Evan Mantyka’s 58 yard pick-six on the final play of the first quarter gave the Saskatoon Hilltops a 24-0 lead which was extended to 41-0 at halftime en-route to a 53-6 win over the visiting Calgary Colts.
The Hilltops took advantage of mental mistakes by the young Calgary crew that cost them yardage gained on big plays being called back by penalties and got excellent field position during a difficult afternoon for Colt punters to roll up the big lead.
Doug Fleming opened the scoring on a quarterback keeper from five yards out less than seven minutes into the game as he came on to guide the short yardage offense. Tyler Herman connected with Jesse McNabb on a four yard touchdown pass as the defensive lineman came in as part of the short yardage veer-package just over seven minutes later.
Connor Graham extended the lead to 31-0 early in the second half hauling in a Herman pass from 16 yards and as the veteran receiver bobbled the ball while falling backward but completed the catch as his back was hitting touchdown turf. Carter McLean fought through traffic down the sidelines for the final 15 yards of his 20 yard pass and run play for the final major of the first half.
Hilltops reserves played much of the second half and Zach Grodecki recorded his first touchdown in Topper gear rumbling in on a short yardage play with about 30-seconds remaining in the game.
Head coach Tom Sergeant praised the second and third string players who came off the bench including receiver Dillan Heintz who caught four passes for 89 yards to lead all Hilltops receivers showing good hands and an ability to break tackles. Sergeant says some of the reserves have earned more playing time and getting everyone into the game means the starters should be well rested for next weekend’s game against the Wildcats in Edmonton.
Ryan Kleiter added field goals from 10, 18 and 20 yards and converted all six touchdowns so he has yet to miss on any of his 19 point-after-touchdown attempts.
Herman ended his day completing 17-of-25 passes for 222 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Fleming was 4-for-6 for 52 yards and third string quarterback Damon Dutton went 2-for-4 with one interception in his Hilltops debut.
The Wildcats have jumped into fourth place in the Prairie Football Conference standings after a 28-2 upset win over the Rifles in Winnipeg. The Wildcats are 2-3 and the Rifles fall to 1-4.
The Regina Thunder moved into a second place tie with the Edmonton Huskies rallying from a 21-12 fourth quarter deficit to beat the Huskies 24-21 in Regina. They both have 3-2 records.
The Toppers are 5-0 in 2019 and raised their overall winning streak to 24 games.
The Hilltops-Wildcats clash Sunday Sept 29 can be heard on 92.9 THE BULL beginning with the pregame show at 12:30. Opening kickoff is at 1 p.m.
