Hilltops survive late Huskies rally, advance to P-F-C Final

Once the playoffs hit, placement in the standings doesn’t play too much of a factor aside from home field advantage. And even as the number one seed in the P-F-C, the Saskatoon Hilltops had one of their most challenging games of the season against the fourth ranked Edmonton Huskies, who are a much better football team than their 3-and-5 record in the regular season. The Hilltops walked away with a 33-18 victory in the P-F-C semifinal, but the score doesn’t tell the full story of today’s close football game.

FULL RECAP BELOW…..

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For most of the first quarter, neither team had much room on the field with both defenses coming up big early in the game. In the final minutes, Edmonton would finally break through the Hilltops defense and march the ball down field. The Toppers would force third down by the end of the first and Edmonton got the game’s first points with a 46-yard field goal to start the second quarter.

Saskatoon started the second quarter strong, marching the ball down the field resulting in Hayden Day hauling in the first touchdown on the afternoon putting the Toppers on top 7-3. Edmonton’s next drive wouldn’t get them too far as Kai Kukurudza would get a massive quarterback sack deep on the Huskies side of the field and eventually a safety adding to the Hilltops lead 9-3. Saskatoon continued their dominate second quarter defensively, and once again offensively with three minutes to go as Tre Reider found Datiel Fountaine all alone in the endzone giving the Toppers a 16-3 lead and all the momentum going into halftime.

Edmonton started off the second half on the right foot, getting their first touchdown early before giving up another safety making it an 18-10 Hilltops lead. The third quarter looked much like the first after that, with both defense’s making key stops and not letting either offence generate many chances.

Starting the fourth quarter, Edmonton marched the ball down field, gaining momentum and eventually finding the endzone plus making the two-point convert to tie the game 18-18. On the next drive, Tre Reider’s pass would fall into the hands of Edmonton to bring the offence back onto the field. The defense came up big for the Hilltops forcing the field goal unit onto the field where Edmonton would miss the field goal attempt and Charles Sawi would take it 110 yards down field to the house putting Saskatoon back on top 25-18. Saskatoon would grind out the rest of the game, which included a late touchdown from Corbin Ebben to seal the game 33-18 for the Toppers.

Saskatoon returns to the P-F-C Finals to face a team looking for redemption from last year’s final, as well as their two previous meetings this season, the Regina Thunder. P-F-C Final goes from S-M-F Field in Saskatoon next Sunday, October 20 at 1:00 p.m.

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Media scrum with Head Coach Sargeant: