Crusaders provincial title win to be iconic sports moment in P.A.

Zane Litzenberger reacts to his winning TD catch for the Crusaders.

In Prince Albert, the 2024 Carlton Comprehensive High School Crusaders Football Team will walk together forever.

On Saturday at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, the Crusaders claimed their first ever provincial title in thrilling fashion. Taking on Saskatoon’s Bishop James Mahoney High School Saints in the Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association’s 5A championship game, the Crusaders found themselves trailing 34-29 late in the fourth quarter.

With 72 seconds remaining in the contest, Crusaders star quarterback Sullivan Smith-Windsor hit standout receiver Zane Litzenberger on a five-yard slant pass for a touchdown. The Crusaders proceeded to attempt and failed to get a two-point convert, but they held a 35-34 advantage.

Sullivan Smith-Windsor sets to throw the winning TD.

That lead would hold up to be the game’s final score as the Saints were not able to drive into field goal range in the time that remained on the clock and eventually turned the ball over on downs. That allowed the Crusaders to end the encounter with two kneel downs to finalize the 35-34 victory.

Since opening in 1975, Carlton appeared in three provincial title games all at the then 3A level, but fell each time in 1984, 1991 and 1995. Saturday’s thrilling win allowed the Crusaders to finish the 2024 campaign with an 8-0 record including action in the regular season and post-season.

Actually, the City of Prince Albert had been undergoing a prolonged drought when it came to winning a provincial title in high school football. Until Saturday’s win by the Crusaders, Prince Albert’s last provincial title in high school football came way back in 1971, when star running back Tom Chad and the St. Mary High School Marauders claimed the then 3A championship.

Fans from Prince Albert cheer on the Crusaders.

Back in 1971, the Marauders playing in front of a home crowd thumped Moose Jaw’s Albert E. Peacock Collegiate Tornadoes 61-27 in the provincial title game held at the field next to what was then known as Prince Albert Collegiate Institute. The Marauders piled up 506 yards rushing as a team in that contest.

The Crusaders of 2024 will go down as the most exciting high school football team to come out of Prince Albert. From 2022 to 2024, the Crusaders became best known for their passing attack that allowed them to push the ball downfield. Smith-Windsor, who has been the team’s starter through that whole stretch, has looked like a CFL quarterback when he is playing his best.

The Crusaders begin celebrating their provincial title win.

As a Grade 12 senior, Saturday’s provincial final was Smith-Windsor’s final game of his high school career. He wrapped that part of his football life up with his greatest performance ever.

Smith-Windsor completed 28-of-30 passes for 424 yards and four touchdowns, while throwing one interception. He also ran the ball four times for 19 yards and one touchdown.

To add more to the performance, Smith-Windsor booted a 61-yard punt single with 6:54 remaining in the fourth quarter to give the Crusaders a 29-28 lead at that point in the contest.

Litzenberger was heroic in Saturday’s game. The sure-handed Grade 11 pass catcher hauled in 14 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns. Late in the game, he was hobbled by a minor leg injury, but still managed to catch the winning touchdown while hampered physically.

The Crusaders raise the provincial championship trophy.

In Prince Albert, Smith-Windsor and Litzenberger will be immortalized combining on a play that will be iconic in the lore of the northern Saskatchewan city’s sports history. The game and season will also become iconic in Prince Albert.

About 1,000 supporters from Prince Albert made their way to Saskatoon to be part of the sizable crowd at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. They brought out the loud noise to support their Crusaders and mimicked a scene often seen on the WHL’s hockey front when the Prince Albert Raiders visit the SaskTel Centre to take on the Saskatoon Blades.

The Crusaders celebrate their provincial title win with their supporters.

After the post-game trophy presentations, the Prince Albert faithful rushed on to the field to celebrate with the Crusaders. The mood was jovial over the following 90 minutes as the team and their supporters took numerous pictures and soaked in the moment.

The victory was made more meaningful due to the fact the Crusaders beat a foe that had built a storied run in recent years. Since 2015, the Saints had won four provincial titles under head coach Donnie Davidsen with the last coming in 2022 with an 18-15 triumph over the Weyburn Comprehensive School Eagles at SMF Field.

In Saturday’s clash with the Crusaders, the Saints played strong piling up 475 yards of total offence coming off 209 yards rushing and 266 yards passing. Quarterback Kyren Houmphanh completed 19-of-29 passes for 266 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Rylan Morrison (#10) grinds out tough yards for the Crusaders.

Receiver Josh Gutek hauled in seven passes for 108 yards and one touchdown. Running back Jack Boeschler ran the ball 14 times for 114 yards and two major scores. Tailback Wyatt LaRoche ran the ball 19 times for 91 yards and one touchdown and caught three passes for 25 yards.

The Saints basically needed to make two more plays and they would have had a fifth provincial title with Davidsen guiding the team as head coach.

Instead, Crusaders head coach Lindsay Strachan, who has been coaching with the program for 18 years, got to celebrate his first provincial football title as a sideline boss. The Crusaders players and supporters were as excited for Strachan as anyone else on the field on Saturday.

Crusaders HC Lindsay Strachan checks out his clipboard.

The back-and-fourth contest saw the Saints account for the only points in the first quarter going up 7-0 on a one-yard touchdown run by Boeschler. Early in a high-scoring second quarter, Smith-Windsor hit receiver Jordan Stene with a 15-yard touchdown pass to event the score at 7-7.

The Saints would go back in front 14-7 on a 13-yard touchdown toss from Houmphanh to Race Marcinkiw. A short time later, the Crusaders evened the score at 14-14, when Smith-Windsor connected with receiver Colm Phillips on a 35-yard touchdown toss.

With less than a minute to play in the second quarter, Boeschler ran home his second major score of the contest with this one coming from two yards out to put the Saints up 21-14.

Kyren Houmphanh passed for 266 yards for the Saints.

Working with a small amount of time remaining before halftime, the Carlton offence quickly got downfield. On the last play before halftime, Smith-Windsor scored on a one-yard run to even the score at 21-21.

The Saints started the third quarter with a clock eating drive that culminated with Houmphanh hitting Gutek with an 11-yard touchdown pass to put the host side up 28-21. With 3:48 remaining in the third quarter, Smith-Windsor zipped a 25-yard touchdown pass to Litzenberger to even the score at 28-28.

Smith-Windsor proceeded to record his punt single to give the Crusaders their first lead in the contest. That affected some of the decisions down the stretch.

With 2:32 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Saints jumped in front 34-29 on a three-yard touchdown run by LaRoche. The Saskatoon squad elected to go for a two-point conversion in order to get a seven-point advantage, but the conversion attempt was not successful.

Wyatt LaRoche scores a fourth quarter TD for the Saints.

That set the stage for Smith-Windsor to throw his winning touchdown pass to Litzenberger.

Also in the win, the Crusaders got a solid performance from running back Rylan Morrison, which allowed the Prince Albert side to pick up some key first downs. Morrison carried the ball nine times for 66 yards, and he caught three passes for 38 yards.

Now as the years go by in Prince Albert, you can be sure the 2024 Crusaders will achieve a mythical status like the 1971 Marauders did. Folks will look back at the 2024 Crusaders and say they were special.

Over time, it might seem like everyone in town saw Smith-Windsor work his magic on the football field. They will remember Litzenberger as being able to catch everything that was thrown his way.

Zane Litzenberger (#11) caught 14 passes for 206 yards.

Prince Albert will always proudly be recognized as a hockey town rightfully earning the nickname of “Hockey Town North” for loyal supporting the Raiders, the Prince Albert Mintos under-18 AAA team and the Prince Albert Northern Bears under-18 AAA female squad. With that noted, people in Prince Albert always have room in their collective hearts to support hard-working athletes pursuing all sorts of sports.

As a province, football is viewed as Saskatchewan’s game thanks to the impact of the CFL’s Roughriders, who have existed since 1910. On Saturday, Prince Albert got celebrate they had high school football’s best at the 5A level in the Crusaders.

The Crusaders bask in their first provincial championship win.

In “Hockey Town North,” the 2024 football Crusaders will always be remembered, and they will be viewed as one of the city’s iconic teams.

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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