Hilltops capture Canadian Bowl on guts and hard work

A CJFL title win by Saskatoon not a sure thing in 2025

The Hilltops fifth-year players are pictured with the Canadian Bowl.

At times throughout the 2025 season, it seemed like a CJFL championship win wouldn’t be in the cards for the Saskatoon Hilltops.

Throughout the campaign, injuries and adversity seemed to be just around the corner waiting to derail the storied and historic CJFL club. No matter how seemingly bad things got, the Hilltops players and the team’s coaches led by legendary head coach Tom Sargeant believed.

In true Hilltops fashion, the team found a way. A pair of legacy defining victories including a 30-27 overtime win in the Prairie Football Conference final over the host Regina Thunder and a 21-18 triumph over the visiting Okanagan Sun in the CJFL championship game – the Canadian Bowl – saw the Hilltops become CJFL champions for a 24^th time.

The Hilltops D-line groups get a photo with the Canadian Bowl.

Out of all the Hilltops CJFL title winners, the 2025 squad even with a 9-2 overall record could be viewed as the most unlikely of those championship squads. They are definitely the most unlikely of all the club’s CJFL title winners dating back to at least the 1985 squad. In 1985, the Hilltops under then head coach Kevin Scott faced a large number of injuries causing early struggles that saw the team post a 5-3 regular season mark.

The Hilltops got healthy going into the playoffs that year and would move on to win four straight post-season games to claim the CJFL title with a 9-3 overall mark. Sargeant was a receiver on that 1985 squad and that marked the first time he was on CJFL championship team with the Hilltops. He has since won two more CJFL titles as an assistant coach and 15 CJFL championships as a head coach.

The Hilltops raise the Canadian Bowl as CJFL champions.

This past season in 2025, the Hilltops did have some outstanding talent. At the running back position, they had David Collins, Charles Sawi and Corbin Ebben who could all make plays at any time in the game. 

On defence, the stars were defensive tackles Johnathon Stevens and Nahom Menghestab and middle linebacker Isaac Michayluk.

With that noted, the Hilltops in 2025 will be best remembered for their grit. They grinded through the injuries that seemed to constantly pile up for the team.

David Collins had a stellar season for the Hilltops.

Injuries started before training camp began. Star fifth-year safety Dalton Urban went to the training camp of the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders along with Stevens. In a 27-20 pre-season loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Mosaic Stadium in Regina on May 30, Urban was injured playing on the kickoff coverage team tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

While unable to play for the Hilltops, Urban was placed on the club’s injured/inactive list. He still remained with the team all season helping the defensive backs with adjustments. Be it the practice field or game day, Urban was there with a tablet offering advice to the men in the Hilltops secondary.

The Hilltops struggled early to stay healthy at the quarterback position. During the eight game regular season, six different pivots threw passes for the ’Toppers.

Nahom Menghestab, left, and Johnathon Stevens anchor the inside.

Saskatoon had to overcome various injuries in the club’s receivers group. As a result of the combination of quarterback and receiver injuries, the Hilltops passing game was not as crisp and consistent as it traditionally has been in the past, but when key plays needed to be made in the passing game, the Hilltops made them.

The regular season started on August 10 with the Hilltops traveling to Winnipeg and being on the wrong end of a 31-11 drubbing against the host Rifles at Maple Grove Rugby Park. That result caught the attention of everyone around the CJFL.

Brexton Elias returned from injury to start at QB for the Hilltops.

After rebounding with two convincing wins at home, the Hilltops got to hit the field with fifth-year Brexton Elias, who was tabbed as the team’s starting quarterback going into the campaign. Due to injury, he didn’t play or start until the team’s fourth regular season game on Sept. 6, when the Hilltops downed the host Thunder 18-15 at Mosaic Stadium.

The Hilltops would run their winning streak to five games before dropping a 24-21 heartbreaker on their home turf of Saskatoon Minor Football Field on September 27. Sargeant said his players came out with a great effort in that contest and shouldered the blame for that setback.

The players believed they could make the 2025 campaign a special one and went back to work. They were aware they needed to keep grinding and building, so there was no looking too far ahead.

Isaiah Vallderruten jets upfield after making a catch.

The Hilltops concluded the regular season playing in adverse rainy and windy conditions on October 12 at SMF Field downing the visiting Calgary Colts 31-6. That allowed Saskatoon to post a 6-2 record during the regular season and ensure a second place finish in the PFC.

With Ebben experiencing injuries early in the regular season, Collins emerged as the star starting running back. He would record the 11^th individual season where a Hilltops running back broke 1,000-yards rushing for the regular season. Collins finished the regular season with 126 carries for 1,028 yards and 13 touchdowns.

The product of St. Michael, Minn., was one of the first three players the Hilltops ever had on their roster from the United States and all were in their final campaigns of eligibility for the CJFL. CJFL clubs are allowed to have three players born in the U.S. on their rosters.

David Boyd Jr., right, shows off his sure hands for the Hilltops.

The Hilltops’ U.S. contingent included receiver Isaiah Vallderruten from Elizabeth, New Jersey. With Urban out with injury, Vallderruten played both ways for the Hilltops taking on the safety position on defence.

Saskatoon also added receiver David Boyd Jr., who is from St. Cloud, Minn. Boyd Jr. spent the 2024 campaign with the Thunder before electing to move to Saskatoon. He would make some clutch catches as the campaign went on.

The trio of Collins, Vallderruten and Boyd Jr. fit in seamlessly with the Hilltops roster. You would have thought the U.S. born players grew up playing football with the other players on the Saskatoon side.

Charles Sawi made tonnes of exciting plays for the Hilltops.

The post-season began on October 19 at SMF Field with the Hilltops romping over the Rifles 60-26.

An epic comeback followed at Mosaic Stadium in the PFC final against the Thunder. Regina led 24-9 with 10:51 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Saskatoon rallied to even the score 24-24 to force overtime. After the Thunder got a field goal on their overtime possession to go ahead 27-24, Hilltops backup quarterback Griffin Sander hit Vallderruten with a 24-yard winning, walk-off touchdown pass to pull out a legacy-defining 30-27 victory.

In that triumph, the Hilltops coaches elected to pull Elias for Sander, who is a former University of Saskatchewan Huskies Football Team reserve quarterback, to spark the offence. Elias proceeded to help out as much as he could from the sidelines, and the fact he was a good teammate created an intangible that contributed to the rally.

HC Tom Sargeant keeps providing stellar guidance for the Hilltops. 

Elias got the start in the Canadian Bowl this past Sunday at SMF Field. He again showed his team-first mindset, when the Hilltops elected to pull him for Sander late in the first quarter when Saskatoon was locked in a 2-2 tie with the British Columbia Football Conference champion Sun from Kelowna.

The Hilltops proceeded to go ahead 16-2 in the second quarter and held a 16-4 lead at halftime. The Sun got a first drive touchdown to start the third quarter, but they later conceded a safety in the frame to make the Hilltops lead sit at 18-11.

With 1:33 remaining in the fourth quarter, Sun quarterback Liam Kroeger ran home an 18-yard touchdown to complete a 108-yard scoring drive to force an 18-18 tie.

MLB Isaac Michayluk had an outstanding season on defence.

The Hilltops weren’t done and put together a gritty ensuing drive with big runs on the ground to get into field goal range. Hilltops fourth-year kicker Ryden Gratton nailed a 37-yard field goal with 28.6 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to give the hosts a 21-18 lead.

On the Sun ensuing series, Hilltops third-year strong side linebacker Zaden Taylor came up with a game sealing interception on Kroeger. Saskatoon killed the rest of the clock with kneel downs to cement a 21-18 victory. The celebration was on for the “blue and gold” at SMF Field.

All of a sudden, the Hilltops had completed arguably their most memorable season in the modern history of the club dating back to 1947. When the team was presented the Canadian Bowl as CJFL champions, it felt like the Hilltops 2025 campaign lived to the game’s most famous quote given the man who has the NFL’s Super Bowl trophy named after him in the iconic Vince Lombardi.

Lombardi’s famous quote goes, “I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour – his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear – is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.”

ackson Dean, centre, enjoys the Canadian Bowl with family and friends.

That quote fittingly describes the 2025 Hilltops after their CJFL title game win. They worked their hearts out and earned everything that came their way.

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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Collins soaks in his Canadian adventure with Hilltops

RB one of storied CJFL team’s first three U.S. born players

David Collins completes a 65-yard TD run this past Sunday.

A call to a friend started David Collins on a path to a country and a football team he knew very little about.

After playing the 2023 season for the Central Lakes College Raiders Football Team in Brainerd, Minn., in the National Junior College Athletic Association, Collins, who is a talented running back, took a year off from the game. The St. Michael, Minn., product was looking for a way to return to playing the game, so he called friend and former Raiders teammate David Boyd Jr., who he knew was playing in Canada.

Collins asked Boyd Jr. what team he was going to be playing for in 2025. Boyd Jr. said he was going to play for the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops in 2025, and Collins asked if he could have the phone number for Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant.

“Then I made a highlight tape, and sent it to coach,” said Collins. “Coach said he loved how explosive I was, so he said he’d take a chance on me.”

With that initial contact, Collins arrived in Saskatoon in late July for the start of his one and only CJFL campaign being a 22-year-old. For Collins, leaving the United States and just coming to Canada was a big step.

“Truth be told, it was my first time out of the country, so I didn’t really know much about Canada or like anywhere,” said Collins, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 195 pounds. “It was a good experience.

“I’m really glad I’m here. I’m glad I’m learning a different culture other than my own and learning a lot about Canada, actually. I didn’t know this much about it, so it is really good.

“I can go back and tell my family and friends about it.”

David Collins ran fo 1,028 yards in the CJFL regular season.

As far as adjusting to football went, Collins felt welcomed in right away by everyone in the storied and historic Hilltops program, which has won 23 total CJFL championships.

On Sunday, Collins begins his one and only run in the CJFL Playoffs with the Saskatoon side. The Hilltops (6-2) host the Winnipeg Rifles (4-4) in a PFC semifinal contest on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. The Hilltops were rated fourth in the final CJFL Top 10 Power Rankings released on October 10.

Thanks to an early season injury to star fourth-year running back Corbin Ebben, Collins was thrown into the fire playing a lot out of the gate at the running back spot.

He excelled becoming the team’s leading rusher and the leading touchdown scorer in the CJFL’s Prairie Football Conference. The seamless fit extended to the Hilltops two other United States born players in Boyd Jr., and Isaiah Vallderruten. Body Jr. suits up at receiver, and Vallderruten plays both ways at receiver on offence and at safety on defence.

Collins, Boyd Jr. and Vallderruten are the first three United States born players to ever play for the Hilltops. Collins said it has been cool to see how quickly they have all fit in with the Hilltops.

“It was super neat,” said Collins. “We were just ready for the opportunity and ready to work.

“I feel like we knew what we came here for and knew exactly what we had in store for us, so we just came and did that.”

During the regular season, Collins ran the ball 126 times for 1,028 yards and 13 touchdowns. He put up the 11^th individual 1,000-yard rushing season in team history and his 13 majors led the PFC.

David Collins came to the Hilltops from St. Michael, Minn.

Sargeant, who is the Hilltops legendary head coach, noted that, while his club is deep at running back with Ebben and fourth-year veteran Charles Sawi having great seasons, it was big for the team to have Collins step up coming out of the gate.

“It started from day one when he got here,” said Sargeant. “He certainly had a special skill set.

“When we gave him the ball, we got to see some glimpses of what it could be. When Corbin (Ebben) got hurt, there were some quick realities of we had to put him (Collins) in some different spots, and he responded.”

When it came to bringing in the three players born in the United States, Sargeant said it became something the venerable Saskatoon side had to do.

“In the rest of the league, every other team was doing it,” said Sargeant. “Either, you complain about it, or you do something about it.

“I met with the directors and (Hilltops) president (Greg) Peacock, and we came up with a game plan. Then, I went to work. I had to actively start recruiting.”

Under CJFL rules, each of the clubs on the junior circuit are only allowed to have three United States born players on their respective rosters. When it comes to his first recruiting class from the United States, Sargeant said the trio of Collins, Boyd Jr. and Vallderruten have exceeded his expectations.

“Ultimately, it turned out the way it is right now,” said Sargeant. “The first thing I’d say is all three of them are just great kids.

“They’re great kids to be around. They have absolutely come in and fit our systems well. They’ve handled themselves great, and they’ve made us a better football team.”

David Collins (#10) jets past Edmonton Huskies defenders on Aug. 17.

While Collins made the initial reach out to Sargeant, the shifty ball carrier was happy the long time sideline boss got him running to Saskatoon.

“I’m glad that I was one of the guys that he found truth be told,” said Collins. ““Sarge” (Sargeant) is great, and I’m glad that he picked the other two Americans that came along.

“We’ve been working super hard to try to make a difference on this team.”

On the field, Collins said it has been a joy to play with the rules of the Canadian game.

“I kind of like the Canadian rules better,” said Collins. “The only thing I wish the Canadian football game had was fourth down, but I love the bigger end zone.

“I love the longer field. It gives more opportunity for the offence to make more plays. I guess it is harder for the defence, but defence in general is always going to be hard.

“You just got to get used to it for the defence.”

Collins loves the 65-yard width of the Canadian field, and he said it allows him to make more plays running to the outside compared to the United States field that has a width of 53.3 yards.

“If I’m running laterally like I’m running a stretch play, I’ll be able to pick my own time to pick when I want to puncture the line of scrimmage,” said Collins. “It won’t be just because I’m running out of real estate or running out of yards to run.”

With the regular season having come to a completion, Collins is looking forward to playing in the CJFL Playoffs. He believes it is great the CJFL has a post-season single elimination bracket style tournament that mirrors what is traditionally seen in the NFL.

David Collins, left, walks with his mom Sadia VaPond.

Collins wants to experience the feeling of getting a win to move on to the next round making it possible to keep playing the game in the process.

“I’m going to try to elongate it as long as possible,” said Collins, who said he is looking forward to snow games having played in those growing up in Minnesota. “(I will be) trying to win as many games, try to make as many sacrifices in order for us to be ready as a team.

“I’m just really excited for what the team has in store, what I have in store, what the weather has in store for us and all that. We have to stay warm. We have to stay bonded up and just make sure that we’re mentally ready, mentally strong and we’re physical.”

Zimmer cracks into play of week awards, other notes

Colton Zimmer (#7) was named the PFC special teams player of the week.

The Saskatoon Hilltops downplay individual accolades, but this one likely got a big cheer somewhere during this past week.

On Tuesday, fifth-year long snapper Colton Zimmer was named the PFC’s special teams player of the week. The long-time veteran from Langham, Sask., has been a favourite inside the Hilltops dressing room pretty much since he arrived with the venerable club as a rookie.

In last Sunday’s 31-6 victory over the Calgary Colts concluding regular season play for both sides, Zimmer was perfect on his long snaps in fairly dreadful weather conditions. The Hilltops’ clash with the Colts started in rainy weather which turned into snowy weather by game’s end.

He also had 3.5 total special teams tackles and recovered a fumble on a missed field goal return. Zimmer received big cheers from the Hilltops bench after his special teams tackles and his fumble recovery.

The PFC offensive players of the week went to the entire Regina Thunder starting offensive line for their performance in their team’s 56-3 victory over the Edmonton Wildcats last Sunday at Leibel Field. The Thunder piled up a CJFL record 632 yards rushing as a team for one game running behind left tackle Caleb Barajas, left guard Tristen Rapchalk, centre James Lucio, right guard Nolan Finn and right tackle Ethan Kreutzer.

The old CJFL record for most rushing yards posted by one team in one game was held by the Edmonton Huskies, who put up 588 yards rushing in one contest back in 2002.

Thanks to the work of Barajas, Rapchalk, Lucio, Finn and Kreutzer, Thunder star running back Peter Boersch ran for 218 yards on 18 carries and scored one touchdown. Carter Ashman, who is having a breakout season at running back, put up 205 yards rushing on 10 carries and scored one touchdown.

Barajas, who is a 22-year-old veteran, got to run the ball once for 11 yards scoring a touchdown.

Winnipeg Rifles outside linebacker Cohen McCluskey was the PFC defensive player of the week for his efforts in his team’s 47-11 victory over the host Edmonton Huskies last Sunday at Jasper Place Bowl. McCluskey piled up 9.5 total defensive tackles and one pass knockdown in his team’s victory.

The Thunder, who topped the PFC standings with a 7-1 record, host the Huskies (3-5) in one PFC semifinal set for 1 p.m. this coming Sunday at Leibel Field. Regina is rated third in the final CJFL Top 10 Power Rankings released on October 10.

The Rifles (4-4) travel to Saskatoon to face the host Hilltops (6-2) in the other PFC semifinal set for 1 p.m. this coming Sunday at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. The Hilltops are rated fourth in the final CJFL Top 10 Power Rankings.

·         The Okanagan Sun (11-0) host the Westshore Rebels (8-3) on Saturday in the BCFC championship game set for 1 p.m. local time at the Apple Bowl in Kelowna, B.C. The Rebels are based out of Langford, B.C., which is a suburb of Victoria. In the battle for the Cullen Cup, the Sun were rated second in the final CJFL Top 10 Power Rankings, while the Rebels were placed at fifth.

·         The St. Clair Saints (9-0) will host the London Beefeaters (7-2) on Saturday in the OFC title contest set for 7:30 p.m. local time at Acumen Stadium in Windsor, Ont. The contest is dubbed the Ontario Conference Teddy Morris Championship Game. The defending CJFL champion Saints topped the final CJFL Top 10 Power Rankings, while Beefeaters placed seventh.

·          The BCFC champion will host the OFC champion in this year’s CJFL national semifinal set to be held on October 25.

·         Winnipeg Rifles middle linebacker Kyler Banfield topped the PFC with 129 defensive points. He tallied up that total recording 37 defensive solo tackles, 26 defensive tackle assists, three special teams solo tackles, one special team tackle assist, two quarterback sacks, four pass knockdowns, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. Saskatoon Hilltops middle linebacker Isaac Michayluk was second in the PFC with 116 defensive points. He collected that total recording 32 defensive solo tackles, 22 defensive tackle assists, one special teams solo tackle, four special teams tackle assists, three pass knockdowns, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and three interceptions.

·         Winnipeg Rifles receiver Jarome Penner caught 40 passes for 794 yards and three touchdowns this season. His receiving yardage total topped the PFC.

·         Saskatoon Hilltops running back Charles Sawi led the PFC in punt returns (50) and punt return yards (451).

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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