Hilltops focused on securing playoffs home-field advantage
With two games left to go in the regular season, the Saskatoon Hilltops are squarely focused on securing home-field advantage throughout the Prairie Football Conference playoffs.
“Absolutely, you bet,” confirmed Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant.
That means sweeping back-toback games over teams on the opposite end of the spectrum — the Edmonton Wildcats (1-5) and firstplace Edmonton Huskies (6-0) — during the next two weeks.
“We can’t do that (sweep) without having success this weekend,” points out Sargeant.
“We’re lucky to be at home and we’re always honoured to play at home and play our best in front of our fans. That’s why it’s so crucial for us to work hard and get home field.”
It all starts Sunday afternoon (1 p.m., SMF Field) with a game against the Wildcats. Sargeant isn’t about to take them lightly. He hopes his players don’t either.
“You never know,” Sargeant said of the Wildcats. “They’re 1-and-0 (after a 40-37 win last week over the Hamilton Hurricanes in Edmonton). They certainly came out and played their best game of the year. I certainly respect their coaches and athletes.
“We know it’s a big game for us. If we have success, it solidifies us in second place and you don’t want to leave a stone unturned. They have nothing to lose. They’ll pull out all the stops to try and have success. We want to keep building and stay within the process of getting better.”
Saskatoon enters the weekend in second place with a 5-1 record.
“It’s not going to be easy,” continued Sargeant. “They’ve got some players who know what to do. Frankly, I’m more worried about us and how we’re going to play. I expect us to start better than we did last week. Our first five minutes against the Rifles wasn’t up to standard. We’ve got to come out of the gate better than we’ve done all season.”
Sargeant also wants to see more explosive special teams, strength on the ball offensively and ball protection. Defensively, he wants more people around the ball.
“When we get turnovers, points get easy for us,” he added. “I haven’t seen that consistent trend from maybe years past. Last week, we had a chance to turn the ball over and make plays, and, for whatever reason, we didn’t do that. It’s a mindset. I need to see the mindset improve defensively so we’re more tenacious, more physical and get after that football and create those turnovers.”
We’ve got to come out of the gate better than we’ve done all season leave a stone unturned.
Saskatoon has outscored opponents 249-99 this season. The Wildcats have given up 208 points and scored only 81, with nearly half of that in their last game.
The Wildcats have used three quarterbacks — Justin Swedish, Colton Hippe and Cody Olson — with Lucas Howe as their top receiver, recording 21 catches for 274 yards and a touchdown. Jayden Dalke leads the team with 48 tackles.
TOP-UPS: The Hilltops don’t expect to see running back Liam Murphy during the regular season as he continues to be sidelined by injury and he could miss the entire season … “We’ll be pretty status quo (lineupwise) from last week to this week.”