Saskatoon Hilltops head coach Tom Sergeant recorded his 200th victory with the organization with a 34-16 win over the Thunder at Mosaic Stadium in Regina in a game that had its share of memorable moments.
The first came late in the first quarter when veteran defensive back Colton Holmes recovered a fumble on the Hilltops one yard line preventing Regina from opening the lead.
Tyler Herman connected with Keegan Dicks on a 42 pass reception to start a 109 yard drive that ended with Ben Abrook’s three yard touchdown run on a third down gamble early in the second quarter to give the Toppers a 7-0 lead.
They extended that lead to 14-2 late in the first half on back-up quarter back Doug Fleming’s 33-yard sprint to the end zone. Fleming faked a jet-sweep hand-off and had a clear lane to the end zone to give Saskatoon a 14-3 lead at the half.
The Thunder seized the momentum in the third quarter. Quarterback Blake Scherle hit Ethan Douglas with a two-yard touchdown pass just past the seven minute mark and just when it looked like the Thunder were going to take the lead the Hilltops pulled off another defensive gem on the goal-line.
Brant Morrow picked off a Scherle pass a yard deep in the end zone and returned it 111 yards for a pivotal touchdown on the final play of the third quarter to put the Hilltops in front 21-9.
Morrow told the post-game show audience on 92.9 THE BULL it was a blown coverage by the defensive backs but he watched Scherle and anticipated where he was going to throw and then simply followed his blocks until there was a clear route to the end zone.
The Hilltops turned to the running game to work the clock and open a 24-9 lead six minutes into fourth quarter on a 25 yard field goal from Rylan Kleiter but the Thunder came back.
A four-yard touchdown pass from Scherle to Tanner Zaharia cut the Saskatoon lead to eight points with just over five minutes remaining.
Another ground-and-pound drive led to Kleiter’s second field goal of the game from 27 yards out to extend the Hilltops lead to 27-16 with less than two minutes remaining.
After the Thunder turned the ball over on downs deep in Regina territory Fleming sealed the win with his second rushing touchdown of the game with an 11-yard scamper into the end zone after faking a hand-off with just 12 seconds left in the game.
Shortly after the game Sergeant was presented with the inscribed game ball.
That sets the stage for next Sunday’s first place clash with the Huskies in Edmonton who also raised their record to 2-0 with Saturday’s 42-2 romp over the Edmonton Wildcats.
Opening kick-off will be at 1 p.m. with the pregame show on 92.9 THE BULL signing on at 12:30.
