Tartans dethrone defending champs
The reign ended as the snow fell.
On a frosty Friday night at Mosaic Stadium, the Campbell Tartans outlasted the LeBoldus Golden Suns 27-25 to win the Regina Intercollegiate Football League’s Schwann Conference (4A) championship.
The Tartans thwarted the Golden Suns’ bid to become only the second team to win six consecutive city 4A titles. The Balfour Redmen (now Bears) won from 1960-65 under legendary head coach Gordon Currie.
LeBoldus had won the past five city championships under head coach John Foord and, with a play or two here or there, could have extended that streak to six. However, Campbell withstood a late LeBoldus rally and held on to win its first championship since 2010.
“I’ve been waiting for this for four years — ever since I was on this team in Grade 9,” Campbell’s Bennett Stusek said amid the jubilation at Mosaic Stadium. “I watched LeBoldus hoist the trophy the last three years.
“It feels good. It’s a long time coming.”
Campbell trailed 14-0 barely five minutes into the game, but roared back to lead 20-18 at halftime.
Stusek’s second touchdown catch of the game put Campbell ahead 27-18 early in the third quarter.
LeBoldus answered with a Ryker Frank touchdown run — his second of the game — with 6:12 remaining in the fourth quarter, but the Golden Suns couldn’t close the gap any further.
The Golden Suns advanced as far as Campbell’s 43-yard line in the waning seconds, but Josh Donnelly’s last-ditch pass fell incomplete.
“I’m just happy that we got the job done,” said Stusek, who scored on receptions of 23 and 26 yards. “We put a lot of hard work into it. I’m just happy to win it with my brothers.”
In addition to throwing two TD passes to Stusek, Tartans quarterback Matt Rivers ran for a oneyard major and handed off to Jaxon Ford for a five-yard score.
The Golden Suns opened the scoring on an 18-yard pass from Donnelly to Ben Camplin.
“It wasn’t the ending that we hoped for, but we have to tip our hats to Campbell on a well-fought battle,” Foord said.
Campbell will meet the Saskatoon Centennial Chargers in the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association’s 4A final on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium.
The Yorkton Regional Raiders will face the host North Battleford Comprehensive Vikings next Saturday in the provincial 3A nineman final.
Yorkton advanced by edging the Balgonie Greenall Griffins — the RIFL’s Stewart Conference champions — 24-22 on Saturday at Leibel Field.
The University of Regina Rams’ season ended Saturday when they lost 28-21 to the host UBC Thunderbirds in a Canada West semifinal.
Atlee Simon led the Rams with 26 carries for 222 yards and one TD.