SASKATOON – The Saskatoon Hilltops have beaten the Calgary Colts eight straight times in the playoffs; a streak that began in 1991. But that history goes right out the window when the two clubs renew acquaintances in Sunday’s Prairie Football Conference (PFC) final.
The Colts are flying high after upsetting the Regina Thunder last week. They also beat the Hilltops to close out the regular season, however that game saw the Toppers play their backups for much of the day, a decision they hope will pay off this weekend.
“I can’t wait to get our starters out there for a full 60 minutes,” said Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant.
“The last time we did that we had great success, beating them 31-10 in Calgary, and now that we’re home let’s see where that takes us.”
If the Hilltops win this weekend they may look to last week’s semi-final against the Winnipeg Rifles as a turning point in their season. The Rifles offence ran all over Saskatoon in the first half of that contest, and it served as a big wake-up call.
READ MORE: Saskatoon Hilltops second half surge powers PFC semi win
Saskatoon knows it can’t afford to hit the snooze button again.
The Hilltops piled up more than 500 yards of offence in their win over the Rifles, but the man at the controls expects things to be a bit tougher this time around against an aggressive Colts defence.
“There’s going to be big plays but they’re also going to stuff us,” quarterback Jared Andreychuk said.
“We can’t get down on ourselves when they do make plays against us. That’s just the nature of their defence and the nature of the blitz.”
The team who does a better job handling the emotional highs and lows will have a berth in the Canadian Bowl waiting for them.
If that winds up being the Hilltops, it will be their fifth time playing in the national championship in the last six years. But they need to make a little more history first.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. CT on Sunday at SMF Field.
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