day, this will be their first game at home, so they’re going to be excited to defend their home turf.
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| Bryson McNeil has passed for 645 yards in two games for the Rifles. |
In the Week 1 encounter between the Hilltops and Rifles, Saskatoon’s defence stalled Winnipeg’s running game as the Rifles gained 38 yards rushing as a team on 12 carries. That caused the Rifles to go to the air, where they piled up 335 yards passing.
The Hilltops defensive ultimately forced the Rifles drives to stall and the Saskatoon side got timely interceptions from outside linebacker Konner Johnson and defensive back Wade Keating. Johnson had 4.5 total tackles, one sack and two pass knockdowns to go with his interception in that win, while Keating had seven total tackles to with this his interception in the Week 1 victory.
While the defense came up big for the Hilltops in Week 1, Johnson thought the Hilltops defensive unit played better in the win over the Huskies, and he said the focus is to continue that improving trend going into the second encounter with the Rifles.
“It is their home opener now,” said Johnson. “They have a very talented quarterback and a very talented group of receivers, so we’re really looking to shut them down.
“It is going to be a challenge for us, but we’re up for it.”
Rifles receiver Jacob Roger had a breakout game in the loss to the Thunder hauling in 11 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns. On Wednesday, Roger was named the PFC’s offensive player of the week. On the season, Roger leads the PFC in receptions (14) and receiving yards (307).
Defensive back Kyle Chorney leads the Rifles with 15 total tackles and also has one sack.
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| Damon Dutton has completed 34-of-47 passes this season. |
Hilltops 17-year-old rookie running back Charles Sawi has 268 all-purpose yards come on 11 touches via rushing, receiving, kickoff returns, punt returns and missed field goal returns.
Sargeant is looking for his club to play their best game in the early part of the season in the second encounter with the Rifles.
“We have to be ready for whatever they bring,” said Sargeant. “The game we had last Sunday, the team grew a lot.
“We got better. I’m looking forward to taking this team out there on Sunday and coming out and playing our best game of the year.”
Roughriders alum
Hughes coming to End Zone Dinner
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| A Roughriders promo picture of Neal Hughes. |
The End Zone Dinner will be held on Saturday, September 10 at the Gordie Howe Sports Centre building on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds. Doors open for the dinner at 4:15 p.m. with food to be served at 5:15 p.m. The funds raised at the dinner go towards the Hilltops scholarship fund.
Hughes, who is from Regina, played 11 CFL seasons at fullback for the Roughriders from 2004 to 2014 helping the team to Grey Cup wins in 2007 and 2013. The 2013 championship was won at the Roughriders historic home park in Taylor Field.
During his time with the Roughriders, Hughes mainly focused on blocking duties as a fullback or from a tight end position and covered kicks on special teams. He also showed his versatility in being able to make big plays running the football, catching it out of the backfield or punting it when required.
Before joining the Roughriders, Hughes played six seasons with the Regina Rams as their star running back. He suited up for the Rams as a rookie in 1998, when they played their final season in the CJFL capturing their 15th and final CJFL championship.
Hughes played with the Rams during their first five seasons in the U Sports ranks as the University of Regina Rams helping them advance to the U Sports championship game – the Vanier Cup – in 2000. The Rams fell 42-39 in that contest to the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.
Following the End Zone Dinner, the Hilltops will face their provincial rivals in the Regina Thunder at 7 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, which is right next to the Gordie Howe Sports Centre on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds.
Single tickets for the dinner are $100 or a table of eight can be bought for $725.
Tickets can be purchased online by clicking on a link right here.
Clark and Canada
open women’s worlds with win, other notes
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| An Emily Clark hockey card. |
On Thursday at the Kvik Hockey Arena in Herning, Denmark, Canada opened preliminary round play downing Finland 4-1. Finland was the bronze medal winner at last year’s women’s worlds.
In Thursday’s clash between Canada and Finland, Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin and forward Sarah Nurse each had a goal and an assist to pace their squad to victory. Meaghan Mikkelson and Blayre Turnbull netted singles for Canada. Clark, who is an alumna of the Saskatoon Stars female under-18 AAA team, picked up an assist on Turnbull’s goal, which was scored into an empty net to round out the 4-1 final with 1:42 remaining in the third.
Defender Jocelyn Larocque picked up a pair of assists for Canada as well.
Julia Liikala netted the lone reply for Finland.
Ann-Renee Desbiens made 16 saves to pick up the win in goal for Canada, which included turning away Finnish forward Kiira Yrjanen on a penalty shot late in the opening frame.
Anni Keisala turned away 39-of-42 shots to take the setback in goal for Finland, who was also opening preliminary round play.
Canada returns to action on Saturday taking on Switzerland in Herning.
Canada captured gold at last year’s women’s worlds played in Calgary, Alta. In the tournament final played on August 31, 2021 at the WinSport Arena, Canada downed the United States in the gold medal final 3-2 in overtime with Poulin netting the winner.
This year’s women’s worlds are being held in Herning and Frederikshavn, Denmark. The tournament runs through to Sept. 4, when the bronze and gold medal games will be played in Herning at the Kvik Hockey Arena.
- Last Saturday, Canada won gold at the IIHF’s World Junior Championship taking the tournament’s championship game against Finland 3-2 in overtime at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alta. A total of 13,327 spectators were on hand to seeing Canada’s championship win.
- Most of the games at the world juniors that wrapped up in Edmonton were plagued low attendances as that event was often overshadowed by the ongoing sexual misconduct scandals involving Hockey Canada with focus on its world junior teams from the 2017-18 gold medal winning season and the 2002-03 silver medal campaign. Troubles on this front came to light on April 20 regarding Hockey Canada’s 2017-18 world junior team, and the sport governing body has seen numerous troubles pile up since that time including a freeze of funds coming from the Canadian federal government and from sponsors. Developments regarding these scandals appear set to be part of the news cycle in Canada for some time in the foreseeable future.
- Regina Thunder defensive back Adam King was named the PFC’s defensive play of the week on Wednesday. King intercepted a pass, recovered a fumble, knocked down a pass and had 3.5 total tackles as the Thunder slipped past the Winnipeg Rifles 24-22 last Sunday in Regina.
- Calgary Colts place kicker/punter Nicholas Sirleaf was named the PFC’s special teams player of the week on Wednesday. In the Colts 38-10 victory over the visiting Edmonton Wildcats last Sunday, Sirleaf made his lone field goal attempt from 41 yards out and connected on all five of his conversion attempts. He kicked off six times for 332 yards or an average of 55.3 yards per kick. Sirleaf punted the ball seven times for 240 yards or an average of 34.3 yards per punt.
- On Thursday, Mike Babcock, who is 59-years-old, stepped down as the head coach of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Men’s Hockey team. Brandin Cote, who was the Huskies associate head coach last season and is 41-years-old, was promoted to interim head coach. Babcock became the Huskies head coach before the start of last season with plans that he would be in that role for two seasons at most. Babcock, who is a star former NHL head coach, was helping the Huskies to transition to a new permanent head coach after the team’s long time legendary head coach Dave Adolph’s retirement became official on May 1, 2021. In Babcock’s one season behind the Huskies bench, they posted a 13-7 regular season record and fell in a best-of-three Canada West Conference quarter-final series 2-1 to the University of Calgary Dinos.
- The University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team slipped past the University of Manitoba Bison 10-9 in a U Sports exhibition game on Thursday. Receiver Rhett Vavra caught a 72-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter for the Huskies from quarterback Anton Amundrud. The Huskies open their regular season on Friday, Sept. 2, when they travel to Calgary, Alta., to face the University of Calgary Dinos.
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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