Hilltops focus on being better day to day

Saskatoon hits road to face Rifles in Winnipeg

Hilltops HC Tom Sargeant checks out play on the field last Sunday.

Tom Sargeant knows well the long road to get to and win the Canadian Bowl, and that road has to be traveled by taking your best step forward in the present day.

The legendary head coach of the defending CJFL champion Saskatoon Hilltops saw his team open the regular season this past Sunday downing the visiting Edmonton Huskies 38-13 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. While the final outcome would indicate a sound win by the Hilltops, Sargeant knows that score flattered his team.

The team was focused this week and cleaning up errors that were made in that win and improving leading up to this Sunday’s game against the Rifles in Winnipeg (1 p.m. local time, Maple Grove Rugby Park).

“We’re in the process right now,” said Sargeant. “We’re in the grind.

“We’re worried about today. We’re worried about making sure that we come out and play better than what we did, so it’s all about pride. We don’t look ahead or look behind.

“We live for today, and my challenge to this whole football team is I need everyone to get one per cent better today and then one per cent more tomorrow. As we climb that mountain and that journey towards another national championship, as long as we can keep getting better and moving forward, then we’re going to be better for it.”

The Rifles had a rough outing in their regular season opener this past Sunday dropping a 61-14 decision at home to the Regina Thunder. The Thunder romp was aided by the fact the Rifles turned the ball over 10 times.

As for the Hilltops, they seemed flat in their win over the Huskies, where the Huskies and the officials also seemed flat too. The Hilltops defensive unit played strong, but the offence was plagued by a number of dropped passes, missed throws, fumbles and missed blocks.

Drake Douglas had a big outing in the Hilltops opening game.

Saskatoon returned 11 of 12 starters from a season ago, and star fifth-year receiver Drake Douglas did have a banner outing this past Sunday against the Huskies. He caught seven passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns. On special teams, Douglas returned six punts for 113 yards.

Douglas, who was named a first team CJFL all-Canadian all-star last season, believes the offence has great potential to do special things in 2024, and the Hilltops players will work to make what happened this past Sunday look like a hiccup.

“That is what ‘Sarge’ said in our big meeting (before practice on Tuesday),” said Douglas. “If that’s the worst game that we have this season, he’ll be happy with it.

“I think that’s kind of our standard is that you know, although that didn’t go great, that’s our building point. That’s the foundation we’re going to build this season on, and I think everybody can get better from there. There are definitely a lot of positives to look at.

“You could maybe say the O-line underperformed, but I don’t think they’ve had a better pass blocking game. I thought (Hilltops star quarterback) Trey (Reider) was protected very well back there, so that’s something I think they’ve improved a lot from last year. We definitely still had some kinks to work out and some spots to be worked on for sure out there.”

The Hilltops are still rated first in the CJFL’s Top 10 Power Rankings. They are also beginning a stretch where they don’t play at SMF Field for a while.

Sunday’s clash with the Rifles starts a stretch for the Hilltops where they play three times on the road with a bye week thrown into the mix. The Hilltops won’t play again at home until they host the Rifles at 1 p.m. on Sunday, September 15 at SMF Field.

For the moment, Sargeant doesn’t want his team to come out flat for their next game like they did against the Huskies.

“It’s not sitting well,” said Sargeant. “As I said, that’s why I want to get out here (to the practice field).

The Hilltops aim to enjoy more big plays in Winnipeg on Sunday.

“That’s why we’re out here, practicing hard and focusing on what we need to do to improve and make sure that the next time we send out game film that it looks a lot different than what it did (last) Sunday. That’s incumbent on all of us to, as I said, put our heads down, just get on the field and work hard, challenge each other and push each other to do better. If we’re able to do that, then routinely and ideally you are going to improve.

“We’re not home for a while, but as we’re going to Winnipeg, we’re going to know they’re 0-1. We want to keep moving this thing forward.”

Sargeant believes his team is moving forward in a composed manner.

“The good thing about everything that took place last week is we won the football game,” said Sargeant. “So you know what?

“There is no panic button here. We’re 1-0, and we’re the defending national champs, and we’ll take on all comers every chance we get.”

Reider, Stevens get player of the week nods

Trey Reider runs into the end zone for a Hilltops TD last Sunday.

The Saskatoon Hilltops might not have had their best outing in their regular season opener, but it was good enough to allow a couple of their players to earn PFC player of the week nods.

On Tuesday, Hilltops star quarterback Trey Reider was named the offensive player of the week for the PFC for his performance this past Sunday in his team’s 38-13 victory over the Edmonton Huskies at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. Reider completed 14-of-26 passes for 168 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. He ran the ball six times for 47 yards and two major scores.

During the Hilltops eight regular season games in 2023, Reider completed 108-of-167 passes for 1,571 yards and 16 touchdowns, while throwing five interceptions. He topped the PFC with a 114.6 quarterback efficiency rating, was named a PFC all-star and took honours as the PFC’s Most Outstanding Quarterback.

Johnathon Stevens had two sacks last Sunday.

Hilltops star defensive tackle Johnathon Stevens took honours as the PFC’s defensive player of the week. In the win over the Huskies, Stevens recorded six total tackles and two quarterback sacks. He helped the Hilltops defence limit the Huskies offence to 204 total yards.

Last season, Stevens was named a CJFL first team all-Canadian all-star. In the Hilltops eight regular season games, Stevens recorded 20 solo defensive tackles, four defensive tackle assists, three quarterback sacks, one pass knockdown, two forced fumble and two interceptions.

Calgary Colts defensive back Yve Saintus captured the PFC’s special teams player of the week award. In the Colts 36-10 home win over the Edmonton Wildcats this past Sunday, Saintus blocked two kicks and had one special teams solo tackle.

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