Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look back at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list ...
Saskatoon Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant has a long memory, especially dating back nearly a year to the day of their last trip east to Manitoba.
On Aug. 10, 2025, the Hilltops opened their 2025 Canadian Junior Football League season with a humbling 31-11 loss to the host Winnipeg Rifles to see a streak of 19-straight regular season victories come to an end.
Read more:
y’all ain’t ready
— Saskatoon Hilltops (@SaskHilltops) August 5, 2026
we comin’ for ya #25 pic.twitter.com/3DESZQir2i
While it was a season which ultimately ended in celebration for the Hilltops, Sargeant is keeping that loss in Winnipeg fresh in his players’ minds ahead of their Week 1 trip.
“The last time we did a road trip to Winnipeg didn’t treat us very well,” Sargeant said. “I’m certainly trying to remind them of all that, keep them ready and keep them real.”
The Hilltops are ready to lift the lid on their 2026 season after reaching the top of the mountain on their home field last November, as they beat the Okanagan Sun 21-18 to capture the program’s 24th Canadian Bowl title.
Sargeant said the past nine months have been spent celebrating what they accomplished last season, while turning an eye to the team taking to the field this summer.
“We had a real good off-season, had a good recruiting year,” Sargeant said.
“Now we’re putting all the pieces together. We’re still working on a few things here or there, but excited to take 46 hungry players to represent the blue and gold, go defend this national championship.”
Conversations around a repeat as national champions is spoken about on occasion according to all-star offensive lineman Jack Erlandson, but once the ball is kicked off Sunday focus quickly turns to the season at hand.
“At our kickoff meeting at the start of the year, (Sargeant) always mentions, ‘last year’s team was last year’s team,’” Erlandson said.
“This is a new team, we’re 0-0 now. We just got to go back, just work hard and keep doing what we got to do.”
Championship celebration for the Saskatoon Hilltops on Nov. 9, 2025 after they defeated the visiting Okanagan Sun 21-18 to capture the program’s 24th Canadian Bowl title. (Louis Christ/Saskatoon Hilltops)
Saskatoon lost 15 veterans from last year’s championship roster including a handful of standouts such as Johnathon Stevens, Jace Mowles, Brexton Elias, Isaac Michayluk, Ryan Adamko, Dalton Ubran and Nahom Menghestab, as well as one-season standouts David Collins, David Boyd Jr. and Isaiah Vallderruten.
Despite the graduations, Sargeant feels this year’s collection of Hilltops has the potential to be even more explosive than last season’s championship group.
“We just look dynamic,” Sargeant said.
“It’s fun to watch us play offence, defence, special teams. A lot of big plays out there, a lot of skill, a lot of talent and I love how hungry everyone is. Even though we are the defending national champs, we lost 15 quality players last year.”
Quarterback Griffin Sander will be a big part of this year’s offence for the Hilltops after he threw for 549 yards and four touchdowns after joining the team mid-season last year from the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.
He said participating in training camp has been beneficial to his game as he prepares for his first full season under centre for the Hilltops.
“It was tough last year trying to get used to how the guys run the routes, the speed of the offence and everything,” Sander said.
“It’s been really nice to have a whole off-season with them, throwing with the guys every week and just getting really used to them.”
Sargeant has seen a difference in his starting pivot as well, after a season of rotating through a handful of quarterbacks following the graduation of star Trey Reider.
“Absolutely night and day,” Sargeant said. “Since January, he’s taken that role on as the key figure in that offence. He did a lot of off-season work with these receivers and we just love this passing mechanism right now, it’s on point. We’re looking for Griffin just to have a spectacular year.”
Alongside Sander on offence, Saskatoon will be returning star running backs Corbin Ebben and Charles Sawi, as well as five offensive linemen led by Erlandson and Davin Johnson up front.
That’s given Erlandson plenty of optimism about the pressure they can put on opposing defences.
“We got pretty much our entire line returning,” Erlandson said. “I think a lot of us are just itching to get back at it, just a lot of excitement.”
According to Sander, veteran leadership on the offensive line will also give him more time to make decisions with the football this season and find a younger crop of receivers.
“It’s unreal,” Sander said. “Especially being a quarterback, having five returning (offensive linemen). You can’t ask much more than that.”
Defensively, the Hilltops will be led by Noah Chelsom on the defensive line, Zaden Taylor and Rudolph Osborne at linebacker and Hudson Arneson at defensive back.
Last season, consistency was the Hilltops’ greatest opponent as they entered playoffs with a 6-2 record.
Even though he finished the goal of lifting the Canadian Bowl at SMF Field last year, Sargeant feels there was too much left on the gridiron.
“It’s my job to make sure the players are ready,” Sargeant said.
“Certainly, I didn’t do my job last year. Hopefully, I’ve done a better job with my coaches of getting this team more game ready and getting ready to kick off a great 2026 year.”
While it’s a new look for Saskatoon as they embark on their chase for a second-straight national championship, Sander is encouraged by the continuity in culture he’s seeing in time for kickoff for Week 1 of the season.
“A lot of new faces in the captains’ room,” Sander said. “It’s just really great to see guys step up and kind of take charge of the locker room and the team.”
The Hilltops and Rifles get their 2026 CJFL seasons underway at 1 p.m. on Sunday from Maple Grove Park in Winnipeg.
Read more:
