Hilltops pile on massive win over Calgary in PFC home opener

Dominant.

It’s the word that first comes to mind when examining the Saskatoon Hilltop’s body of work in a win over the Calgary Colts Saturday night at SMF Field.

The Hilltops cruised to a 59-1 win in its first home date of the 2018 Prairie Football Conference season.

Walking out in brand new uniforms from a likewise clubhouse, the Hilltops celebrated by presenting an old fashioned beat down for the 1065 people in attendance.

In fact, the only blemish in the Hilltop’s performance was a bobble by running back Ben Abrook catching the opening kickoff.

“That was our worst play of the game,” head coach Tom Sargeant admitted after the game.

“(Abrook) will grow and learn from that and will only be better.”

That’s the kind of night it was on Saturday as Sargeant couldn’t find a way to criticize the only poor play by his team.

The Hilltops started the game with a relentless attack, building a 45-0 lead by halftime. It’s an effort that Sargeant was expecting.

“Our challenge was to get the stars out by halftime. Well, they met their challenge today,” he said.

One of those starts was Jordan Walls, who completed 14 of 19 attempts for 231 yards and two touchdowns in his two quarters of duty.

“We’re happy in our second game of the year to get in and out like that,” the fifth-year quarterback said.

Keeping up the intensity when points are easy to come by isn’t a problem for this year’s Hilltops, according to Walls.

“To lose interest, that’s not what we do,” Walls said. “We’re out here to win games and fight ’til the end of the game and that’s what you saw from all the string that got in.”

The strings that Walls is referring to is the roster that Sargeant threw at the Colts.

12 receivers caught a pass on Saturday while nine different rushers were handed the ball by four quarterbacks that threw a pass.

“A lot of times when you put your backups in, there’s a bit of a lull and I didn’t see any of that tonight,” Sargeant said of his bench players.

Saskatoon started the game scoring on its first five possessions. The first possession that the Toppers didn’t score on was a 50-plus missed field goal attempt by receiver/kicker David Solie with 12:27 remaining in the second quarter. That same play earned Solie hit of the night when he ran right through the returner to clean up his miss.

Saskatoon will travel to Winnipeg for a noon game next Sunday against the Rifles. Even though the season has started with two comfortable wins, Walls and the rest of the senior Hilltops aren’t worried about the drive-for-five, a phrase that has turned into a fan mantra as the Hilltops aim for a fifth consecutive national title.

“Right now, it’s not. When we’re in the locker room it’s straight business,” Walls said.

Sargeant said that coaches wouldn’t be watching any game film from Saturday, preferring to move on after a massive win.

“At the end of the day, it was fun to watch, fun to coach and fun to play in.”