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It has the makings for a classic in Saskatoon’s football history.
The Saskatoon Hilltops pulled out to a 25-9 lead and held on to edge the rival Regina Thunder 25-24 in the Prairie Football Conference semi-final playoff Sunday afternoon.
“It’s what this program is designed for,” said Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant, about going to the third straight PFC final. “Amazing crowd today and they helped us get through the game.”
Regina came close to taking the lead in the final two minutes with kicker James Reid missing a 23-yard field goal with the score 25-23.
“Luck wasn’t on our side,” said Thunder head coach, Scott MacAulay. “We expect our guys to make those plays and it could have been a different outcome.”
Fans go crazy after a @reginathunder field goal misses left 25-24 @SaskHilltops #yxe 1:20 left in game pic.twitter.com/2Q8nGXZueW
— JT Marshall (@jtmarshallCKOM) October 23, 2016
Ryan Turple and Logan Fischer each scored a touchdown to help Saskatoon take an 18-9 lead into the half.
“We always have hope in ourselves,” said Tops quarterback Jared Adreychuk. “We always seem to find a way and I was pretty confident I was going to place again next week.”
In the third quarter, Cody Peters blocked a Regina punt attempt and Adam Benkic picked up the loose ball and scored six more for the tops.
The @SaskHilltops blocked a punt for a touchdown 25-9 for them over the @reginathunder with 7:11 in 3rd quarter #yxe pic.twitter.com/49r62LRAF9
— JT Marshall (@jtmarshallCKOM) October 23, 2016
One province over, Calgary escaped with an equally close win over their rivals. The Colts beat the Edmonton Huskies 11-10 in the other PFC semi-final.
That sets up a meeting between the top two teams in the regular season. Saskatoon and Calgary will square off for the Conference championship at a date and time to be determined.
