Sawi lights it up for the Saskatoon Hilltops at team's spring camp
The Saskatoon Hilltops have big things planned for running back Charles Sawi.
Toppers head coach Tom Sargeant says Sawi was a clear choice as the team's spring camp MVP over the weekend.
“It was pretty unanimous that he was, by far, our top rookie this year,” said Sargeant.
“Charles just absolutely came in this weekend and lit it up. He's explosive, a multi-dimensional player with the ball. All the work he did in high school, the performance he put on, it was pretty neat to see for the first time on the same ground as him. He's got a bright, bright future.”
Sawi is expected to make an immediate impact with the Hilltops this fall. They may try to rush him to the front of the line.
“He's going to get on that field real, real quickly once we get him acclimatized to our offence and he has special teams skill-set, you're going to hear that name a lot this year,” predicted Sargeant.
“We're going to put him in a lot of spots to do what he did this weekend, which was pretty special.”
Sawi played for Saskatoon's Holy Cross Crusaders this fall, leading them to the 6A provincial final.
Besides Sawi's quick feet, Sargeant also took note of the youngster's infectious personality.
“What a great kid,” praised Sargeant. “He puts a smile on your face. There's just a lot of joy, so it's great to be around him and fun to watch him.”
`NORMALCY' RETURNS TO GRIDIRON
The Hilltops held spring camp without having to abide to any COVID-19 restrictions.
“There was a normalcy to what was in front of us,” said Sargeant. “We weren't wearing masks, for the most part, which is always a personal choice. We showed up, put our pads on, put the whistles around our necks and just went out there and coached football.”
The Hilltops will return to the field in 2022 after losing out in the 2021 Canadian Junior Football League semifinal, ending their streak of six straight Canada Bowl national title wins.
This time, there are not as many holes to fill following what was a rebuilding 2021 season.
“It`s way different,” acknowledged Sargeant. “Where we need to be is where we want to be. Now it's all about getting stronger, faster, and, when we show up in August, executing the game plans the coaches are going to put forward.
“We had a few areas we felt we needed to clean up and we've done that. We're adding some good young talent that's going to jump in and help us compete.”
One area the team has “cleaned up” is special teams.
“Teijon (Abel-douglas) came in this year and you can tell he's put on some strength,” said Sargeant. “He was easily kicking field goals from about 40-45 yards naturally. We're going to have Trey Reider come in and become the holder and he's shown a good skill-set and Konner Johnson just did the (snaps for) punts and now he's going to do the short snaps as well.
“That's an area we needed to tidy up and we've done that.”
Overall, Sargeant said they were “pleased” with camp.