Saskatoon Hilltops players and coaches have come and gone but the wins just keep piling up for the most decorated junior football program in Canada.
“We’ve got a little bit different team and everything, a little bit more resilience this year. You know we went through some troubles at some points but this team always does and we always kind of overcome it,” Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant said.
READ MORE: Saskatoon Hilltops down Calgary Colts 43-31, capture 3rd straight PFC title
The Calgary Colts handed the Toppers their only loss of the 2016 regular season, but Saskatoon was determined to win their third straight Prairie Football Conference (PFC) title this past weekend.
The Hilltops and Colts combined for just 19 points in the opening half at Saskatoon’s SMF Field but it was all offence after that.
Every time Saskatoon looked to be pulling away, the Colts had an answer, even trimming the deficit to five before the Hilltops put the game on ice and won 43-31.
“Calgary’s a great team but we executed pretty much perfectly … The defence held us in there in the first half and the offence stepped up in the second half and it was just a good all-around game,” Hilltops quarterback Jared Andreychuk said.
Andreychuk tossed three touchdown passes in the final home game of his Hilltops career while running back Logan Fischer found the end zone three times.
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It’s the Hilltops eighth conference championship in the past decade.
“We’re going to play Hilltop football. That’s determined, that’s nose-to-the-grindstone, some humility, and when you get those things it’s amazing what you can accomplish, and as I said, I’m real proud of what took place,” Sargeant said.
The win advances Saskatoon to the 2016 Canadian Junior Football League final in B.C. on Nov. 12. The Westshore Rebels are all that stands in the way of the Hilltops claiming their third straight Canadian Bowl title.
Ryan Flaherty contributed to this story
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