Hilltops, Colts renew rivalry in final
Saskatoon looking forward to having another shot at Calgary for PFC title
The Saskatoon Hilltops are more than happy to have another crack at the Calgary Colts, but head coach Tom Sargeant says he could really care less about who his team is playing.
Bottom line, Sargeant is just glad to be back in the Canadian Junior Football League’s Prairie Football Conference final.
“Hey, No. 1, we’re happy we’re playing at home,” stresses Sargeant, whose Hilltops will host the Colts in the PFC final Sunday afternoon, at 1 p.m., at SMF Field in Saskatoon. “That tells us, compared to any other team in the league this year, we took care of business the best, so we get to sleep in our beds the night before and show up at our home field and come out and play our best game of the year.
“It just so happens that Calgary’s rolling in here.”
The last time these two teams met, the Colts built a 36-0 lead on their way to a 36-21 victory. It was a wake-up call for the Toppers and the last game they lost.
“Hey, they helped us re-direct or change our season a couple months earlier,” notes Sargeant. “I want to see how much we’ve improved. It’s the third straight year that it’s been Calgary and Saskatoon in the PFC final. We’ve won the last two, so stay tuned.”
Defensively, the Colts feature a formidable front seven. They’re physical and tough to run against, says Sargeant, adding that Calgary also has excellent defensive backs.
The Toppers are expecting a few different looks from the Colts, defensively. They’ll prepare for three or four different looks and try to game-plan strategically.
The Colts lineup is loaded with PFC all-stars.
“You just add up the all-stars,” Sargeant points out. “We walk away with five and they’ve got 13, so the league certainly thinks they’re the best team by certainly individually honouring a bunch of their players but thank God it’s a team game and we’re going to put out our 12 best on D, 12 best on O and 12 best on special teams to do what we need to do to ultimately come away with the win.”
Saskatoon garnered three allstar nods on offence and just two on D. Drayke Unger and Sam Mike are PFC offence all-stars along with Logan Fischer as return specialist.
Fischer was once again overlooked at running back, and quarterback Jared Andreychuk was another glaring all-star omission despite being named the PFC MVP.
“At the end of the day, Jared and Logan are two players I wouldn’t trade for anybody in the league,” said Sargeant. “We feel they are as important to the success of the Hilltops as any two players anywhere else on their teams.
“They know what’s in front of them and I’m expecting them to play, individually and collectively, both their best games of the year against Calgary regardless of awards because we measure ourselves on wins and losses, not on awards.”
Blake Hermann and Cam Schnitzler were named PFC defensive all-stars for Saskatoon.
ALL FOR FIFTH YEARS
The Hilltops will be out to honour their 11 graduating players with a win.
“It’s important for all of us and that’s why we’re in here, putting in the work and doing the time,” points out Sargeant. “Hey, the program has a standard. We expect to be in these games and ultimately we expect to have success in these games because of the fifth-year players. If our fifth-year players are our best players, good things are going to happen for us. I know that much.”