PA Carlton wins 5A high school football provincial championship

The 5A high school provincial final in Saskatoon on Saturday went down to the wire, with Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders earning the 35-34 win against Bishop James Mahoney Saints (BJM).

On a sunny November afternoon, hundreds of fans at Saskatoon Minor Football Field enjoyed the hard-fought game.

Read more:

• ‘Still trying to stomach it’: Riders have no answers for Bombers in West final
• St. Joseph defeats Campbell in 6A prov. championships 52-16

The first quarter was fairly quiet aside from a Saints touchdown from running back Jack Boechler.

The second quarter saw five touchdowns — three from the Crusaders and two from the Saints  — making the score 21-21 at halftime.

BJM took the lead early in the third quarter to up 28-21. On the ensuing drive, Carlton managed to answer back with a touchdown of their own to pull back to even.

After BJM turned the ball over on downs, Carlton was also forced to punt. Surprisingly, the ball went over the returners head, bounced into the Saints endzone and through the backside for a rouge, or a single point.

With the Crusaders up by one with less than three minutes to play in the fourth quarter, BJM managed to find the endzone to go up 34-29. The Saints opted to go for two points, but the BJM pass was picked off by the Carlton defence with 2:32 left on the clock.

Over the next 1:20, the Crusaders marched the ball down the field from deep inside their own end and found the endzone for the final time, putting the Red and Gold up by one.

The Saints failed to get a first down on their final possession of the game, turning the ball over to Carlton who ran the clock with a quarterback kneel and claimed the championship.

Prince Albert Carlton are your 5A High School football provincial champions. They beat BJM Saints 35-34 and boy did this game not disappoint as it came down to the wire. @CKOMNews pic.twitter.com/0ySrStwwmW

— Will Mandzuk (@WMandzuk) November 9, 2024

The win marked the first time Carlton has won the 5A provincial championship.

Lindsay Strachan, Carlton head coach, said he couldn’t believe it.

“It’s amazing. It doesn’t even feel real at this point,” said Strachan. “It hasn’t sunk in yet, but just what a gutsy performance from our guys today.”

In a game that comes down to the final play, it can be hard to keep your nerves in check, Strachan said.

“Some players are better than others, at one point I threw my clipboard,” said Strachan.

“You’re doing your best to hang with it and if I’m gonna preach it to the kids, I guess I better practice it,  too.”

Carlton wide receiver Zane Litzenberger was left shaken up after a hard hit earlier in the game, but came back to catch the game-winning touchdown.

Strachan said Litzenberger always performs.

“He’s such a perfectionist,” said Strachan. “He performs at such a high level in everything he does.”

It wasn’t the result BJM was hoping for but head coach Donny Davidson said he’s still super proud of his team.

“We had an idea that’s where we’d end up (the finals),” said Davidson. “The game kind of fell away where we knew it was going to be down to the last play.”

Davidson said he gave senior players a chance to address the team.

“Last night we gave our kids an opportunity to speak to the team, and they spoke from their heart,” said Davidson. “They told me that they were going to play a great game. They did play a great game.”

— with files from PANow and Will Mandzuk

Read more:

• ‘Still trying to stomach it’: Riders have no answers for Bombers in West final
• St. Joseph defeats Campbell in 6A prov. championships 52-16