The Carlton Crusaders were road warriors all season long, but were able to hoist the North Saskatchewan Football League trophy at Max Clunie Field on Saturday afternoon after a 40-22 win over the Martensville Royals.
Carlton head coach Lindsay Strachan says it took a lot of hard work for the Crusaders to become league champions.
“(I’m) just really proud of our group of guys (and) our coaching staff. We’ve had a really good year and it’s just a credit to the kids. We work hard and you hope that that is realized down the road. It was a really good day for us today.”
It was only the third game that Carlton had played on Max Clunie Field all season after delays in the installation of the new turf and track pushed back the opening date. As a result, the Crusaders had to play a majority of their league games in the road, including the Car Guys Classic against St. Mary in Birch Hills.
Strachan says the Crusaders had to learn some lessons on the road, but that made the win on home field even more meaningful.
“We needed to take care of business early in the year to give us the opportunity to play these games later. It’s not easy playing four or five weeks out of the bus and we embraced it and, you know, there were ups and downs along the way there. We learned some good lessons and we hung in. Realizing the results down the road here is awesome.”
Carlton took a 13-0 lead after the first quarter thanks to a pair of rushing touchdowns from quarterback Sully Smith-Windsor inside the five yard line.
In the second, Smith-Windsor’s third rushing touchdown of the afternoon gave Carlton a 20-0 lead.
Martensville would respond with a 90 yard catch and run from Dylan Sawitsky. Carlton would respond with a double pass touchdown with Smith-Windsor on the receiving end of a throw from Gage Prodael.
Sawitsky would catch a 20-yard touchdown pass in the dying second of the quarter.
Carlton would add a pair of field goals in the third quarter and Martensville would add a touchdown late from Austin Adamus.
Strachan says he was extremely pleased with the start Carlton had in the contest.
“The start is huge. I can think of maybe one game this year, two games where we weren’t where we wanted to start. It just sets the tone. Really impressed with that offensive group today in terms of running the football and setting the tone early. Defense was getting the ball back for us regularly and specials have been great all year. Anytime you put yourself in a position where you win three phases, you put yourself in a good spot.”
With the win, Carlton would advance to face Regina’s FW Johnson next weekend in a provincial semi-final. Strachan says the opportunity to play for a provincial title is extremely special for the Crusaders.
“To get to earn the right to come back and spend another week with this group of coaches and this group of kids is awesome. A bit of an unknown. You don’t see much out of that Regina league. We’ve got to figure out what lies ahead. I know they’ve been putting up some lofty scores and winning pretty handily down there, so I’m sure they’re good.”
Kick off is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Max Clunie Field on Saturday afternoon.
