Hilltops bottle drive shifts to form with less contact

Janice Kozun stands by items collected for the Hilltops bottle drive.

    The Saskatoon Hilltops had to make a slight audible on their fundraising bottle drive to make it a better fit for these coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic times.

    The Hilltops plan to donate a portion of the funds they raise through the bottle drive to the Saskatoon Food Bank and the Friendship Inn, and the remainder of the funds raised will go to the football club as it navigates its way through the pandemic.

    Originally, the Hilltops planned to have their players out canvassing Saskatoon neighbourhoods on Saturday for bottles while wearing gloves and masks.

    After having continuing discussions with the Saskatchewan Health Authority, the Hilltops have changed how their bottle drive will be conducted so it involves the least amount of contact as possible. They outlined the procedures they would follow on a post they made on their Facebook page early Thursday morning.
    The bottle began on Thursday, where the public dropped off bottles in the parking lot next to the Hilltops clubhouse patio. Team directors were on hand to accept the recyclables from donors.

All sorts of bottles were collected at the Hilltops bottle drive.

    The drive continues on Friday. Those looking to donate to the Hilltops bottle drive can drop items off at the OK Tire location on 610 Circle Drive from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

    Bagged cans and bottles can be dropped off at Door #8, and Hilltops former punting great and president elect Rod Janzen will be on site to accept and store donations.

    On Saturday, bagged cans and bottles can be dropped off at ABC Canada from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1802 Quebec Avenue. Those looking to participate in the Saturday drop off are asked to enter the ABC Canada parking lot on the east side of the building using the 40^th Street and 1^st Avenue access.

    For those who are unable to drop off recyclables, the Hilltops will be able to pick them up from your home. Those looking to get their recyclables picked up are asked to contact someone they know from the team or to send the Hilltops a direct message through their Facebook page, which can be found by clicking right here.

    The Hilltops will collect recyclables from the curb or walkways of people’s homes to ensure proper social distancing guidelines are followed.

The items collected Thursday for the Hilltops bottle drive.

    All volunteers will be wearing masks and gloves through this process. All donations will be sorted after a mandatory quarantine period.

    The Hilltops are looking to keep adding to their storied tradition.

    In 2019, the Hilltops posted a 12-0 overall record and went undefeated for a second straight season. The undefeated campaign was particularly impressive as the Hilltops dealt with a high turnover in starters from their 2018 CJFL championship team.

    The Hilltops claimed their sixth straight CJFL title downing the host Langley Rams in an 11-6 defensive slugfest in Langley, B.C., to retain possession of the Canadian Bowl trophy.

    The Hilltops have captured the Canadian Bowl in nine out of the last 10 seasons to become CJFL champions.

Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame calls Jones Konihowski

Three #TeamCanada Olympians are a part of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2020/21 ✨🙌

🏀 Steve Nash
🏇 Eric Lamaze (and 🐴 Hickstead!)
🏃‍♀️ Diane Jones Konihowski

Details 👉https://t.co/8Hf97SYa3q pic.twitter.com/qwfSUxpwlR

— Team Canada (@TeamCanada) May 27, 2020

    Diane Jones Konihowski is a University of Saskatchewan Huskies legend, and she is going to be given her place in Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.

    On Wednesday, Jones Konihowski was announced as an inductee for the 2020-21 class for Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the induction ceremony is expected to take place at some point in 2021.

    After graduating from Aden Bowman Collegiate in 1969, Jones Konihowski was a member of the U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s track and field team for five seasons between 1969 and 1975. She didn’t compete for the Huskies during the 1972-73 campaign due to competing in the Olympics.

    Back when Jones Konihowski was a member of the Huskies, the school’s women’s teams were known as the Huskiettes.

    Jones Konihowski was a member of Canada’s team that took part in Summer Games held Aug. 26 to Sept. 11, 1972 in Munich, Germany.

    During her five campaigns with the Huskies, she helped the U of S women’s track team win three Canada West Conference titles, and captured 12 individual gold medals and set conference records in four events.

    Jones Konihowski claimed the Mary Ethel Cartwright Trophy as the female athlete of the year at U of S in 1974 and 1975.

    Internationally, Jones Konihowski is best remembered as a star in the pentathlon. She won gold in the pentathlon at the 1975 Pan-Am Games in Mexico City, the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton and the 1979 Pan-Am Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

    At her peak, Jones Konihowski was ranked #1 in the world in the pentathlon.

    At the 1972 Olympics, Jones Konihowski was 10^th in the pentathlon.

    She competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal finishing sixth in the pentathlon and 11^th in the long jump.

    Jones Konihowski was named to Canada’s team for the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow in the former Soviet Union, and she was a favourite to win gold in the pentathlon at those games.

    Due to Canada joining the international boycott of those games due to Soviet military action in Afghanistan, she was denied the chance to partake in that event. In a meet held three weeks after those games, Jones Konihowski defeated all the Olympic medalists.

    She was a co-winner of Canada’s female athlete of the year in 1975 and won the award again in 1978.

    While still a competitive athlete in her prime, Jones Konihowski was named a member of the Order of Canada in 1978. She was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.

    Jones Konihowski was a Chef de Mission of the Canadian team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

    She is married to John Konihowski, who is an alumnus of the Huskies football team and the Huskies men’s track and field team. He played nine seasons in the CFL from 1974 to 1982 with the Edmonton Eskimos and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

    The two are members of the University of Saskatchewan Athletic Wall of Fame.

Jones Konihowski, who is now 69-years-old, enters Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame with a very impressive class.

    Entering the Hall along with Jones Konihowski in the athlete category are basketball star Steve Nash, Sonja Gaudet in wheelchair curling, Jackie Barrett in Special Olympics weightlifting, show jumper Eric Lamaze and his horse named Hickstead and golfer Lorie Kane.

    Going into the Hall as builders are Sheldon Kennedy and Willie O’Ree in hockey, Duncan Campbell in wheelchair rugby, Judy Kent in sport administration and Ross Powless in lacrosse.

    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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Godson aims to be fixture on Hilltops radar

Ethan Godson looks to be a bigger playmaker for the Hilltops this season.

    Ethan Godson wants to make plays in order to see more time on the field with the Saskatoon Hilltops.

    The 20-year-old speedster made the biggest play in the Hilltops Alumni Game on Thursday at Ron Atchison Field. With the current Hilltops scrimmaging from their own one yard line, fifth-year quarterback Tyler Hermann hit Godson, who is a third-year receiver, perfectly in stride on deep streak down the right sideline.

    Godson, who had a step on his defender from the alumni side, raced the rest of the way for a touchdown that put the current Hilltops up 14-0.

    “It was nice,” said Godson, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 190 pounds. “It is almost a tryout for me, so it is nice to get noticed by the coaches and put my name out there.”

    The alumni side rallied back to take the contest 18-14 to mark the fifth straight year current Hilltops have fallen to the alum squad.

Ethan Godson is off to the races on a deep touchdown catch.

    Godson was buried his first two seasons on the Hilltops depth chart as the powerhouse club won its fourth and fifth straight respective Canadian Junior Football League titles. The Hilltops have claimed the CJFL crown eight out of the last nine years.

    Following last year’s 58-21 triumph in the Canadian Bowl over the Langley Rams at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, the Hilltops experienced a sizable turnover on their roster having claimed their 21^st CJFL title.

    With that turnover, Godson is hoping to get into more game action.

    “It is different just competing for a starting spot,” said Godson, who is a graduate of Saskatoon’s Bishop James Mahoney High School Saints football team. “It is exciting.

    “It is like the most fun I could have. My first year, I wasn’t really that comfortable. Being in my third year, I am getting really comfortable out here.”

    With how well things went on his long touchdown catch, Godson is hoping head coach Tom Sargeant might want to dial up that play again, if the Hilltops are pinned in their own end.

Ethan Godson, middle, fights for extra yards after a catch.

    “If we’re not getting out of the end zone, he (Sargeant) wants to take a knee,” said Godson. “We are going to take our shot, and if we make it, then we make it.

    “If not, then we don’t. We’re going to take those shots, when we are down in our own end.”

    Sargeant was pleased with how well the deep pass call to Godson was executed.

    “That was a real momentum buster for us,” said Sargeant. “We have a lot of receivers who can run deep down the field.

    “They are very athletic, and they make a lot of plays. We’re going to be aggressive in anything we do. We just have to get better in what we do, and if we do that, I think we are going to be in better shape.”

    The current Hilltops opened the scoring in the alumni game, when Hermann hit receiver Carter Norrish for a touchdown toss from about 14 yards out to produce a 7-0 edge. 

QB Tyler Hermann (#71) fires a pass to receiver Carter Norrish (#88).

    Hermann is slated to be the team’s starter for the first time in his CJFL career.

    After Godson’s long catch gave the current Hilltops a 14-0 lead, the alums cut the gap to 14-7 right before halftime with a one-yard touchdown run from power back Andre Lalonde.

    In the second half, alumni kicker Rod Janzen hit a 22-yard field goal and scored a single point from a missed field goal to trim the lead by the current Hilltops to 14-11.

    Late in the second half, alum quarterback Riley Hobbins connected with receiver Sam Anderson on a touchdown pass from about 20 yards out to give the alumni side the 18-14 victory.

    Sargeant said it was obvious a large number of players on the current Hilltops are still getting used to new roles with the team. The team elected to rest a handful of regular starters too.

Andre Lalonde has a touchdown run for the Hilltops alums.

    “We have lots of work to do,” said Sargeant. “People weren’t comfortable.

    “There wasn’t a lot of confidence, a lot of moxy or lots of energy, because people were thinking too hard. It is going to take time. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

    “We lost a lot of high end players, so when that happens, there are some realities. Those realities are we need to coach better, they need to figure out how to play better, and we need to execute better. When we understand our plans and are able to do a better job of that, hopefully, it is going to lead to a better result than what we had.”

    In the first half, the alumni side came up a half yard short on a third down gamble, and the officials ruled a first down. Sargeant admitted the coaches have to be on top of situations like that during the regular season and request a measurement.

    “It shows you as I am getting older my eyes are getting worse,” said Sargeant. “I couldn’t see a darn thing out here.

Jared Giddings makes a stop for the current Hilltops.

    “That is why in the future we will have spotters up there, and we will be on top of that.”

    The alumni game officially brought an end to Hilltops training camp, which started on Monday. They will begin to prepare for their first regular season game on Sunday, Aug. 18, when they travel to Winnipeg to take on the Rifles.

    Godson is looking forward to that opportunity to make another good impression.

The alums celebrate a win in the Hilltops Alumni Game.

    “It is exciting,” said Godson. “There are a lot of new guys out here.

    “Guys are going to have to step up and do their jobs.”

    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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Hilltops Alumni Game a hit on many levels

Hilltops RB Des Vessey (#27) runs against the alumni team defence.

    The old Transformers slogan of “More than Meets the Eye” is a fitting way to describe the Saskatoon Hilltops Alumni Game.

    For decades, the venerable Canadian Junior Football League franchise has hosted a clash with its alumni as part of the team’s training camp. It is used as key evaluator for Hilltops coaches to grade current players. The contest has some modified guidelines, but it is played mostly under CJFL rules.

    The game gives the current players a chance to interact and meet the former players that have come before them. The match also allows the Hilltops grads to renew bonds with their old club and see old teammates and friends they normally don’t get to see on a regular basis due to real life circumstances relating to work and family.

    In recent years, the game has kind of branched out to include various other members of the Saskatoon football community that have never played with the Toppers. It has become common place for the recent alumni squads to contain ringers that played for teams from the Canadian Interuniversity Sport ranks and the CJFL.

QB Jordan Walls fires a pass downfield for the current Hilltops.

    This is done to increase the toughness of the alumni team to give the current Hilltops a tougher challenge. When it comes down to it, the alumni game might be the most difficult game the current Toppers play all year.

    The old players have enjoyed the game so much that word has gotten out, and more volunteers are turning out for the alumni team in terms of both former Hilltops players and players from other post-secondary teams.

    When the 2016 alumni game was held on Thursday at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, a very powerful and deep alumni squad turned out to face a Hilltops squad that lost 16 players due to graduation from last year’s CJFL championship team and a small handful of other players to the CIS ranks.

    With the current Hilltops fielding squad that contained a number of recent 18-year-old high school grads against a squad of well-conditioned men, the alumni rolled to a 41-10 victory.

    Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant and his staff definitely received a lot of film they can use for evaluations and corrections. The veteran coaching staff realizes there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to get the current team playing at the very high standard the Hilltops program is used to performing in 70 years of existence. Saskatoon opens its regular season hosting the Winnipeg Rifles on Aug. 14 at 1 p.m. at SMF Field.

Two Hilltops defenders up end an alumni team receiver.

    With that said, Thursday’s game wasn’t all bad for the current Hilltops. A number of individuals put in good outings.

    Backup quarterback Jordan Walls threw the ball well all over the field. The alumni team defensive backs, who have tonnes of experience, said the third year signal caller was doing a great job moving defensive players around with his eyes creating openings for his receivers.

    It took a great play by Joel Lipinski, who is a former member of the University of Regina Rams and the Saskatchewan Roughriders, to get an interception off Walls.

    Receiver Jason Price looks ready to be a playmaker. He had some nice catches and the only touchdown the current Hilltops scored in the game. The Walter Murray Collegiate graduate was buried on the depth chart his first two seasons behind five standout pass catchers the Hilltops graduated a year ago.

Receiver Ryan Turple zips up field for the Hilltops.

    Possession receiver Ryan Turple also made some nice catches and wasn’t afraid to mix things up in traffic despite standing 5-foot-9 and weighing 160 pounds.

    On defence, Adam Benkic was flowed to the ball well and looks like he is going to take step another step forward after a strong campaign in 2015. Rookie cornerback Leif Larson from Lloydminster showed that he has lots of promise.

    The current Hilltops sat out a number of their veterans for the alumni game in order to spend more time evaluating others on the roster. Those that didn’t dress included star quarterback Jared Andreychuk, last year’s CJFL defensive player of the year and linebacker Cole Benkic and beast running back Logan Fischer.

    On the alumni side of things, Hilltops grads like quarterback Steve Bilan, linebacker Warren Muzika and receivers Kit Hillis and John Trumpy showed they can still have game. Current Hilltops vice-president Rod Janzen showed he could still boot the ball as both a punter and place kicker. Way back in 1997 as the Hilltops punter, Janzen averaged 53.6 yards a punt, which is still a CJFL regular season record.

    After the game, the former players retreated to a social function the Hilltops held on the patio and lounge of the new clubhouse complex at SMF Field. That provided a chance to visit with, reminisce and tell some old tales with various members of the team’s staff including legendary executive Don McDonald, who will be part of the 2016 class inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Alumni team punter Rod Janzen gets set to boom the ball downfield.

    The former players - both Hilltops alumni and players from other programs - come away feeling they had a good time and were treated in a first-rate manner. While the former Toppers reconnect with their old club, the former players from other teams get an increased sense of belonging to a city they have made their working careers in. 

    As a spinoff, those players will be back to watch games, donate to things like the Hilltops scholarship program or convince the companies they work for to become team sponsors.

    When all is said in done, everyone wins when it comes to the Hilltops Alumni Game no matter what the result was on the scoreboard.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.