Mike burst onto scene as a starter for Hilltops

The player with two first names — Sam Mike — didn’t take very long to score his first touchdowns as a Saskatoon Hilltop starter this season.

The 5-foot-11, 180-pound Mike finished the season with eight TD majors, tops among Prairie Football Conference receivers in the Canadian Junior Football League.

Mike had 35 catches for 558 yards as he moved into a starting role from backup.

“Sam had a phenomenal year for us,” says Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant, “from a guy who really didn’t have a lot of catches for his first couple of years on the team to a guy bursting onto the scene and becoming a prime-time playmaker.”

He had just three catches for 10 yards last season, before adding a pair of receptions in the playoffs. He’s come into his own after the two-time reigning Canadian Bowl champion Hilltops graduated its core of starting receivers, including Chad Braun, Evan Kopchynski, Evan Turkington, Davis Mitchell and Preston Njaa. Mike has stepped up and excelled.

“A real gifted route runner and pass-catcher, he’s certainly helped to elevate that passing game when we were struggling,” points out Sargeant. “Sam’s worked hard. He’s put in the time and paid the price. To see him rewarded certainly gets us excited for what he’s done because no one in the league had a belief that Sam would make this kind of impact in the PFC, so congrats to him.”

For his part, Mike is enjoying his expanded role.

“My role is to basically go out there and make plays,” says the Saskatoon Holy Cross product who admits it was tough previously playing a backup role.

“It’s tough. You’re always anxious and want to be on the field, playing. We had great leaders in the receiving corps, guys like Evan Turkington and Chad Braun — they’re great players on and off the field.” Mike watched and learned. “Chad was always a precise route runner,” explains Mike. “Playing the wideout role, I was looking to see how he was running his routes and all that. In my mind, he’s one of the best route runners. Evan Turkington, he’s just a big-bodied guy. Myself, I was injured in the past and the coaches would always say how tough Evan was. I kind of picked a little bit from Evan. Kopper was a deep threat. I view myself as a deep threat. I’d always ask him what he does (to get open), if he’s getting jammed up and all that stuff. Just a bunch a great leaders on the team to learn from.

“I wouldn’t say a complete whole combination of all those players but maybe a little bit from all of them. They’re all exceptional players and I had a chance to pick their brains a little bit.”

Mike says he believed his time would come.

“Even though I was anxious, I was always watching what they were doing,” he says. “So I knew I would get my time eventually. With the Hilltops, it’s always ‘next man up.’ I was always being poised, ready for my time. This year, I knew I had a big role with the departures of all those guys. I just had to step up and prove myself.”