Two sides meet for conference title on Sunday at SMF
Field
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| The Hilltops defence corrals Thunder RB Sadik Sadik. |
On Sunday, the provincial rivals will go at it in the PFC final at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. The winner advances to host a CJFL semifinal game against the winner of Saturday’s British Columbia Football Conference championship clash in Kelowna between the host Okanagan Sun (11-0) and the defending BCFC champion Westshore Rebels (6-5).
The Hilltops (9-0) and Thunder (7-2) are meeting for the fourth straight year in the PFC final. Saskatoon claimed two of the three previous meetings including last year’s October 22 clash 21-13.
The current stretch of consecutive meetings between the Hilltops and Thunders in the PFC final is the most between CJFL representatives from Saskatoon and Regina since the Hilltops and Regina Rams collided eight straight years for the conference title from 1991 to 1998. The Rams took six of those eight contests before moving to the U Sports ranks to become the University of Regina Rams.
In 2024, the Hilltops took both regular season clashes with the Thunder. Saskatoon prevailed 29-15 at Mosaic Stadium in Regina on September 7 and 36-11 at SMF Field on September 28.
Following September 28 meeting, the Thunder hosted the Calgary Colts twice at Leibel Field to close the regular season on October 6 and in a PFC semifinal last Sunday. In those contests, the Thunder elected to become their versions of Bronko Nagurski and the 1930s Chicago Bears or Bronko Nagurski Jr. and the 1960 Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The elder Nagurski was an all-time NFL legend at fullback and the son was an all-star offensive tackle in the CFL.
In the Thunder’s 40-21 victory over the Colts on October 6, the Thunder piled up 452 yards of offence including slugging out 326 yards on the ground. During the 64-7 win in the PFC semifinal over the Colts, the Thunder amassed 584 yards of total offence including an unthinkable 425 yards along the ground.
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| Hilltops DBDalton Urban (#17) returns an interception on Sept. 28. |
“That is their
game plan right now,” said legendary Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant. “They’re
going to try and bully you at the line of scrimmage.
“They feel two of
their real productive players are (Ryland) Leichert and (Sadik) Sadik. They’re
both running backs, so at the end of the day, you see a lot of split formation,
two backs in the backfield. They’re letting that O-line get after you, and
they’re running in behind.
“They feel they
have a pretty good flow, and they’ve had two good weeks of running the
football. That is obviously something we need to focus on and get ready for.”
Traditionally, the Thunder have had good ground games, but they are better known for taking it to the air and leaning towards the passing game. They are normally one of the PFC’s best passing teams and piled up the second most passing yards during the PFC regular season at 1,940.
In their PFC semifinal win over the Colts, the Thunder played regular starting quarterback Carter Moberg and backup Ethan Hugg fairly equally. Hugg started last year’s PFC final for the Thunder.
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| Hilltops OLB Noah Gedir hits Thunder RB Ryland Leichert. |
“It shows that in
playoff football they want to establish that run game early,” said Urban.
“We’ve got to do a good job this week making that our priority.”
On the Hilltops side things, they have hammered their opponents running attack all season. During the regular season, the Hilltops gave up the fewest rushing yards in the PFC at 665.
Saskatoon’s starting defensive line of defensive tackles Nahom Menghestab and Johnathon Stevens and defensive ends Kai Kukurudza and Noah Chelsom have clogged things up at the line of scrimmage. Hilltops PFC all-star middle linebacker Isaac Michayluk and outside linebackers Noah Gedir and the emerging Zaden Taylor had swarmed in to nullify ball carriers coming out of the backfield.
Urban had made a reputation of throwing his share of hard hits since he started playing for the Hilltops in 2021 after graduating from the St. Joseph High School Guardians Football Team. He said the game is going get very man versus man physical, if the Thunder elect to push with the running game like they have against the Colts.
“Playoff football is always going to be physical,” said Urban. “We know that going into the game that we have to bring that mindset.
“We have to come
out on first down expecting the run and get them into those second and long
situations where we can get off the field and get turnovers.”
Noting what the Thunder have done on the ground, there also comes the question that showcasing the running game against the Colts might be all smoke and mirrors as they could come into the PFC final with a totally different game plan. At this point in the season, teams like to bring out plays they have been working on all year but haven’t used so they don’t show up on video.
That also applies to the Hilltops. Sargeant deadpanned the notion that his venerable squad will have some surprises for the Thunder.
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| The Hilltops mark their win over the Thunder on Sept. 28. |
“We’re going to
let our players be physical and make plays. I’m sure they got different plays
for different situations as we do. At the end of the day, it is not about trick
plays or this or that.
“It is about who
controls the line of scrimmage, who is more disciplined and who wins a
plus-minus turnover battle. That is what we focus on.”
Reider cleans up in major PFC awards
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| Trey Reider was named MVP of the PFC. |
Reider picked up a trio of honours as the PFC major award winners were announced. The fifth-year signal caller was named the conference’s most outstanding quarterback, most valuable player and offensive player of the year.
During the regular season, Reider completed 119 of 185 passes for 1,685 yards and 17 touchdowns, while throwing two interceptions. His 119.8 quarterback rating topped the PFC. That marked the second straight year Reider led the PFC in quarterback rating.
On top of his throwing, Reider carried the ball 26 times for 135 yards and four touchdowns during the regular season as well.
On Sunday, Reider’s Hilltops face their provincial rivals in the Regina Thunder in the PFC final at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. As he is playing through his final post-season run with the Hilltops before exhausting his CJFL eligibility, Reider is focused on beating the Thunder for one last time.
“This is my last
year, so it means everything to me to get this last win,” said Reider. “There are
no tomorrows for me anymore.
“This is it for
me, so I just need to come out with the win.”
Reider’s top target in fifth-year receiver Drake Douglas picked up a couple of PFC awards on Monday. Douglas was named the PFC’s most outstanding receiver and most outstanding special teams player.
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| Drake Douglas was named the PFC’s most outstanding receiver. |
Hilltops right tackle Cody Shumanski captured honours as the PFC’s most outstanding offensive lineman and legendary head coach Tom Sargeant was named the PFC’s coach of the year.
Thunder star middle linebacker Stephen Smith was named the PFC’s most outstanding linebacker and defensive player of the year. During the regular season, Smith piled up 34 solo defensive tackles, 20 defensive tackle assists, three special teams solo tackles, two special teams tackle assists, two pass knockdowns and one interception.
Thunder tailback Sadik Sadik claimed honours as the PFC’s most outstanding running back, defensive end Liam Sellwood took the nod as most outstanding defensive lineman and the offensive rookie of the year award went to Thunder starting left guard Tristen Rapchalk. Sadik carried the ball 106 times for 781 yards and a PFC leading 10 touchdowns during the regular season.
The Hilltops and Thunder will be going at it in the PFC final for the fourth straight year. The Hilltops have won two of the previous three encounters. Reider said the luster in conference title games between the Saskatoon and Regina never fades.
“I always like
playing Regina in the final,” said Reider. “They’re always the best team.
“They bring a
really good crowd. The excitement is always up, and at the end of the day, it
is just really fun to play Regina.”
Sawi, Michayluk get weekly PFC honours
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| Charles Sawi took PFC special teams player of the week honours. |
Last Sunday, the Hilltops downed the visiting Edmonton Huskies 33-18 in a PFC semifinal at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.
With the two sides locked in an 18-18 tie, Sawi returned a missed field coal 112 yards for a touchdown that gave the Hilltops a 25-18 advantage with 7:32 remaining in the fourth quarter. That play sparked the Hilltops to victory.
With that effort, Sawi was named the PFC’s special teams player of the week on Thursday. Sawi also returned two punts for 12 yards.
Michayluk, who is a PFC all-star at middle linebacker, recorded seven solo tackles, four defensive tackle assists, one pass knockdown, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one interception in the Hilltops win. His interception came shortly after Sawi returned his missed field goal for a major to give the Hilltops a lead they would never relinquish.
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| Isaac Michayluk was the PFC’s defensive player of the week. |
Leichert carried the ball 22 times for 182 yards and three touchdowns. He was a big part in helping the Thunder amass 425 yards rushing as a team in that victory.
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