Hilltops tame Wildcats to reach PFC Final

The Saskatoon Hilltops are off to Prairie Football Conference (PFC) Final after defeating the Edmonton Wildcats 31-7 Sunday at SMF Field.

The two teams met for the second time in as many weeks after a Hilltops 48-8 win on Oct. 13. However, this game looked totally different from last week’s blowout from the opening kickoff.

“I’m real proud of the effort today,” Hilltops head coach tom Sargeant said. “That’s as good a defence we’ve seen all year. They’re physical, they’re aggressive, they put their players in good spots.”

A tough defensive battle was on tap from the outset. The Hilltops force a fumble on the Wildcats second drive of the game to set up a 16-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Hermann to Rylan Kleiter, one of his two touchdowns on the day.

A Ben Abrook touchdown plunge would give the Hilltops a 14-0 lead after the first quarter before the Wildcats clawed its way back into the game with a touchdown of its own for a 14-7 deficit at halftime.

“In the first half (the Wildcats) had our number. They came out hard and we didn’t quite match that, but we took what they were doing and kind of used it against them,” Kleiter, who also played kicker and punter, said following the game.

The Hilltops began to pull away from Edmonton in the second half, highlighted by Kleiter’s 30-yard catch to extend the lead to 21-7.

“We didn’t make too many adjustments, just continued to stick with what we do and doing it even better,” Kleiter said.

Lost in the second half was Jared Giddings coming out party. The defensive back ended the game with a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception on top of his two tackles.

Each play contributed to the Hilltops win, but he doesn’t see it that way.

“It was nice to help out the defence wherever I could. They harp on us getting turnovers. Get five and it becomes easier for us,” Gidding said.

The Hilltops are set to meet the Edmonton Huskies in the PFC Final Sunday at SMF Field after the Huskies escaped with a 20-17 win over the Regina Thunder.

Sargeant and the rest of the Hilltops enter the game looking for a sixth consecutive PFC title, but as always, Sargeant isn’t looking that far ahead.

“We’re just at the point now where you just got to live another week and that’s what we’re doing,” Sargeant said.