The Saskatoon Hilltops take on the Thunder Sunday in Regina in an early season Prairie Football Conference match-up of intense rivals.

Both opened 2019 with road wins. The Toppers rolled over the Rifles 34-20 in Winnipeg while the Thunder whipped the Wildcats 34-21 in Edmonton.

The Sunday showdown at Mosaic Stadium features the top two rated quarterbacks after week one.

Regina’s Blake Scherle was the PFC offensive player of the week completing almost 70% of his passes while throwing for three touchdowns and had an outstanding second half completing 19-of-24 passes.

Saskatoon’s Tyler Herman also threw for three touchdowns, one of two fourth quarter touchdown tosses to Connor Graham covered 48 yards. Herman’s debut as the Hilltops starting quarterback got off to an impressive start capping a three-play 70-yard drive with a 24 yard connection with Rylan Kleiter for a major on their first possession. The drive started with a 41 yard pass-and-run completion to wide receiver Keegan Dicks.

Saskatoon’s Ben Abrook heads into the Regina game as the leading rusher in the conference running for 144 yards on 31 carries against the Rifles.

Toppers head coach Tom Sergeant said they needed to improve all areas of their game following the win in Winnipeg and felt the Thunder would notice their mistakes after reviewing game film and expects a highly motivated opponent in Regina.

The Hilltops never relinquished the lead in the Manitoba capital and had comfortable leads of 27-7 and 34-14 until the final minute of the game. The Thunder trailed 21-13 at the half in Edmonton before scoring 21 unanswered points in the final two quarters.

Thunder kicker Eric Maximuik was the PFC’s special teams player of the week kicking three field goals on five attempts including one from 43 yards. He also converted all three touchdowns and had a 39 yard punting average. Maximuik ended the day with a PFC leading 14 points.

Opening kick-off is at 3 o’clock with the pregame show on 92.9 THE BULL signing on at 2:30.