Crazy final week of regular season sees Hilltops host PFC semifinal

Luke Bednarek finished third in the PFC with 563 receiving yards.

Anyone who was able to predict how the final week of the CJFL’s Prairie Football Conference regular season played out should bet on a major money lottery.

Entering the final week of the regular season for the PFC, the Saskatoon Hilltops needed to beat the visiting Winnipeg Rifles at Saskatoon Minor Football Field to lock up second place in the conference and the right to host a PFC semifinal contest. If the Hilltops lost, it opened the door to them slipping to third place and starting the post-season on the road for the first time since 1990.

On Saturday, October 3, the final week of the PFC regular season opened with the Edmonton Wildcats hosting the Edmonton Huskies at Emerald Hills Regional Park in Sherwood Park, Alta. If the Wildcats lost, the Hilltops would lock up second place in the conference.

In a back-and-forth contest, Huskies kicker Lorenzo Monus booted a 47-yard field goal to put the Huskies up 31-28 with 2:04 remaining in the fourth quarter. Inside the final 20 seconds of the fourth, Wildcats star running back Darien Currie ran in a touchdown from 10 yards out to give the Wildcats a 35-31 victory.

That result officially eliminated the Huskies and Rifles from post-season contention.

One day later on Sunday, October 4, the Hilltops stepped on to SMF Field knowing that if they didn’t beat the Rifles they could be going to Sherwood Park to face the Wildcats. The Hilltops jumped out to a 10-0 lead after the first quarter but fell behind the Rifles 22-10 at halftime. The Rifles, who knew they were playing their last game of the 2026 CJFL campaign, would pull out a surprising 27-11 victory.

When that contest ended, everyone with the Hilltops thought they were going on the road to face the Wildcats in Sherwood Park to open the CJFL playoffs. The only thing that could throw a wrench into that development was if the Calgary Colts could defeat the undefeated Regina Thunder at Leibel Field in the Saskatchewan capital.

Entering that game, the Thunder were 7-0, had outscored all their opponents 304 to 78 and were rated first in the CJFL Top 10 Power Rankings. At halftime, the Thunder were up on the Colts 28-7, and it is safe to assume most in Saskatoon who saw that score thought that contest was a done deal.

The Hilltops celebrate an interception from Hudson Arneson.

While the Thunder played a large contingent of their reserve players in the second half, the unfathomable happened. The Colts outscored the Thunder 39-2 in the second half to post a shocking 46-30 victory.

That win allowed the Colts to improve to 4-4 to force a three-way tie in the standings with the Hilltops (4-4) and Wildcats (4-4) for second to fourth in the conference.

Had the Hilltops and Wildcats finished tied in the standings, the Wildcats would have finished second. The two sides split their two head-to-head regular season meetings, but the Wildcats held the standings tiebreaker having outscored the Hilltops 41-39 in those two encounters.

It seemed like no one knew how the standings tiebreaker would play out for a three-way tie due to the fact the Hilltops, Wildcats and Colts didn’t play a balanced schedule between themselves. Section 7 of the PFC Rules and Regulations stated a percentage formula of points for and against in the head-to-head games between the three squads determines placing in the standings.

The formula is:

Percentage = Total Points For ÷ (Total Points For +Total Points Against)

That formula is often used in standings tiebreakers in minor hockey. Under that formula, the Hilltops placed second in the conference with a percentage of 52.8 per cent followed by the Wildcats at 51.2 per cent and the Colts coming in at 46.0 per cent.

As a result, the Hilltops host the Wildcats in one PFC semifinal today at 1 p.m. at SMF Field. The Colts again hit the road to take on the Thunder (7-1) in the other PFC semifinal today at 1 p.m. at Leibel Field.

For the Hilltops, the road to success in the post-season is anything but guaranteed. The Hilltops are the defending CJFL champions, but after starting out 3-1, they have gone 1-3 over their final four contests.

The two head-to-head clashes between the Hilltops and Wildcats were held back in August. On August 16 at SMF Field, the Wildcats downed the Hilltops 28-22. On August 30 at Emerald Hills Regional Park, the Hilltops prevailed 17-13 over the Wildcats.

Corbin Ebben finished fifth in the PFC with 607 yards rushing.

On defence, the Hilltops have given up the second fewest points in the PFC at 184. Unlike past years, the Hilltops haven’t dominated in the turnover battle.

Under defensive coordinator Jeff Yausie, the Hilltops are notorious for having a 3-to-1 or a 4-to-1 edge in the turnover battle. Usually, that turns into anywhere from 14 to 28 points on the scoreboard for the Hilltops when that happens.

This season the Hilltops have 18 total takeaways and 16 total giveaways for a plus-two rating in the takeaway-giveaway category. In the 2025 regular season, the Hilltops had 36 total takeaways and 24 total giveaways for a plus-12 rating in that statistic.

Opposing teams in 2026 have given themselves much better shots at gaining victory over the Hilltops by not turning the ball over.

Offensively, the Hilltops have still picked up yards. Star running back Corbin Ebben finished fifth in the PFC with 607 rushing yards coming off 95 carries including two that went for touchdowns. Breakout running back Brody Komarnicki finished sixth in the PFC with 483 yards rushing coming off 101 carries including five that went for major scores.

Starting quarterback Griffin Sander completed 151-of-239 passes for 1,871 yard and six touchdowns, while throwing seven interceptions.

Receiver Luke Bednarek finished third in the PFC with 563 yards receiving coming on 35 catches including two that went for touchdowns. Charles Sawi had 41 catches for 447 yards and one touchdown. His receiving yardage total was good for seventh best in the PFC.

Legendary Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant is still the all-time wins leader in Canadian post-secondary amateur football with 258 victories between the regular season and post-season. While the Hilltops 4-4 record is their worst in the regular season since going 4-4 in 1983, the potential is still there for the current Hilltops to have a memorable finish in the post-season.

There is a cliché that exists that says, “Legends are made in the playoffs.”

The Hilltops hope to get excited for a few post-season games in 2026.

The Hilltops have seen lots of legends get made in the playoffs since this current modern version of the club was created in 1947. If they can get one or two more turnovers and get one or two more major scores in a game, that might make the difference in more Hilltops players become team legends in 2026.

This piece first appeared in the Saskatoon Hilltops game program on October 11, 2026.