Saskatoon opens
home-and-home series with rival Thunder
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| Hilltops RB Boston Davidsen leads the PFC in rushing. |
A win over the Regina Thunder would be a bonus.
On Saturday at 7 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, the provincial rivals go at it in the first game of a CJFL regular season home-and-home series. The series concludes when the two sides go at it again on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 1 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.
The Thunder head into those clashes with a perfect 3-0 record. The Hilltops sport a 2-1 mark falling in their last outing 19-16 to the Rifles in Winnipeg on August 28.
Sargeant, who is the Hilltops long time legendary head coach, wants to see his club play up to the standard that has seen the program in 22 CJFL championships.
“We are playing at home, so I want to make sure we come out and play our best game of the year, defend home turf and play a physical brand of Hilltop football,” said Sargeant, whose 220 career wins are the most for Canadian amateur football in the post-secondary ranks. “If we get that, it doesn’t matter who we play if we go and execute the game plans.
“I’m certainly not happy from the performance we saw (on August 28 against the Rifles). That is why we coach. We coach to get better and to improve.
“I believe we have the right players in the situations to grow and develop. If that is the case, they’ll come out and play game four real, real well.”
The Thunder enter the contest with the top ranked offence and defence in the PFC. They have gained 1,705 yards of net offence, while giving up just 862 net yards on defence.
The Hilltops are ranked third in offence and defence in the PFC entering Saturday’s game. They have gained 1,179 yard of net offence and given up 1,038 net yards on defence.
The biggest difference between the two clubs offensively has been the passing game. The Thunder lead the PFC with 1,059 yards passing, while the Hilltops sit last in the six-team PFC with 523 yards passing.
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| Damon Dutton has completed 45-of-68 passes this season. |
Hilltops starting quarterback Damon Dutton has officially completed 45-of-68 passes for 483 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Sargeant wants to see improved production from the passing game, because he expects the Thunder will key on disrupting the Hilltops ground game.
“We have to work hard to get our pass game better,” said Sargeant. “Like anything, we always want to be a 50/50 team.
“Right now, we haven’t been able to do that, because we haven’t executed the plan as well. That is straight on the coaches and the players. Those things we need to figure out, and we need to figure it out by Saturday night.
“The good thing about Regina, they’ll let us know what they think are our strengths. I’ll be able to tell after the game what we need to do to move forward.”
Statistically, the teams are almost even with the production they’ve gotten out of their ground game. The Thunder top the PFC in rushing with 712 yards along the ground, while the Hilltops sit second with 672 yards along the ground.
Thunder star running back Ryland Leichert sits second in the PFC in rushing with 379 yards coming on 53 carries, and he has scored one touchdown.
Hilltops star power running back Boston Davidsen leads the PFC with 392 yards rushing coming on 65 carries, where he has reached the end zone twice. The last time these two teams met back on Nov. 14, 2021 at Mosaic Stadium, the Hilltops piled up 386 yards as a team on the ground road gradering their way to a 29-9 victory in the PFC final to capture a seventh straight conference crown.
Davidsen said the Hilltops offensive line had a special game that day leading to that dominant final outcome.
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| Boden Marley leads the Hilltops with 143 yards receiving. |
“When you have blockers like that, it makes the game easy. It looks good, and I think that really came down to their mindset.”
Davidsen said the ground game isn’t always going to have a monster outing like in last year’s PFC final. He believes his team’s passing game is on the verge of having a breakout performance.
With that said, Davidsen believes the passing game will have a better chance to get on track, if the Hilltops can continue to have success along the ground.
“Obviously, we are looking to run the ball and run it well,” said Davidsen. “That is obviously a goal for us every game, especially this upcoming Saturday.
“I think we would really benefit, if we run the ball well early on. It will really help us open up our pass game. We have a lot of really talented players on the passing side of the ball.
“They haven’t really been able to showcase and put up those numbers that I think they really could put up yet this year. I think if our backs can run the ball well early on it would really help our pass game this Saturday.”
The Thunder receivers have made the big plays so far this season. Isaac Foord sits second in the PFC with 290 receiving yards coming off 16 catches, and he has leads the PFC in receiving touchdowns with four.
Isaiah Woodley sits third in the PFC with 279 receiving yards coming on 16 catches, and he has scored three touchdowns through the air.
Rylan Sokul, who was the PFC’s most valuable player last season, sits fifth in the conference with 205 receiving yards coming off 13 catches, and he has scores two touchdowns.
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| Dillan Heintz is looking for his first big game of the 2022 season. |
On paper talent wise, the Hilltops have depth at receiver with Marley, Dillan Heintz, Lachlan Horsley, Presley Peterson, Boden Marley, Matthew Turple and Noah Flaman. All of those pass catchers are capable of having big games.
“At the end of the day, it is all of us in one big pile working hard to sort this out,” said Sargeant. “We’re not going to talk about it too much.
“We just have to come out and practice harder, play better, compete harder, and when you do those things, it is amazing what the results are. I’m excited for the challenge that is coming our way. Saturday night can’t come soon enough.”
Roughriders alum
Hughes coming to End Zone Dinner
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| A Neal Hughes card. |
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 suited up 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.
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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