It was a game for the ages at Saskatoon Minor Football field on Saturday afternoon.
The Carlton Crusaders captured their first ever provincial title with a 35-34 victory over Saskatoon’s Bishop Joseph Mahoney (BJM) in a game that went right down to the wire.
In a post game interview, Carlton head coach Lindsay Strachan says he was still in disbelief of the final result.
“It’s amazing. It doesn’t even feel real at this point. It hasn’t sunk in. What a gutsy performance from our guys today, just so proud of their effort. Mental toughness to hang with it. It was a shootout and the defense pulled it out (with) a couple of big stops at the end. It was exactly what we needed. Offense put up points all day.”
Carlton had previously qualified for provincial finals at the 3A level in 1984, 1991 and 1995 but lost in all three games.
Strachan says the championship has extra special meaning as the first in school history.
“It’s amazing. For me, it’s 18 years in the making and for a school it’s 50 years in the making. To be a part of that little piece of history and to have these guys be the guys that did it and did it together it’s amazing. It’s amazing what they did today.”
BJM would strike first as Jack Boechler would score with a rushing touchdown from just one yard out for the lone score of the first quarter to put the Saints up 7-0.
Carlton would respond 1:24 into the second quarter as Sully Smith-Windsor would connect with Jordan Stene from 15 yards out.
BJM would respond just over five minutes later as quarterback Kyren Houmphanh would find Race Marcinkiw from 13 yards out.
The back and forth nature of the came would continue. Three minutes later, Smith-Windsor would find Colm Phillips for a 35 yard passing score.
A two yard rush from Boechler would give BJM the lead back with less then a minute to go before the half.
Despite the lack of time left on the clock, that wouldn’t stop the Carlton offense as on the last play before the half, Smith-Windsor would call his own number and run the ball in from a yard out to knot the score at 21-21 heading into the half.
BJM would regain the lead 5:02 into the third quarter as Houmphanh would find Josh Gutek from 11 yards out to take the lead.
Carlton would respond as Zane Litzenberger would complete a catch and run from 25 yards out to tie the game heading into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter was full of dramatics and it would start at the 8:37 mark of the quarter.
Carlton had the ball on offense in BJM territory with a third down and a yard to go. It appeared a BJM lineman had jumped offside, but there was no penalty called on the play causing the Crusaders to take a timeout.
Strachan says there were some tense moments throughout the game, especially in the fourth quarter.
“Some plays are better than others. At one point, I threw my clipboard and you’re doing your best to hang with it and and if I’m gonna preach it to the kids I guess I better practice it too. There’s some anxious moments, but we’re trying to do what the kids are doing, Find a way to win. You got to keep your mind in it.”
On the next play, a perfect punt from Smith-Windsor would bounce past the BJM return man and out the back of the end zone for the single point rouge to give Carlton their first lead of the game.
BJM would respond at the 9:28 mark as running back Wyatt LaRoche would find the end zone from three yards out. The Saints would attempt a two point conversion, but would not be successful.
Down five, the Crusaders needed to score a touchdown to take the lead. Things appeared to take a turn for disaster for Carlton. On a drive near midfield, Smith-Windsor would find Litzenberger on a crossing route over the middle. Litzenberger was hit by a BJM defender, causing the ball to pop loose and the Saints recovered the fumble. Litzenberger was visually injured on the play as he limped off the field.
The Crusader defense would come up with an important stop causing a turnover and a chance to let their offense come up with the go ahead score.
Despite being injured on the Crusaders last possession, Litzenberger stayed in the game and caught the go ahead touchdown with 1:12 to go. The Crusaders would fail on the two point conversion attempt.
In a post game interview, Litzenberger says his teammates deserved a lot of the credit for giving him an opportunity in that situation.
“I had some help from the team. They tried to pick me up when I was down but it’s a team win and BJM played tough. We just overcame and that’s what we would be working on all year.”
Strachan gave a lot of credit to his Grade 11 wideout for sticking with it through the physical pain and adversity he faced
“He’s such a perfectionist and he performs at such a high level in everything he does. He’s a competitor, he bounces back. We talked about it on the sideline and he was ready to roll. Look at that last drive, there were no mistakes there. Guys were just focused on winning on play. It was amazing for him to bounce back.”
The Carlton defense would lock things down the rest of the way causing a BJM turnover on downs and the opportunity to kneel down the rest of the clock.
Crusader quarterback Sully Smith-Windsor shined in his final career high school game, completing 28 of 30 passes for 424 yards and four touchdowns.
He is committed to playing for the University of Saskatchewan next season as a wide receiver.
Smith-Windsor says he was glad to be able to finish his high school career on a high note.
“I’m on top of the world, like it’s been my dream, provincial championship, I can’t believe it, it’s just an unreal feeling. It was just a shootout game. Offenses were scoring, just back and forth the whole game. The defense came up strong at the end, made a big stop. It was just a great game overall.”
