Lots of Thunder in PFC final as Regina beats Hilltops

For nearly two full seasons, the Saskatoon Hilltops got the better of the Regina Thunder time and again.

Heading into Sunday’s Prairie Football Conference championship game at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, the defending Canadian Bowl champion Hilltops had defeated the Thunder in each of their previous five meetings, including twice this year and in last season’s PFC final.

But, as the expression goes: any given Sunday.

The Thunder stunned the previously-undefeated Hilltops, downing them 24-19 to end the Hilltops’ bid for back-to-back national championships and keep alive their own hopes for their first Canadian Junior Football League title since 2013.

The Thunder were last in the CJFL championship game in 2022, losing a heartbreaker to the Okanagan Sun. The Hilltops, meanwhile, have won 10 of the last 13 CJFL titles — but won’t be adding to their history books this season.

“It feels fantastic,” Thunder head coach Scott MacAulay said.

“It wasn’t an easy season. I think the turning point was the last time we played against the Hilltops.”

That result, a 36-11 thumping in September, forced the Thunder “to come back and take a look at what our assets are on our team, to make sure we tried to use them a little bit more and get the ball in the boys’ hands and let them do the job,” MacAulay said.

Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant was complimentary of the crew that upset his favoured squad.

“We didn’t play well enough to win it,” Sargeant said. “At the end of the day, full credit to Regina Thunder. They battled, they competed for 60 minutes.”

Regina used a run-heavy offence to control the game, racking up 321 yards rushing, including 178 yards and two touchdowns from Sadik Sadik and another 118 yards from Ryland Leichert. Regina never trailed, scoring a major on their opening drive with a 10-yard pass to Zak Woidyla from Ethan Hugg.

“That set the tone huge,” Sadik said.

“That was a big part of how the end of the game went. All week we’ve been talking about coming out and getting the first hit, coming out and making them adjust to our game at the end of the day, and that’s what we did. And the results show it.”

The Thunder held a 10-3 lead at the break, dominating the first half with 212 yards of total offence and 18:03 time of possession. Saskatoon had just 102 yards of offence in the first half and 11:57 time of possession.

Regina started the second half the same as the first half, scoring a major on their opening possession. They extended that drive after perfectly executing a fake punt on third down at the Hilltops’ 45 yard line.

Mitchell Tanchak caught the Toppers off guard for a 25-yard run on the play. Four plays later, running back Leichert took the snap and handed off to Sadik, running around the left end, for his first major of the game.

Trailing 17-3, Saskatoon finally got the offence going, driving the ball from their 20 yard line to the Regina one yard line and seeming primed to pull within one score. The Thunder, however, stopped the Hilltops on a third-down gamble to take back momentum.

After the Thunder surrendered a safety, the Hilltops needed only three plays to finally get their first touchdown, scoring on a 14 yard run by Corbin Ebben, making the score 17-12 entering the fourth quarter.

Regina capitalized when the Hilltops fumbled a punt return at their own 12 yard line. Sadik scored soon after on a two-yard run to make it 24-12.

With 4:20 to play, the Hilltops got to within 24-19 on a 14-yard Ebben TD reception from Trey Reider. The Hilltops then had two possessions late in the game but couldn’t write the storybook finish.

They turned the ball over on downs with 1:16 to play. After holding Regina to a two-and-out, Saskatoon took possession on their own 15 yard line with 1:01 left. They drove to the Regina 22, but a last-play pass to the end zone fell incomplete.

The Thunder stormed the field in celebration, leaving the Hilltops and their faithful fans stunned and silent.

“I’m proud of my kids. At the end of the first half they took it to us, but we responded and regrouped,” Sargeant said.

“We just didn’t make the right plays at the right time. It just wasn’t enough. We kept fighting and scratching and clawing to the end, but it wasn’t good enough today. Full credit to Regina. Well done.”

Hugg finished seven-for-nine passing for 53 yards for the Thunder. Hilltops QB Trey Reider was 21-for-38 for 291 yards, including seven passes to Drake Douglas for 121 yards. Reider and Douglas were among seven others playing their last game for the Hilltops as fifth-year players.

Shawn Green had one field goal for the Thunder, but missed on three other attempts. He converted all three touchdowns. Teijon Abel-Douglas had a field goal for the Hilltops, but hit the upright on another attempt, while adding two converts.

The PFC-champion Thunder will host the CJFL national semifinal on Sunday against the British Columbia-champion Okanagan Sun, who defeated the Westshore Rebels 23-17 on Saturday in Kelowna. The Thunder lost 21-19 to the Sun in the 2022 Canadian Bowl.