SASKATOON, Sask. – For brothers Ryan and Scott Adamko, the upcoming Canadian Bowl provides a chance that will never come again.
On Sunday, the pair will dress and play on the defensive line for the CJFL’s storied Saskatoon Hilltops when they host the CJFL championship game – the Canadian Bowl. The Hilltops (8-2 overall) will go up against the Okanagan Sun (12-0 overall) from Kelowna, B.C., at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field in Saskatoon. Scott is in his second season with the Hilltops, while Ryan is in his fifth and final campaign of CJFL eligibility with the club.
For the two graduates of the Carlton Comprehensive High School Crusaders Football Team, that means the Canadian Bowl will be the last time they play together in a CJFL contest and the only time they will play together for a CJFL title.
“It is pretty special,” said Scott, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 265 pounds. “It is like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“He (Ryan) is in his last year, and it is just not very often you get to play at home with a natty (national title game). It is good timese .”
For Ryan, he will be going through a number of emotions as it is his final CJFL game. He is pumped he gets to do it playing alongside his brother.
“It is definitely surreal that it has already been the five years,” said Ryan, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 270 pounds. “It has been a phenomenal time here.
“I couldn’t have asked for any better place to be, any better coaches and any better boys to be around to call them family. Just to be able to play with my brother, it is something special. I never really got to play with him much.
“Just our age gap worked out just right, so we never really got to play much together beforehand. Now that we’re both here, it is quite special.”
The Adamko brothers followed their cousin and star defensive back Justin Adamko, who is also Crusaders alum, to the Hilltops. The three played together for one season with the Hilltops in 2024 before Justin exhausted his CJFL eligibility. Following games, it became a custom for the Adamko players to pose for a family picture with all the family members that came out to support them on that particular game day.
With Prince Albert and the Candle Lake area where Ryan and Scott reside being a short jaunt away from Saskatoon, the brothers are expecting a big contingent of family to be out on Sunday.
“We’re going to have a big group of people coming,” said Scott, who had 10 total tackles during the 2025 regular season for the Hilltops. “We already know about lots, so it’ll be good.”
Ryan believes that anyone that comes out to see the Hilltops and Sun go at it in the Canadian Bowl on Sunday are in for a show.
“They are definitely going to have their playmakers everywhere,” said Ryan, who had 24.5 total tackles and one fumble recovery in the regular season for Saskatoon. “We’re just going to have to keep an eye on those guys and make sure we got them always accounted for and respect them.”
Legendary Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant has enjoyed having both Adamko brothers as members of his venerable club. Sargeant is looking for both to have big games on Sunday against the Sun.
“They’re awesome kids,” said Sargeant. “They come from a great family, and you know it started with their cousin, Justin (Adamko), who was a Hilltop first.
“Ryan is a fifth-year player who has been a key starter. He has really been significant in us stopping the run. Scotty has developed, and he has earned himself on to the travel roster, playoff roster, and now he is going to be playing in the Canadian final.
“We moved him from linebacker to nose guard, and he also has some long snap abilities. They’ve been key contributors to our success this year in 2025.”
Sargeant said the Adamko brothers are tough, hard-nosed, physical and love to battle. The sideline boss said he sees those as common characteristics in athletes that come from Prince Albert mirroring the community’s WHL hockey team and taking those characteristics to their respective sports.
“Prince Albert, that is an area we like to recruit heavily, because we know there is great stock there,” said Sargeant, who has guided the Hilltops to 14 of their 23 CJFL title wins as head coach. “They are great athletes and there is a great tradition within that city.
“The P.A. Raiders are a big, big part of that and so is St. Mary (High School Marauders) football and the P.A. Carlton (Comprehensive High School) Crusaders football. A lot of good players have come from there that have been very significant to our program. We’ll always continue to recruit Prince Albert kids, because we know what we’re going to get.
“It is what we are looking for with the Hilltops.”
Speaking of the Crusaders, Scott, who recently turned 20-years-old, said he would like to be part of a CJFL champion winner with the Hilltops on Sunday to make up for the fact he missed out on Carlton’s 5A Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association title win playing in his rookie season in the CJFL. On November 8, 2024, the Crusaders edged Saskatoon’s Bishop James Mahoney High School Saints 35-34 in the 5A SHSAA football championship clash at SMF Field. A large contingent of the Adamko family including Ryan and Scott were in attendance for that game.
“It hurt, but I had a great high school career,” said Scott about missing out on the Crusaders win. “We did fine when I played.
“It was good. That was our first in program history, so it was good times.”
Ryan, who is 22-years-old, was a member of the Hilltops last CJFL title winner in 2023. In that campaign, the Hilltops went 12-0 and gave up their fewest points against in regular season competition at 51 and combined regular season and post-season play at 76 since 1949.
For the upcoming CJFL title game, Ryan said a dream finish would be taking part in a family picture at the end of that contest with the Canadian Bowl.
“That will be something very special, if we are lucky enough to have that happen,” said Ryan. “That will be something very special for me, my brother and our entire family.
“That will just be a very special moment.”
NOTES – The Hilltops roster also includes Crusaders alums and receivers Gage Prodaehl, who is in his first year, and Jordan Umukunzi, who is in his third year of CJFL eligibility.
