Rylan Kleiter caught two touchdown passes, converted all four Saskatoon touchdowns and kicked a 25 yard field goal pacing the Hilltops to a 31-7 win over the Edmonton Wildcats in Sunday’s Prairie Football Conference semifinal at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.
Kleiter was wide open deep in the end zone for his first major almost seven minutes into the first quarter. The 15 yard touchdown toss from Tyler Herman was set up by Jared Giddings’ fumble recovery at the Wildcats 20 yard line.
Kleiter made a sliding catch a few yards deep in the end zone early in the third quarter. The 30 yard touchdown pass from Herman came after Brant Morrow recovered a fumble snuffing out a Wildcat drive.
Ben Abrook added a pair of one yard touchdowns. The first came on a third-and-goal play about midway through the second quarter to give Saskatoon a 14-0 lead. The other came about eight minutes into the third quarter as part of 17 unanswered points scored by Saskatoon in the second half. The PFC’s leading rusher with over 1.200 yards during the regular season carried the ball 29 times for 153 yards.
The Wildcats’ lone scoring play was a three yard touchdown pass from Devin Desormeau to Tanner Holt late in the second quarter.
The Wildcats threatened to put another major on the board in the third quarter when Giddings picked off a Desormeau pass in the Hilltops end zone. Giddings had an outstanding game forcing a fumble earlier in the game.
The visitors defense kept the Hilltops off balance until the third quarter and a diving interception in the Wildcats end zone by Tony Savchuk in the dying seconds of the second quarter kept the game close as the Toppers took a 14-7 lead into the locker room at half time.
Head coach Tom Sergeant told the post game show audience on 92.9 THE BULL the Wildcats gave them a tough battle with a diverse defense but half-time adjustments and a poised effort from the veterans were the difference in the second half.
The Hilltops host the Edmonton Huskies in the PFC Final Sun. Oct 27 at SMF Field as the Huskies beat the Thunder 20-17 in Regina in Sunday’s other PFC semifinal.
The Hilltops battled back from deficits of 14-0 after the first quarter and 19-7 at the half to defeat the Huskies in their lone meeting of the season 24-22 in Edmonton. The Hilltops won the game on Sept. 1 with a 105 yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter.
Game time for the PFC Final is 1 p.m. with the broadcast on 92.9 THE BULL beginning at 12:30.
