Saskatoon’s 6A high school football title curse hits biggest heartbreak in latest loss

The Crusaders lost the 6A provincial title on this safety.

Saskatoon’s 6A football title curse added one of the toughest “did that just happen” moments.

Last Saturday at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, Saskatoon’s Holy Cross High School Crusaders were facing Regina’s Miller Comprehensive Catholic High School Marauders in the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association’s 6A provincial football championship game. The Marauders entered the Remembrance Day contest have won the 6A title the previous two years.

With the teams locked in a 10-10 tie inside the final 40 seconds of the fourth quarter, the Crusaders were scrimmaging on a first down from their own one yard line. At that point, disaster struck for Holy Cross.

Elias Flory had a strong Grade 12 season for the Crusaders.

A handoff between Crusaders quarterback Elias Flory and running back Aulain Penner was mishandled. Penner dived on the loose ball in the end zone, and he was downed there for a safety that gave the Marauders a 12-10 lead with 32.5 seconds remaining in the game.

That 12-10 score held up as the final outcome as the Marauders claimed a third straight 6A provincial football championship.

The loss by Holy Cross meant that another year was added on to the drought of when a Saskatoon team last won the 6A title. The last Saskatoon school to claim that distinction was the Aden Bowman Collegiate Bears back in 2009, when they downed Regina’s Winston Knoll Collegiate Wolverines 20-19. At that time, the 6A level was known as 4A until the levels of high school football were reclassified in Saskatchewan following the 2018-19 school year.

The loss last Saturday felt disheartening for the Crusaders and their supporters. After the winning safety happened, it seemed like everyone supporting Holy Cross and those who were checking out the contest as neutral observers had a moment where they were all collectively staring out on to the field in disbelief of what happened.

Aulain Penner (#26) makes tonnes of big plays for Holy Cross.

The Marauders and their supporters started whooping it up. They seemed to be overjoyed on the stroke of good fortune that happened to go their way.

In sports, curses become curses because they seem like the appropriate way describe unusual trends like the inability of a Saskatoon team to win the 6A high school football title since the Bears victory in 2009. A lot of great teams from Saskatoon have played in the 6A title game over that time and have continued to come up empty handed.

Holy Cross has unfortunately been the team that has felt the most heartbreak in that drought. Saturday marked the ninth time during the drought the Crusaders made the 6A championship game only to come out on the losing end.

Actually, Holy Cross’s last provincial title win in football came way back in 1995. The Crusaders have lost all 10 of their provincial championship game appearances since their last title triumph.

Brady Vindevoghel threw for 188 yards for the Marauders.

For the Crusaders, Saturday’s game goes down as one of those lessons where you win as a team and lose as a team. You could go through all sorts of moments in that contest to find spots where the Crusaders could have made a play where that safety wouldn’t have been a factor in the final outcome.

The Crusaders were at their one-yard line due to the fact Marauders quarterback and punter Brady Vindevoghel made a coffin corner punt that went out at the one yard line. Crusaders returner Talon Coquet maybe could have fielded the ball as it rolled out of bounds, because Holy Cross needed to run out the game clock to get to overtime at point in the afternoon’s proceedings.

Flory and Penner both had outstanding seasons for the Crusaders. Both are great ambassadors for their school and the community.

In the game, Flory, who is in Grade 12, completed 19-of-29 passes for 236 yards and one touchdown. When he was playing at his highest level during the season, Flory emulated retired CFL all-time great Damon Allen.

Tanner Donovel caught six passes for 110 yards and a TD.

Flory is the son of University of Saskatchewan Huskies Football Team head coach and three time Grey Cup champion with the Montreal Alouettes in Scott Flory, who is in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. With that noted, young Elias has played well enough he should have the chance to play post-secondary somewhere next season. He is making his own name locally in the game.

Penner is in Grade 11 at Holy Cross, and he has already made tonnes of electrifying plays to easily fill a few highlight reel films. He is one of the most exciting players in high school football in Saskatchewan, and it will be fun to see him play his Grade 12 season at Holy Cross.

The Marauders came in with a defensive game plan to key on Penner, which saw Penner carry the ball 21 times for 79 yards.

For a time, it didn’t seem like there would be drama at the end of the game. In the first half, the Marauders took a 10-0 on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Vindevoghel to star receiver Tanner Donovel and a field goal. Vindevoghel completed 12-of-19 passes for 188 yards and the one touchdown pass, and Donovel caught six passes for 110 yards including his major score.

Britton Tabler caught 11 passes for 148 yards and one touchdown.

The Crusaders were battling hard as the Marauders slowly built their lead. One wondered if the Marauders were just that one step better and would close out a solid win at a steady pace. At halftime, the Marauders supporters were jacked up, and the Crusaders faithful had fallen into silence.

Holy Cross got some traction in the second half with a field goal to trim the Marauders lead to 10-3.

With 2:39 remaining in the fourth quarter, Flory hit Crusaders receiver Britton Tabler with an eight-yard touchdown pass to even the score at 10-10. Tabler finished the contest with 11 catches for 148 yards to go with his major score.

When Tabler scored, the Crusaders faithful in the stands came to life in a big way. It felt at that point in time that this would be Holy Cross’s day.

On the ensuing Marauders series, it appeared Holy Cross got a defensive stop with the Marauders facing a third down situation from their own 34. The visitors ran a fake punt run off a direct snap to get a first down.

The Marauders lift the 6A SHSAA championship trophy.

That allowed the Marauders to flip the field position and pin the Crusaders at their one after later punting on a third-and-long situation.

When the Marauders got the ball at their own 35 after Holy Cross gave up a safety, the Crusaders still had a chance to make a defensive stop and get the ball back holding two timeouts. Vindevoghel hit Donovel for a 52-yard completion, which allowed the Marauders to run out the clock to obtain victory.

Marauders head coach Jason Duczek and his squad got to celebrate a memorable season that resulted in a third straight 6A title. The post-season road included a thrilling 27-20 win over the Dr. Martin LeBoldus Catholic High School Golden Suns in the Regina Intercollegiate Football League’s Schwann Conference title game on November 3 at Mosaic Stadium.

Crusaders head coach Scott Hundseth and his team had to cope with falling in the provincial final in a tough and unforeseen way. As the Crusaders have always done, you can expect they will get up and fight again in 2024.

The Marauders enjoy the spoils of winning three straight 6A titles.

For now, Saskatoon’s 6A high school football title drought continues. Saskatoon team’s will try hard to end it, but one wonders when good fortune will shine on a Saskatoon side to cause this curse to come to an end.

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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