It may have been the last nice day of the year, and it was a beautiful afternoon for football as the Saskatoon Hilltops welcomed their arch-rivals from down south, the Regina Thunder for a PFC Final for the ages. A back-and-forth game had its ups and downs for both squads with Regina heading into the fourth quarter with the lead, but the Toppers roared back for a 21-13 victory and claiming the PFC Championship.
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Regina started out the game by giving up a safety after a few possessions giving the Toppers an early 2-0 lead. The first quarter saw both defenses making key stops against one another with both sides seeing little success offensively.
It began to break open more in the second quarter with Regina having the first good series marching the ball down field and got help with a pass interference penalty on Saskatoon. The Toppers defence would stand strong again forcing Regina to a 17-yard field goal to go up 3-2. Shortly after Saskatoon would then have their best turn at offence with star running back Boston Davidson rushing in the games first touchdown to give the Hilltops the lead right back 9-3 heading into the half.
Regina would receive the ball first to begin the third quarter and made use of it, starting just past their own 40-yard line quarterback Ethan Hugg would find Jaden Litzenberger at the 20-yard line to set up their first touchdown of the game from Austin Wood putting them on top 10-9. The Hilltops would struggle offensively in the third quarter not being able to put stable drives together, but Regina wouldn’t let their foot off the gas. Starting at their own 24-yard line and facing a 1st-and-35, Regina would convert on the first down and march the play downfield for anther field goal to increase their lead to 4 at the end of the quarter.
Saskatoon would start the fourth quarter slow again, but a good punt by the Toppers would force Regina to conceive another safety followed by a single to pull Saskatoon within one. The Toppers defense would come up big again with a quarterback sack to get the ball back. Trey Reider and the offence would march the play downfield, getting some help with a pass interference penalty against Regina setting up Boston Davidson’s second touchdown of the game to give the Hilltops a 19-13 lead late. Another good punt would result in another safety given up by Regina to extend the lead 21-13, which is where the score would remain giving the Hilltops the victory and the PFC Championship.
The Hilltops will have one more home game on their quest for another National Championship next Sunday when they welcome the St. Clair Saints into Saskatoon for a semi-final matchup.
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Quarterback Trey Reider:
NEXT GAME: CJFL Semi-Final vs. St. Clair Saints on Sunday, October 29th at 1:00 p.m. at SMF Field
