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With drizzling rain and howling wind at SMF Field on Sunday, the Saskatoon Hilltops did enough to earn their first home victory of the Canadian Junior Football League season.
The Hilltops overcame a rough start to their Week 3 contest against the Calgary Colts to pick up a 36-26 win on their home field, despite some undisciplined moments.
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“A win’s a win,” said Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant.
“We just had a tendency to get in our own way today and once again, the flags didn’t go our way. Whatever, you know what? We persevered and did the right things at the right time.”
Charles Sawi continued his dual-threat season for the Hilltops at receiver and kick returner, as he hauled in a first half touchdown and had a handful of big returns over the Colts in the win.
However, the Hilltops’ attention will turn to the health of star running back Corbin Ebben who left the game with injury and did not return with Brody Komarnicki and Brody Nelson taking over duties on the ground.
“I hope Corbin is okay because he’s pretty significant to what we do,” Sargeant said. “To go with your two-back Brody Komarnicki and your three-back Brody Nelson, they came and performed great too.”
The game started off on the wrong foot for Saskatoon, as they fell into an early 7-0 deficit with Calgary running back Zion Dogbe-Brown taking the ball over 70 yards to the end zone on the first play from scrimmage.
“That first play definitely isn’t what you want to see by any means,” Komarnicki said. “On to the next, there’s nothing you can do about it. What happened, happened. You just got to keep on that gas pedal.”
Saskatoon nearly tied up the game in the first quarter with receiver Donovan Harkness being tackled at the two-yard line following a reception, however the hit shook the ball loose which was picked up by Calgary for the fumble recovery.
Harkness suffered a leg injury on the play and did not return to the game.
Late in the first quarter, the Hilltops got their first touchdown of the afternoon with quarterback Griffin Sander finding Luke Bednarek in the end zone with a 32-yard pass.
Saskatoon recovered the ball on the ensuing kickoff and opened the second quarter with another touchdown from Sander to Sawi for the 16-7 lead.
Both the Hilltops and Colts exchanged field goals in the second quarter, before Sander dropped in a 27-yard pass to Bednarek to get Saskatoon down to the three-yard line.
With 2:30 left in the half, the Hilltops extended their lead to 26-10 with a direct snap touchdown from Komarnicki.
Calgary drove the ball down to the Hilltops goal line before the end of the half, but Saskatoon got a big defensive play from Shadi Nasr with an interception off Colts quarterback Billy MacCready to keep their 16-point lead intact heading to halftime.
“My coaches put me in the position to make the interception,” Nasr said. “Just got to my zone, undercut the route, interception.”
Hilltops kicker Ryden Gratton showed off his leg in the third quarter with a 40-yard field goal with the wind gusting to take a 29-10 lead into the fourth quarter.
Komarnicki picked up his second touchdown of the game with 6:58 left on a one-yard punch-in from the goal line to extend Saskatoon’s lead to 26 points.
“The whole (offensive line) were blocking today really good,” Komarnicki said. “Search back was blocking really good, they were just laying it out there for me.”
Calgary made a push over the final six minutes of the game with a pair of touchdowns, including one to receiver Ryan Pentelichuk to cut the deficit to 36-26.
An onside kick was recovered by the Hilltops however, as they secured the 10-point victory.
The win moves the Hilltops to a 2-1 record on the season following a 28-22 upset loss at the hands of the Edmonton Wildcats last weekend.
“Still, we’re nowhere near our potential,” Komarnicki said.
“Coaches know that and they’re going to keep our nose to the grindstone here. It’s a good win, it’s definitely a great feeling, but it doesn’t change the game plan. Obviously, we want to repeat as the (national champions).”
The Hilltops next head to Edmonton on Aug. 30 for a rematch against the Wildcats with a 1 p.m. kickoff.
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