Colts trample Hilltops on their home turf
Saskatoon coach says team has work to do to be ready for Edmonton
The Calgary Colts came into town and took the wind — and win — out of the Saskatoon Hilltops’ 70th anniversary sails Sunday.
The Colts came and nearly blew out the hometown Hilltops on their home turf by charging out to a 36-0 lead after three quarters, hanging onto a 36-21 Canadian Junior Football League victory in the Prairie Football Conference at SMF Field.
The Hilltops committed numerous errors, including three fumbles and three interceptions.
“What took place today is abnormal and discouraging and, frankly, I’m embarrassed for what I saw today,” said Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant, whose team slipped to 2-1 in the PFC.
Calgary scored 21 points off those turnovers.
“We shot ourselves in the foot, many times in the foot, this game — myself included,” admitted Hilltops fifth-year quarterback Jared Andreychuk, who gave up his first three picks of the season in the loss.
“We’ve got to do better. We were down 36-nothing and that shouldn’t be the case. Offensively, we can’t have those mistakes against a good team.”
The Hilltops could only muster 46 yards in net offence during the first half while the Colts racked up 249 yards.
Saskatoon added 304 yards in net offence during the second half but it proved to be too little, too late.
“We started to play a little bit more like I thought we’d play on the opening whistle,” agreed Sargeant. “We’re used to winning and we’re used to winning on our field.
“Calgary came in and they just got on us right off the bat and we had no answers. To be quite honest, they out-classed us, coaching, on the field and off the field and everything. It is what it is. We’re going to have to deal with it, respond with it and see if we can move forward. We’ve got to hope this is ground zero.”
With zero points through three quarters, the Hilltops looked out of sync. A patched-up offensive line didn’t help matters. Cord Ivanco and Cody Upton did not play, then Jack Sloboda got injured in the second half. It also didn’t help when the bounces went Calgary’s way. Adam Machert dropped the ball on a kickoff return, landing right into the hands of Colts defender Dallas Burke who waltzed into the end-zone. That came only seconds after an earlier TD by quarterback Bailey Wasdal.
It was merely the tip of the iceberg. It was a team loss. The Colts certainly weren’t complaining.
“It feels pretty good and more than anything it gives us two points and we’re 3-and-0 right now and we only get to play the Hilltops once this year, so this was kind of like a four-point game that way,” said Colts head coach Matt Blokker. “I’m just really proud of our effort. We had to hang on a little bit at the end there — the Hilltops started playing the way they play and made a game of it — but it was a good start and I like the way we came out.”
The Colts also defeated the Hilltops 34-4 in their final PFC regular-season game last Oct. 11.
This time, the Colts controlled the line of scrimmage and more.
“They physically took it to us,” said Sargeant. “They were pushing us and we just didn’t have any answers today. It’s discouraging and it’s reality. Nobody’s going to feel sorry about the Saskatoon Hilltops. We certainly can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We deserve this. We’ve got to deal with it and we’ve got to figure out how to change this. Now we’ve got to get ready for the Edmonton Wildcats because they’re going to be pretty excited to come out and play us too.”
Andreychuk completed 19 of 34 passes for 227 yards and two TDs. Sam Mike had five catches for 87 yards. Jason Price had four catches for 66 yards and a pair of TDs.
“It’s a humbling experience for sure,” said Andreychuk. “Calgary just showed us who the top team in the league is right now and we’ve got some work to do, for sure.”
Logan Fischer ran the ball 23 times for 110 yards and one TD, but most of the yardage came in the second half.
Dylan Minshull rushed the ball 22 times for 169 yards for Calgary. Wasdal completed 18 of 23 passing attempts for 165 yards and two TDs. Richard Sindani had eight catches for 61 yards and one major.
The Hilltops were playing without receiver Tyson Sawatzky, running back Des Vessey, defensive back Ryan Melnyk and O -linemen Ivanco and Upton, as well as 2015 CJFL defensive player of the year Cole Benkic, who remains sidelined indefinitely … The Hilltops honoured their alumni at halftime, introducing former players from the 1940s to 2010s.