Hilltops’ kicker-receiver Kleiter drawing from winning experience
Versatile ‘natural leader’ has shone on the gridiron and curling rink
He kicks.
He punts.
And he catches.
Rylan Kleiter — the Saskatoon Hilltops’ resident curler off the gridiron — is doing a bit of everything on the football field.
An injury to John Brown had resulted in Kleiter doing additional punting for part of the season. He’s also having his best season as a receiver with 27 receptions for 376 yards and four touchdowns.
Last week, Kleiter was selected as the Prairie Football Conference’s outstanding special teams player and all-star placekicker after being good on 18 of 22 field-goal attempts for an 80 per cent kicking proficiency plus a 51.1-yard kickoff average.
He added three field goals — from 27, 34 and 14 yards out — and three converts in the PFC final win Sunday over the Edmonton Huskies.
One week earlier, he scored a pair of TDS and kicked a field goal and four converts for a 19-point performance against the Edmonton Wildcats.
“Rylan is an exceptional athlete,” said Toppers head coach Tom Sargeant, whose team heads to Ontario to play in the Canadian Junior Football League semifinal Saturday against the host London Beefeaters who knocked off the Windsor AKO Fratmen 28-20 in the Ontario Football Conference final.
“He’s just got football savvy and with-it-ness. Whatever situation you put him in, he’s going to rise to the top and pull it off. He’s a high-end receiver who made two big touchdowns (against the Wildcats). He’s clutch in the field-goal scenario, and with John Brown going down, we had to put him into punting and he just walked right in and kept us moving forward.
“And his kickoffs have been exceptional this year. He’s as good a football player we’ve got. He’s fun to coach and he’s a real natural leader for the team, as well.”
Kleiter, as Sargeant is quick to point out, still has one year of CJFL eligibility remaining.
Kleiter’s multi-purpose dimension can be a big plus.
“It’s great as long as they stay healthy,” noted Sargeant. “The problem is if something is to happen, then it changes a lot of things.
“We’re rolling the dice a little bit, so there’s always a bit of worry, but he’s smart, he keeps himself out of harm’s way a lot of the time. We just trust him and, so far, he’s had a great year and we expect him to continue that and have a great playoff run with us.”
Kleiter — who may be better known in curling circles as a threetime provincial junior men’s curling champ — is having his most productive year with the Hilltops by staying healthy.
“I’ve been feeling good,” says Kleiter, whose dad, Dean, made his mark in the sport of curling as a member of Bruce Korte’s rink.
“This is my best year, for sure, with the Hilltops. I haven’t actually been consistently kicking field goals for the Hilltops until this year.”
David Solie and, before that James Vause, handled the place-kicking duties previously for the Toppers.
“Definitely a few more receptions and passes, too,” said Kleiter, adding that he “had a few injuries” the last couple of years.
Kleiter appears to be one of the Hilltops’ main targets as a receiver in the playoffs. He led the Toppers with three catches for 47 yards in the PFC final. That came after a two-td performance in the PFC semifinal.
“We had that in there by design,” Sargeant said that day. “He did a lot of high-end things. We put him in some man-to-man scenarios and he executed it.”
“It was pretty exciting,” admitted Kleiter. “We’ve been setting stuff up for a while, so it was nice to have a little opportunity, but it’s all about the other guys around me who are making that opening for me.”
Kleiter isn’t the only Hilltop to win a PFC major award this season. Sargeant was named PFC coach of the year. Linebacker Jayden Pingue took PFC honours as top defensive player and top linebacker. Colton Holmes was selected as the outstanding defensive back.
The Hilltops — although maybe not quite as deep and talented as some other years — are proving to be a most resilient bunch.
“We definitely have more of a grind mentality,” said Kleiter, “but it suits us and we’re really embracing that.”
He’s just got football savvy and with-it-ness. Whatever situation you put him in, he’s going to rise to the top.