“Sack Master” Kack anchors Hilltops defence

Riece Kack (#47) celebrates making a sack for the Hilltops.

Riece Kack’s best buds brought him to the Saskatoon Hilltops, and the storied CJFL team has reaped the rewards ever since.

Early in his Grade 12 year playing high school football with Saskatoon’s Centennial Collegiate Chargers in September of 2019, Kack committed to joining the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Football team in the U Sports ranks. The COVID-19 pandemic proceeded to grip the world in March of 2020, which ultimately changed the paths for a lot of athletes.

The defensive end lived through modified high school graduation festivities in June of 2020 and didn’t have a football season to look forward to in the fall of 2020. All football action for the Canada West Conference that the Huskies play out of was cancelled for 2020-21 and U Sports nixed its national championship football game – the Vanier Cup.

Due to pandemic restrictions, all football action was cancelled for the CJFL too.

While Kack was playing out his Grade 12 season in the fall of 2019 before the world was flipped upside down, his best friends in linebacker Wade Keating and defensive back Carter Wingert were playing through their rookie campaigns with the Hilltops, who went 12-0 and won a sixth straight CJFL title.

With everything having come to a stop, Keating and Wingert made sales pitches to Kack to come join the Hilltops.

“My two best buddies in Carter Wingert and Wade Keating they had played on Centennial with me, and they were a year older than me,” said Kack. “They were already here.

“They kind of told me they said, ‘Yeah, we have some open spots.’ I decided I wanted to come play some Hilltop football. It has been just a great blessing since.

Riece Kack (#47) takes down a quarterback for the Hilltops.

“It has been the three best years of my life.”

After recording a pair of sacks in eight regular season games with the Hilltops in 2021, Kack had a breakout year in his second campaign with the team in 2022. He topped the PFC with 7.5 sacks during the regular season to go along with 25.5 total tackles, one interception and one fumble recovery. Kack was named a first team PFC all-star and a first team CJFL all-Canadian all-star.

With one regular season game to play in the 2023 campaign, Kack again finds himself leading the PFC in sacks having matched his total from the previous year with 7.5 sacks. He holds a sizable lead over Regina Thunder linebacker Kenten Effa and Edmonton Huskies defensive lineman Kaiden Edey, who sit tied for second in the PFC with four sacks.

The Hilltops (7-0) close their regular season on Sunday hosting the Winnipeg Rifles (2-5) at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. To go along with his 7.5 sacks, Kack has 18.5 total tackles, two fumble recoveries and one pass knockdown.

“It has been a lot of fun the last two years for sure,” said Kack, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 230 pounds. “I know in my first year I was off to a slow start and didn’t get my first sacks until the last game of the year in Winnipeg.

“I ended up getting two that game. It has kind of just been motivation for me since then just to keep coming out and getting them. It is lots of fun when I get to the quarterback.

“This year for sure there have been a lot of coverage sacks. The DBs have been helping me out. That is a credit to our great DBs and coaching as well.”

Legendary Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant said Kack has been a big time player for the club for a length stretch now.

Riece Kack is leading the PFC with 7.5 quarterback sacks.

“Riece is a great leader,” said Sargeant. “He is a great player.

“He is a natural playmaker. He knows how to get to the ball. He knows where the ball is.

“He’s got that uncanny ability that you don’t coach. He’s been a real pleasure to coach this year. It has been fun to see him perform at such a high level and be a big part of this defensive success.”

Sargeant said Kack does so many things well as a defensive end, and you could see the now 21-year-old pass rusher could potentially be special watching him during his days in high school.

“He was high end player in high school,” said Sargeant. “I’ve always thought he was an even front player – a four man front, so he goes against the (offensive) tackle.

“He has a good repertoire of moves. He’s got a burst. He’s got power, and he’s got a motor that doesn’t quit.

“That is the biggest part about Riece is he plays every play as hard as he can. When it is all said and done, you always see him around the football.”

The sideline boss adds Kack is one of the main guys who gets the Hilltops jacked up for game day.

“He’s the energy guy,” said Sargeant. “He’s the guy going around talking with people and connecting with people, bring the juice and bringing the energy.

“In the Thursday night practice, he is always the most vocal and getting every juiced up and charged up. That is a real natural ability of his is to just be a great team guy. The players love him, and they rally around him.

Riece Kack (#47) is a cornerstone player on the Hilltops defence.

“He is a big time leader for us. When you see us huddle up before the game, it is Riece (Kack) in the middle talking to the football team. He’s been a real pulse and a real pleasure to be around and to coach.”

Kack’s motivation to play well for the Hilltops is also increased due to the fact he considers the biggest influences in helping him along in the game all have connections to the team. They include Sargeant, defensive line coach Dave Fisher and Hilltops defensive end alum, U of S Huskies alum, step brother and long snapper of the CFL’s British Columbia Lions Riley Pickett.

“‘Sarge’ has been a great coach for me, and Fish (Dave Fisher) every day just brings a good spark to the D-line,” said Kack. “Obviously, I look up to my brother Riley Pickett to what he was able to do here.

“There are lots of people I take inspiration from.”

The standout defensive end said the work of the rest of the Hilltops defensive line has allowed him to pile up the sacks he has. The Hilltops have cycled through a number of players on their D-line who have all made plays including Craig Torgerson, Ben Marce, Kai Kukurudza, Johnathon Stevens and Nahom Menghestab.

“They (the opponents) don’t know who to block on any given down to be honest,” said Kack. “They can’t commit to over blocking any of us.

“It has been a big contributing factor for sure. Sometimes if you’re getting lots of pressure, they’ll put two or three guys on you and open up someone else just for a single team. They can’t do that this year, because we’re just having tremendous pressure from everyone.

“It has been awesome.”

Riece Kack (#47) enjoys the havoc the Hilltops D-line creates.

Kack believes the Hilltops have done a good job with staying focused on the present this season. With that noted, he said it feels like this upcoming final regular season game against the Rifles came fast and following that contest will be playoffs. He is looking forward to getting to the post-season chase.

“It is crazy how quick it flies by to be honest,” said Kack. “It feels like it was Week 1 yesterday.

“The season moves quick, and I guess we have the back stretch here. If we make it all the way, it is four or five more games. Definitely, our best football is yet to come.

“It is crazy that it is already playoff time. I’m excited for sure.”

Hilltops’ Gedir tabbed as player of the week

Noah Gedir (#36) was the PFC’s defensive player of the week.

Noah Gedir piled up the tackles in the rain resulting in an individual award coming his way.

On Wednesday, the Saskatoon Hilltops weak side linebacker was named the Prairie Football Conference’s defensive player of the week. Gedir picked up that honour for his performance this past Saturday making seven defensive solo tackles, five defensive tackle assists and one special teams tackle playing in a steady rain helping the Hilltops down their provincial rivals the Regina Thunder 19-10.

The 21-year-old Gedir leads the Hilltops with 73 defensive points coming on 17 solo defensive tackles, 10 defensive tackle assists, nine special teams solo tackles, one quarterback sack, two pass knockdowns, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

Edmonton Wildcats receiver Travis Heggart was named the PFC’s offensive player of the week on Wednesday for his performance in helping his team outgun the visiting Calgary Colts 43-36 at Emerald Hills Regional Park in Sherwood Park, Alta. In helping the Wildcats get their first win of the season, Heggart caught six passes for 149 yards and four touchdowns.

Wildcats kick returner Breyan Elias took honours as the PFC’s special teams player of the week for his huge performance in that Wildcats win over the Colts. He returned three kickoffs for 217 yards. Elias returned the opening kickoff of the third quarter 92 yards for a touchdown and ran back another kickoff later in the frame 100 yards for a touchdown.

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‘Sarge,’ Yausie, Hilltops coaches face unique challenge in 2023

Saskatoon club young, inexperienced in resetting PFC

Jeff Yausie and Tom Sargeant are the Hilltops dynamic coaching duo.

Tom Sargeant and Jeff Yausie – you seemingly can’t have one without the other when it comes to coaching the Saskatoon Hilltops.

Sargeant was named head coach of the storied and historic CJFL club in December of 1997 having served as an assistant coach for seven seasons from 1991 to 1997. Yausie is going into his 22^nd season as a linebackers coach with the Hilltops and 13^th campaign as defensive co-ordinator.

Through the Hilltops run of winning nine CJFL championships in a span of 10 years that included three consecutive wins from 2010 to 2012 and six straight titles from 2014 to 2019, Sargeant and Yausie have come to the forefront in the minds of football followers in Canada as the dynamic duo of the Hilltops coaching staff.

Both are quick to add the Hilltops success comes from the work the team receives from the entirety of the club’s veteran coaching staff. The coaching staff includes offensive coordinator Shane Reider, special teams coordinator Andre Lalonde, Brent Turkington, Donnie Davidsen, Dave Fisher, Barclay Schlosser and Bruce Rempel.

Turkington has been on the staff for 24 seasons, while Lalonde, Schlosser and Rempel are the relative newcomers entering their eighth, seventh and sixth seasons with the team respectively.

Tom Sargeant has been the Hilltops HC since Dec. 1997.

In 2023, Sargeant, Yausie and the Hilltops coaches face a unique challenge of guiding a more youthful and inexperienced team through a CJFL campaign. A reality check about the work that needs to be done came during in the Hilltops Alumni Game played Thursday at Ron Atchison Field, when the Alumni Team rolled to a 32-1 victory.

Sargeant said the coaches are going to get to work and grind as hard as ever to correct things. He said the Hilltops coaches have high trust in each other.

“It is a brotherhood,” said Sargeant. “We all roll up our sleeves.

“The good thing is we’re all embarrassed. We’re all not feeling very good about ourselves. We’ll have the tough conversations, the critical conversations, the open conversations, and we’ll grind and grind and make sure by next week we coach a better team and more importantly they come out and play better.

“You can do whatever you want, but once they get between the lines they have to go play the game. We have to instill a lot of energy, a lot of passion and the smarts.”

The Hilltops had 20 players exhaust their CJFL eligibility at the conclusion of the 2022 campaign including four starters on the offensive line in Jordan Bisson, Luciano Jolly, Jayson Kehler and Ethan Paslowski along with three starters on the defensive line in Jaxon Funk, Daylen Hartz and Dylan McNutt. The graduations included star weak side linebacker Konner Johnson, who won the CJFL’s Larry Wruck Defensive Player of the Year award in 2022.

Jeff Yausie is entering his 22nd season on the Hilltops coaching staff.

“We miss our studs and veterans, but it is really fun to coach new guys and new faces,” said Yausie. “We have to help build what they are going to be.

“They have to learn how to play hard and play fast and to celebrate and play for each other and to be a great team. Our offence needed our help on defence (in the Alumni Game). We had zero turnovers in the first half.

“Our offence needed a couple of turnovers to give them a short field and to give them some life. They absolutely needed that, and we didn’t do it.”

The Hilltops open their regular season schedule on Sunday, August 13, at 1 p.m. when they host the Edmonton Wildcats at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. Sargeant and Yausie both said the focus turns to making the Hilltops game ready for that contest.

Sargeant said he thought the Hilltops had a good week of practice heading into the Alumni Game. Alumni quarterback Jordan Walls, who played for five straight CJFL championship winners from 2014-18, showed he could still shred a defence like NFL all-time great Tom Brady.

Jordan Walls fires a pass downfield for the Alumni Team.

The Hilltops offence was stuck in quicksand going against an Alumni defence that had standouts everywhere like linebacker Cody Peters, who won the CJFL’s Larry Wruck Defensive Player of the Year award in 2018. Peters also played on five straight CJFL championship winners from 2014 to 2018.

“It was a great alumni effort with high-end talent – the hearts and the smarts,” said Sargeant. “They were so smart out there.

“They just made us look like a real young and immature football team, which I guess maybe I thought we were but didn’t want to think that. At least now I know. If this is ground zero, then we will be OK.

“If not, then we’re in a lot of trouble.”

While the Hilltops are finding their way, it appears they won’t be alone in that department in 2023. Due to the fact the 2020 CJFL season was lost due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that gripped the world, the circuit’s leaders elected to give 1998 and 1999 born players an extra year of eligibility.

That decision resulted in two classes of players graduating following the conclusion of last season with players born in 1999 and 2000 exhausting their eligibilities at the end of the campaign. Clubs in the Prairie Football Conference the Hilltops play out of are seeing significant turnover making the 2023 season a big reset one.

QB Trey Reider and the Hilltops struggled against the Alumni Team.

Yausie said the Hilltops coaches will put in the effort to get the club going in an upward direction on the field.

“We’re such good friends that we’ll not accept what we saw,” said Yausie. “I know ‘Sarge’ is a great competitor.

“I know he’ll push us as hard or harder than he will push the kids. We’ll get in and watch our film and get ready to play an unknown opponent really against the Wildcats. There are a lot of unknowns about our league this year.

“I don’t know who the quarterbacks are, and there are some new coordinators. The one thing I know is we will work extremely hard to get better.”

At age 58, Sargeant said he is still as motivated and passionate as ever when it comes to coaching the Hilltops. When it comes to facing the challenges of the 2023 campaign, he is pumped he gets to do it with Yausie and the rest of the Hilltops coaching staff.

“I know what their pride is all about,” said Sargeant. “As I said, there were some good discussions during this game.

HC Tom Sargeant knows his staff has a lot of work ahead of them.

“I know the pride of that group, and I know that at the end of the day we’ll embrace this challenge. We have way more work than maybe I thought we did. I’m just trying to do all that processing now, because I said this was an old fashioned butt kicking that as I said didn’t see coming.

“We have to figure out how to react and respond properly.”

At age 57, Yausie said his love for football is still there. He loves coaching with Sargeant and the rest of the Hilltops coaching staff and helping the players grow. Yausie said that love for everything about the game keeps the Hilltops coaches coming back year after year.

“I think you have to love what you do,” said Yausie. “When you love what you do, it is easy to come to practice.

“I love the guys I coach with, and Tom (Sargeant) has built that in a bunch of different ways. I never thought that I would be coaching at this age. I still got the zip.

Jeff Yausie believes the Hilltops coaches will get the team rolling again.

“I still got some life and energy. I just have fun, and coaching these young guys keeps you young.”

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McNabb quickly evolves into impact player and leader with CJFL powerhouse Hilltops

Hilltops DT Jesse McNabb (#69) chases down a ball carrier.

    Jesse McNabb was ready to step up on the Saskatoon Hilltops defensive line and his chance arrived a little faster than expected.

    In 2016, McNabb joined the Hilltops as a rookie fresh out of Saskatchewan’s North Battleford Comprehensive High School, and he figured he would have to pay his dues before starting for a club that is always contending for a Canadian Junior Football League title. McNabb was moved up to a starting spot in his sophomore year in 2017 and hasn’t looked back.

    “My rookie year, I kind of knew where my spot was going to be, because I knew we had a good group of older guys ahead of me,” said McNabb, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 245 pounds. “I just knew with patience my time would come.

    “I just had to wait until I had my opportunity. Once my opportunity came, I had to seize it.”

     Now in his third year with the team, the 20-year-old has become a cornerstone on the Hilltops defensive line at the inside tackle position. In Saskatoon’s first two regular season games, McNabb has recorded seven total tackles, 1.5 sacks and recovered one fumble.

    On Sunday, the Hilltop improved to 3-0 on the campaign, when they traveled to Winnipeg and downed the Rifles 38-8. Saskatoon led 24-1 at halftime and cruised to their 21st straight victory on the road including action in the regular season and playoffs. The Rifles fell to 1-2.

Hilltops DT Jesse McNabb (#69) enjoys being part of the team’s D-line.

     Normally in football, those that play a defensive tackle position don’t get too much of the limelight. They are often entrusted with trying to occupy a pair of blocks to allow teammates to swarm in and make plays. By taking up a pair of blocks, defensive tackles also help to clog up the opposition’s running game.

    The importance of McNabb’s play and improvement is recognized by Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant.

    “Jesse (McNabb) is a great kid,” said Sargeant. “Number one, he is a high character player, high motor.

    “He never takes a play off. He is just always competing. Just the growth and mentality from his first year to now in his third year, he has really grown, and he is a two-year starter.

    “He is impactful. Each game he gets better, and he does something impactful and important.”

    Growing up in North Battleford, Sask., McNabb wanted to get into football as soon as he could and started playing in Grade 7. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, Aaron, who played a couple of seasons in the early 1990s for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

Hilltops DT Jesse McNabb brings down a Colts running back.

    The younger McNabb took a quick liking to football and admitted he dropped pretty much every other extra-curricular activity he did to play the sport. Playing with the Vikings, McNabb established himself as a trusted standout at the high school level.

    “I got lots of different experiences,” said McNabb. “I’ve pretty much played every position on the field.

    “It is not a big town. You don’t have many guys. You have to play both ways.”

    When he joined the Hilltops, McNabb said the veterans played a big role in helping him adjust to playing for a storied team at the junior level.

    “We had a good group of fifth years to lead us through everything,” said McNabb. “It was a big winning atmosphere and the guys knew what they were doing, and they knew what they wanted to do.

    “They really set your mind straight, when you were coming from a different program.”

    Now, McNabb is the veteran leader who is helping the Hilltops defensive line continue to play at a high level. McNabb and fellow defensive tackle Garth Knittig were the only two returning starters on the Hilltops defensive line from last season.

    Defensive end Tom Schnitzler exhausted his CJFL eligibility after last season and now plays for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in the U Sports ranks. Riley Pickett picked up nine quarterback sacks in eight regular season games playing the other defensive end spot last season, and he moved on to join the U of S Huskies.

Hilltops DT Jesse McNabb chases down a Colts quarterback.

    Connor Guillet and Tristan Hering, who are in their fifth and fourth years of eligibility respectively, have filled in admirably as starters at the defensive end spots. Guillet missed almost all of last season due to a torn Achilles tendon. Caleb Haight and Jordan Seipp, who are in their second and first years of eligibility respectively, have rotated in and seen a number of reps at the defensive end positions as well.

    Under defensive line coach Dave Fisher, the Hilltops defensive line consistently stays at a high level.

    “It was not too bad at all,” said McNabb. “We still had returning guys coming back and playing the ends.

    “I think we are just meshing good as a unit. We have a good group of linebackers behind us.

    “We don’t have to worry about much. As long as we do our jobs, everyone else will make the play, if we miss it.”

    Away from the field, Sargeant said McNabb conducts himself like a gentleman.

    “He has a great upbringing and great parents,” said Sargeant. “He is just a super kid.

    “What you see is what you get. He is a great role model for us. We’re proud that he is here, and he makes us better.

    “He does everything right. He is Hilltop proud, and we are expecting him to be one of the leaders now and into the future.”

Hilltops DT Jesse McNabb gets a sack on a Colts quarterback.

    McNabb has helped the Hilltops win the last two of their current run of four straight CJFL championships. While thoughts of winning an unprecedented fifth Canadian Bowl championship game are in the back of everyone’s minds, McNabb said he is going to enjoy each day as it comes as the season progresses.

    “It is always a good time, when you are hanging out with the guys,” said McNabb. “There are no bad days.

    “If you are having a bad day, your guys are always there to help pick you up.”

    The Hilltops now enjoy a bye week. They return to action on Sept. 15, when they travel to Calgary to take on the Colts.

    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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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.