Tartans, Chargers both have a reason to celebrate
Campbell lifts high school 4A trophy while Centennial savours Saskatoon title
The Campbell Tartans and Centennial Chargers savoured their respective championship seasons after Saturday’s Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association 4A football final.
Campbell celebrated a 44-15 victory over Centennial while the Chargers took time to appreciate their own accomplishments — a Saskatoon city title.
As Centennial quarterback Taran Prefontaine reflected on his team’s successes in 2017, the Campbell players congratulated one another and posed for photos with the trophy on the field at a chilly Mosaic Stadium.
“It’s really exciting,” said Tartans quarterback Matt Rivers, who threw three touchdown passes and ran for another major. “We worked so hard for this and it paid off.”
The payoff for Centennial was the school’s second appearance in the provincial 4A final. In 2010, Campbell outlasted Centennial 14-9 in overtime.
“We had a very good year,” Prefontaine said. “It was awesome to play with everyone on this team. We had a really close team and it was a great season as a whole.”
The 2010 victory by Campbell began a streak of eight consecutive 4A provincial championships for the Regina Intercollegiate Football League’s Schwann Conference champion.
The Riffel Royals won it all in 2011 before the LeBoldus Golden Suns captured five consecutive SHSAA crowns. Campbell dethroned LeBoldus by winning this year’s city final 27-25.
The Aden Bowman Bears, in 2009, won Saskatoon’s most-recent provincial 4A title.
Centennial opened the game in auspicious fashion when Spencer Olvold intercepted Rivers on the first play from scrimmage.
However, the Chargers couldn’t capitalize on the pick and Campbell soon began rolling.
The Tartans raced to a 23-0 halftime lead on the strength of a oneyard touchdown run by Rivers, a 45-yard scoring pass from Rivers to Bennett Stusek, and a 55-yard TD toss from Jackson Milton- Owens to Berk Noble on a fake punt.
Centennial’s best scoring opportunity in the first half was thwarted when Campbell linebacker Josh White forced and recovered a fumble deep in Tartans territory with three minutes remaining in the first half.
The fumble was Centennial’s fifth turnover of the opening half, and one of nine the Chargers would commit (four interceptions, three turnovers on downs, two lost fumbles).
Centennial got on the board at 8:28 of the third quarter when Prefontaine ran seven yards for a
major. The scoring drive was extended when, on a third-and-six gamble, Prefontaine found Zach Moehler for a 28-yard gain.
Campbell quickly answered, however. Rivers opened the ensuing possession with a 44-yard run and, shortly thereafter, deftly scrambled away from trouble before hitting White for a 13-yard score.
On the Tartans’ next possession, Rivers and Stusek connected for a 31-yard major.
Campbell subsequently scored on a 70-yard punt return by Boston Miller.
Prefontaine later threw a 44yard TD bomb to Cameron Lyndon. Riley Bromm added a twopoint convert.
Stusek finished with six receptions for 103 yards. Rivers completed 12 of 24 passes for 258 yards and three TDs, with one pick. He also rushed five times for 71 yards.
Campbell got interceptions from Jaxon Ford, Drew Lawrence, Gowrishan Aravinthan and Aiden Mann.
Statistics for Centennial were unavailable at source.