Hilltops’ Komarnicki brings the boom on the ground

Power running back breaks out in third year with team

Brody Komarnicki is having a breakout season with the Hilltops.

Running with power will always be in Brody Komarnicki’s football DNA.

The third-year running back is having a breakout season with the defending CJFL champion Saskatoon Hilltops. After the team’s first six games, Komarnicki has carried the ball 86 times for 435 yards and five touchdowns.

Komarnicki’s style is unmistakable. He hits the hole hard and runs over and through the opposition. The style goes back to Komarnicki’s roots in the game when he played for the Bishop James Mahoney High School Saints Football team, whose head coach at the time is current Hilltops offensive line coach Donnie Davidsen. 

“When I first started playing, I always wanted like those big runs, and it is good to still have those big runs,” said Komanicki, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 205 pounds. “I was just dancing around a little too much.

“He (Davidsen) basically is just like you see that first hole and you hit it hard and north-south always. Then after that once you get into the open room, then you can start kind of dancing a little bit and make your cuts and all that. You always want positive yards.

“If you can hit that gap hard and get a couple of yards there, then you can dance. You don’t want to be dancing in that backfield and get negative yards. Donnie definitely put that into my head in high school and it worked out then, so I’m trying to apply it to Hilltops now.”

Komanicki, who resides in Warman, focused on playing basketball until his Grade 10 year starting in September of 2021. At that time, he wanted to give football a try and enrolled at Bishop James Mahoney as Warman High School didn’t have an outlet to play high school football.

At Bishop James Mahoney, Komanicki started playing on the Saints junior team before moving up to the senior team before the end of his Grade 10 season. He was ecstatic that he gave football a try.

“It was just the team,” said Komarnicki. “You have 12 guys out there and all working together.

“Obviously, I like the physicality. I hadn’t played a physical sport like a contact sport until football. It was just unique having special teams and all that.

“It was just all around the whole just the makeup of football was definitely what caught my eyes.”

Komarnicki would help the Saints advance to the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association’s 5A 12-a-side football provincial championship game in his Grade 11 season on November 11, 2022. The host Saints prevailed over the Weyburn Comprehensive School Eagles 18-15 in that contest at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.

Komarnicki said his love for football was built due to the great experience he had with the Saints. As Davidsen was serving as the Hilltops offensive line coach while coaching the Saints, Komarnicki said the wheels were put in motion to join the Hilltops.

Brody Komarnicki in action for the Saints in 2022.

“He (Davidsen) didn’t influence it directly,” said Komarnicki. “I looked up to Donnie in high school, and we always talked about Hilltops being like a future opportunity.

“I would come to the high school camps, and I loved the coaching style. Whenever I did talk to “Sarge” (Hilltops legendary head coach Tom Sargeant), I loved everything I heard and his style of the game and his views. I agree with it a lot.

“Definitely, it helped like influence in a sense. It is just they’re so similar. It is just what I know.”

Komarnicki joined the Hilltops following his high school graduation for the 2024 campaign. By the campaign’s end, he was awarded the team’s Past Presidents Trophy as the club’s rookie of the year, while also being named to the PFC’s all-rookie team.

Sargeant said Komarnicki was a pretty natural fit.

“He is one of our toughest football players,” said Sargeant. “He certainly plays the game the way I appreciate it and the way we appreciate it.

“What a hard-nosed individual, and he motivates the team around him. The game plan is going to centre around him at times just like it will (star running back) Corbin (Ebben). We believe with those two guys being heavily involved in that run game it is only going to make it better instead of having one of them on the bench.”

Sargeant said Komarnicki came to the Hilltops with a solid base in the game having played for the Saints.

“He (Komarnicki) got coached the right way,” said Sargeant. “Any BJM player that has come into our system, boy, they’ve been game ready, and they’ve been able to handle all the moments.

“It has been great to have high school coaches coach with you. It keeps you connected to what is going on there as well. When you have a coach that has coached him, it helps you recruit him here as well.”

Sargeant added Komarnicki continued to improve working with Hilltops running backs coach Andre Lalonde. Back in the day when Lalonde was a Hilltops running back graduating as a player in 2013, he earned the nickname “the Bowling Ball” playing the same physical style Komarnicki does.

“Andre is an outstanding running backs coach,” said Sargeant. “You just can tell by the development of our running backs over the years.

“He (Lalonde) has got a system. He has got a format that week in and week out is tried and true. It is tested on game days.

“They (the Hilltops running backs) have got the right mentor in Andre. If we’re talking about special teams, Andre is my special teams coordinator, and Brody has been one of our top special teams players too. Not only does he (Komarnicki) play well on offence, he plays outstanding on special teams too, so what a true football player.”

Brody Komarnicki (#20) dives over a pile for a first down.

Komarnicki has a pretty lengthy thank you list when it comes to those who have helped him during his time with the Hilltops. It includes Sargeant, Davidson, Lalonde, Ebben and David Collins, who was a star running back who graduated from the team after last season.

The 20-year-old power back said Lalonde has been helping him refine his game while continuing to emphasize Komarnicki’s strength in hitting the hole hard.

“I never had seen his film, but I have heard that me and him are pretty similar in that sense,” said Komarnicki. “He definitely encourages it.

“He adds just little things, little details that might take that five-yard gain, six-yard gain to like a 15-to-20-yard gain. That is what I’ve been trying to add in the most is the next step, because you can always improve.”

Komarnicki said his sophomore season last year was an amazing highlight. He was proud of how his team persevered in the campaign.

That included going through an opening game blowout loss to the Rifles in Winnipeg and making a 30-27 comeback overtime victory in the PFC final over the Thunder in Regina after falling behind 24-9 to their provincial rivals with 10:51 remaining in the fourth quarter.

After the win over the Thunder, the Hilltops returned home to SMF Field and downed the Kelowna, B.C., based Okanagan Sun 21-18 in the CJFL championship game – the Canadian Bowl. That marked the Hilltops 24^th CJFL title.

“Last year, it was an insane feeling,” said Komarnicki. “(We had) ups and downs.

“That Regina game was insane. There was definitely a lot that we faced, but we overcame it. That is kind of what our coaches train us to do.

“They do a great job doing that and teach us not to give up.”

This season, Komarnicki has become a one-two punch at running back with Ebben, who is playing out his final season of CJFL eligibility. Komarnicki said it has been a good development year as he picks up more work in the running game compared to past seasons.

“I’m just trying to apply all that I’ve learned in the past couple of years here,” said Komarnicki. “It is like trial and error for me right now just seeing what works, what I see out there and getting the vision working.”

As the Hilltops set to embark in playing the CJFL’s post-season in 2026, they have once again encountered their share of adversity. Komarnicki believes his squad will rally together to make another run at a CJFL title.

“I know that we’ll put it together, because we’re putting in that work now and putting in all that stuff behind the scenes that people don’t see,” said Komarnicki. “It is not just confidence, because I’m saying it is.

Brody Komarnicki believe the Hilltops can make a long playoff run.

“I have total confidence from what I see from the coaches in the past few years and how everyone here talks and meetings and film. You can just tell everyone here knows we have it. We just need to put it together.”

This piece first appeared in the Saskatoon Hilltops game program on October 4, 2026.

Hilltops focus on football, not online haters

Saskatoon romps to 46-6 win in home opener

Isaac Michayluk runs back an interception for the Hilltops on Sunday.

Let the haters be who they are going to be.

The Saskatoon Hilltops are just focusing on football.

On Sunday, August 10, the Hilltops opened the CJFL regular season getting hammered 31-11 by the host Rifles at Maple Grove Rugby Park in Winnipeg, Man. The lopsided road loss in Winnipeg was a shocker for the storied Hilltops.

Outside of games against their provincial rivals the Regina Thunder, the Hilltops rarely drop contests to other Prairie Football Conference foes outside of falling 19-16 to the Rifles in Winnipeg on August 28, 2022.

Hayden McMahon picked up his first win as CJFL starting QB.

After the loss to the Rifles on August 10, there were social media accounts on Instagram that run updates and opinions on the CJFL posted the score of that contest. Those accounts are run independently from the CJFL. 

The comments section of those posts saw people share their glee that the Hilltops had lost in convincing fashion and stated their dislike for the Saskatoon club. A similar development happened when the score first appeared on the CJFL main Instagram account.

From the comments, the dislike came from the fact the Hilltops have had a successful history that has included winning 23 CJFL championships.

On Sunday at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, the Hilltops righted the ship for one afternoon in their home opener romping over the Edmonton Huskies 46-6 dropping the Alberta side to 0-2. The Hilltops improved to 1-1 and will host the Rifles (2-0) this coming Sunday at 1 p.m. at SMF Field.

David Collins led the Hilltops with 157 yards rushing on Sunday.

As for the social media comments that proclaimed happiness over the fact the Hilltops lost bad to the Rifles, the Hilltops themselves elected to block out the noise. Hilltops third-year quarterback Hayden McMahon started his first career CJFL game in Sunday’s win over the Huskies.

Slotted in as the third stringer at the start of the campaign on the team’s depth chart, McMahon found himself taking on the starting spot after fifth-year starter Brexton Elias and second-year backup Charlie Molder went down with injuries that are expected to keep them off the field for a longer term.

McMahon said he followed social media accounts that produce content on the CJFL. After the loss to the Rifles, he said the comments he saw were usually negative things that were said about professional athletes after they lose. It resulted in McMahon taking a new approach to his relationship with social media.

HC Tom Sargeant works the sidelines for the Hilltops.

“You know what, I give it to the professional athletes in the world,” said McMahon expressing empathy for those in pro-sports. “After that game in Winnipeg, I made the decision to delete everything off my phone that had anything to do with the team and the CJFL just so I didn’t have that negative feedback.

“I didn’t want to read anything. I just wanted to have a clean slate going into the week. It was very beneficial for me to get that off my phone and not read those bad comments.”

For Hilltops star middle linebacker Isaac Michayluk, he said it was easy for him to avoid seeing posts or reading comments on social media.

Part of the crowd of 856 spectators that came to see Hilltops.

“Personally, I have a flip phone,” said Michayluk. “I don’t have social media.

“I live under a rock a bit. That is good. I just keep my focus on the task at hand and what it needs to be.”

When it comes to anything that is posted on social media, Michayluk said he hears about it second hand, and that information goes in one ear and out the other.

“I try not to focus on that,” said Michayluk. “If you focus on that, then you get distracted from the task at hand which is working for now.

Two Hilltops offensive linemen engage on a double team block. 

“We’ve got Winnipeg coming in here next week, so that is the task at hand. If we focus on all that social media stuff, we get distracted. We’ve got to focus up and get that mindset right.”

McMahon and Michayluk follow the lead of their legendary head coach Tom Sargeant when it comes to dealing with social media. Sargeant doesn’t follow anything on social media unless there is something his wife, Kris, shows him. As far as negative Instagram comments went following the loss to the Rifles, Sargeant was oblivious to what was said.

“I could care less no offence,” said Sargeant. “I don’t do a lot of reading.

Members of the Hilltop Cheerleaders perform on Sunday.

“I do a lot of coaching. We worry about us, and we don’t worry about anybody else. That is the Hilltop way.”

Sargeant said he doesn’t spend time reflecting on why people would write the comments that they do on social media. He concerns himself with what the Hilltops have to do that day to become a better football team.

“We’re very insular,” said Sargeant. “We just focus on us.

“I have a lot of work to do. This football team had a better performance today. You weren’t there last week, and it was just awful.

Charles Sawi ran the ball 12 times for 77 yards for the Hilltops.

“We have taken a few steps forward, but we got a long ways to go, if we’re going to be the team (to beat). Hey, we have Winnipeg coming in who absolutely laid it to us last week. We’re not resting.”

Looking in from the outside, McMahon said it was unfortunate negative comments come the Hilltops way, but he believes the players, who range in age from 18 to 22, grow up quickly by making responsible decisions on how to deal with comments. During his high school days, McMahon played six-a-side football with the Biggar Central School Blazers in Biggar, Sask., and he said one of his coaches advised to ignore the noise and listen to the message the coaches were delivering.

McMahon said he always has that advice in his head, and that is how he goes ahead with approaching social media. He believes the Hilltops have been really good at not worrying about what is said on social media.

Isaiah Vallderruten secures a 29-yard TD catch for the Hilltops.

“We’ve got really good leaders on this team,” said McMahon. “Our fifth years do a really good job and often a lot of times the phones don’t come out.

“We’re boys, and we have fun in the locker room. Whatever happens outside of the football field, we have no control on. All we can do is bring our best on the football field and play between the lines and the whistles and have a lot of fun.”

The Hilltops had a fair amount of fun on Sunday sending a crowd of 856 spectators that came out to SMF Field home happy. They jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to a safety conceded by the Huskies, a 34-yard field goal from kicker Ryden Gratton and a 12-yard touchdown run by star running back Corbin Ebben. Ebben left the game early in the second quarter due to injury to which he will undergo further evaluations.

Huskies receiver Dustin Campbell is hit by a Hilltops DB.

Edmonton got on the scoreboard in the second quarter with a 23-yard missed field goal single from kicker Boaz Comeau.

Saskatoon responded with a pair of touchdowns from 22-year-old running back David Collins, who scored on runs from 75 yards and one yard out to hold a 26-1 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Hilltops pushed their lead out to 36-1. McMahon hit receiver Isaiah Vallderruten with a 29-yard touchdown pass, and Gratton booted a field goal from 33 yards out.

Second-year running back Brody Komarnicki ran in a major from four yards out and Gratton hit a 30-yard field goal to make the Hilltops lead stand at 46-1.

Aiden Rosa (#26) steals an interception for the Hilltops.

The Huskies closed out the game’s scoring with a 38-yard field goal from Comeau and a conceded safety by the Hilltops as time expired.

McMahon completed 7-of-15 passes for 122 yards and one touchdown, while throwing one interception for the Hilltops. Collins topped the Hilltops with 157 yards rushing on 11 carries to go with his two major scores. 

Charles Sawi ran the ball 12 times for 77 yards for Saskatoon. Vallderruten caught three passes for 57 yards to go with his touchdown reception.

Jackson Harnett started at quarterback for the Huskies completing 10-of-15 passes for 95 yards. Wesley Neitz played a sizable chunk of the contest in relief connecting on 9-of-15 passes for 77 yards, while throwing two interceptions. Receiver William Campbell led the Huskies with seven receptions for 64 yards.

Ryden Gratton boots a 33-yard field goal for the Hilltops.

Michayluk led the Hilltops with seven total tackles, and he intercepted one pass. Second-year defensive back Aiden Rosa also came up with an interception for the Hilltops, while star defensive tackle Johnathon Stevens had a fumble recovery.

Middle linebacker Kaige Houle led the Huskies with 8.5 total tackles and had one interception. Defensive back Juven St. Hilaire had an interception for the Huskies. Linebacker Mateo Muir had a fumble recovery for Edmonton.

“At the end of the day, we’re certainly happy with the result,” said Sargeant. “It has been a tough week, and it is nice to see the players respond.

The Hilltops celebrate a TD from Brody Komarnicki (#20).

“We’ve been hard, we’re coaching hard, and we expect them to play hard. It wasn’t an easy day to play, and we have a lot of respect for the Edmonton Huskies. They have a lot of tradition, and we knew it was going to be a physical game.

“For me, the best thing I saw is how our offensive line stepped up today, and they just absolutely controlled the line of scrimmage and made life easier. It was nice to see Hayden McMahon execute the game plan and find the right guys and the defence was on point. We did well enough to win the game, and I am very thankful for that.”

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