Darren Zary
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
The Saskatoon Hilltops started the 2024 Canadian Junior Football League season where they left off in 2023 — with a win.
Yet, make no mistake, there were more than a few blips on the SMF Field turf Sunday in Saskatoon.
A few fumbles.
Some dropped passes.
Some misfires.
Some miscues.
“Sloppy — sloppy game,” is how Toppers head coach Tom Sargeant summed it up after a 38-13 victory over the Edmonton Huskies in their Prairie Football Conference season-opener.
“It’s disappointing, just very uncharacteristic of Hilltop football, but, at the end of the day, I love how the boys battled hard. We didn’t have our minds right and that certainly falls on me and I’ve got to do a better job of focusing on performance and making sure when get between the lines of Game Day that we’re just more sound, more solid in all scenarios and that we figure out and make more plays. We left a lot (of points) off the board today.”
The victory was far from perfect, but a win is always a win, especially when considering that the Huskies are considered to be one of the top contenders in the CJFL’s PFC.
That, in itself, may be a good sign.
“I guess so,” said Sargeant. “They’re physical. (But) I wasn’t happy with our run attack. (Hilltops veteran quarterback) Trey (Reider) wasn’t solid in the first half, but, hey, (receiver) Drake Douglas was the guy who stepped up today and was the guy. His big punt return got his going and then we threw the ball to him a few times. Drake was special.
“Defence, hey, they’re continuing from last year. It was special teams and offence that got in our way, not defence. Our defence was on the field a lot but they absolutely set the tone for this team, again, and, when that happens in first game of Hilltop football, you’re in pretty good shape when that defence is playing like they’re playing.”
Reider helped win the game as much with his legs than his arm against the Huskies, running for a pair of touchdown majors from 41 yards and six yards out.
He also threw a 20-yard TD pass to Drake Douglas to break open the scoring in the second half.
Reider finished the game by completing 14 of 26 passing attempts for 228 yards and one TD to go along with 48 yards on six carries.
Back-up quarterback Brexton Elias came into the game for the final 2:35 and connected with Douglas for a seven-yard TD pass to round out the scoring.
Douglas finished with seven catches on 11 targets for 122 yards and a pair of TDs.
Datiel Fountaine was targeted 12 times and caught four of those for 42 yards.
Corbin Ebben rushed the ball 14 times for 63 yards and one TD major for Saskatoon, which gave up a safety and trailed 2-0 after the opening quarter. The Toppers led 10-5 at half-time and 31-13 after three quarters but their effort was marred by a number of blunders.
“Just first game jitters,” Reider said of the game. “I didn’t play very well at all. Next week, there’s a lot to work on at practice, for sure. Not the way we wanted to win, but a win’s a win, I guess.
“They’re a very good team. They manned up on us and they really played hard. We’ve just got to complete passes, get back to the easy stuff that’s working because today just wasn’t a great day.
“Just execution, that’s all it was. We had the right plays. The plays were there. We just couldn’t execute and that starts with me. This week at practice, I’m going to really work on that.”
The Huskies (4-4 last season) and Hilltops not only began but will also end the regular season against each other.
Saskatoon native Tanner Berezowski scored for Edmonton on a 24-yard fumble return, pouncing on a turnover following a quarterback sack on Reider.
The Huskies also added a pair of field goals in Sunday’s loss.
Without star running back Boston Davidsen, who graduated at the end of last season, the Hilltops had trouble establishing a running game.
It also didn’t help that the offence missing two starters on the O line with tackle Victor Bikula and centre Matt Noble out of the lineup.
“But, you know what, no excuses,” said Sargeant. “Next man up. Somebody else has got to show up. They sign up and we just expect them to play better than that. Expectations are never going to change. It doesn’t matter who’s in there, but we want to run better. We want to throw better and we want to play better special teams.
“Defence set the tone today but, by next week, we’ve got so much work to do to move this thing forward but that’s the fun of it. I can’t wait.”
The Toppers won the lone meeting last season win 40-7 in Edmonton.
dzary@postmedia.com
