After Holy Cross High School blanked the St. Joseph Gaurdians 26-0, they advanced to the provincial final to face the Queen City champion and this year that’s the Regina Miller Mauraders.
The Crusaders are hoping they can continue to progress right to the final football game like they did all year.
“Our veteran players taught our younger players how to act, how to play,” Crusaders head coach Scott Hundseth said.
“How to act on and off the field and how we do things. Not the Crusader way, but how to play like a Crusader, we talk about all the time. That’s what that is all about. So we had some guys that kind of spilled over from our Grade 10 crew in 2019 but didn’t have a lot of that leadership, but these guys really came together.”
And in the end, got it done. The Crusaders are a well-balanced team but their star running back jumps off the stat sheet. Charles Sawi led the city in rushing yards, averaged 12-and-a-half yards a carry and in the final, he had 182 yards on the ground.
“I just want to say, shout to my O-line, they have been blocking for me very well,” Sawi said. “If they weren’t, I wouldn’t get very many yards.”
The Crusaders also have another player carrying a lot of the load: Ethan Laing, who plays offence and defence — he had five interceptions this year, the most in the city — and is also their punt returner.
“This COVID year, this gap year, it took away our chemistry,” Laing said. “Because none of these guys played together for a while, so after the first game we had to kick it in and get it together to play as a team.”
The last team out of Saskatoon to claim the 6A provincial title was the 2009 Aden Bowman Bears. The Crusaders are hoping they can be the next.
“Honestly, I think that would mean a lot for me, for my coaches, and for the players that didn’t play last year,” Sawi said.
“All I can say is that it would be so special, especially with the group of guys that we have,” Laing added. “It would obviously mean the world to all of us. We are all out here putting in the work and to have it come home would be the best thing possible.”
The final is 1 p.m. on Saturday at SMF Field.