CJFL: Hilltops win PFC final over provincial rivals

The defenses were on display in the opening 15 minutes as the offenses had trouble finding their rhythm early on. The Hilltops opened the scoring on a 7-play drive, as Saskatoon used their vaunted running game for all 7 plays as Tom Shockey plunged in from the Regina 2 to cap off an 80-yard drive that gave the defending champions a 7-0 lead after 15 minutes.
The defensive battle continued in the second quarter as Regina quarterback Asher Hastings was intercepted twice in the frame as Ben Cressman & Quinn Pierce recorded ball thefts. Both turnovers set Saskatoon up in Regina territory. The Toppers couldn’t capitalize on the first turnover, but took advantage of the Pierce pick. Matt Karpinka connected with John Trumpy on a 31-yard reception, putting the Hilltops on the Thunder 1. Andre Lalonde was stopped short of the goal line on what appeared to be the last play of the half as the clock showed zeroes, however the officials ruled there was a single second left on the clock in the half. Lalonde would score on the second-chance play and that swung the momentum completely over to the home side as they had a 16-0 lead at the half.  Regina was held to only 97 yards of net offense in the opening half, while Saskatoon had 176.
Saskatoon took the opening drive of the second half and travelled 68 yards for the score that would lock down their 3rd straight PFC championship as Matt Karpinka fired a 4-yard touchdown pass to Graham Unruh 3-and-a-half minutes into the 3rd quarter that came 1 play after Lalonde, who ran for 155 yards on the afternoon, ripped off a 36-yard run.
The Thunder offense were stymied time & time again by a ferocious Hilltops defense and only mustered 181 yards of net offense on the day, including -1 yard along the ground in the final 30 minutes. Meanwhile, Saskatoon kept pouring it on, in particular their ground game which racked up 309 yards. One play after recovering a botched snap to Hastings, Brendon Gryba hauled the ball 39 yards for the score that made it 30-0 with a little over 3 minutes left in the period.
Gryba would get his 2nd touchdown of the day 2:23 into the final quarter as he took a handoff and went up the gut for a 6-yard score to finish up the scoring as the Hilltops claim their 15th PFC title in very convincing fashion.
Saskatoon’s quest for a 3rd consecutive Canadian Bowl title continues next Sunday in the Jostens Cup Game as they host the Ontario Football Conference Champion London Beefeaters, who claimed their 1st championship by dethroning the Hamilton Hurricanes 19-16 on October 14.
REG   0   0   0   0-0

SASK  7   9  14  7-37

1st QUARTER

SASK-TD Shockey 2 run (Schmidt Convert) 11:58

2nd QUARTER

SASK-Safety (Koot Concedes) 13:12

SASK-TD Lalonde 1 run (Schmidt Convert) 15:00

3RD QUARTER

SASK-TD Unruh 4 pass from Karpinka (Schmidt Convert) 3:42

SASK-TD  Gryba 39 run (Schmidt Convert) 11:47

4th QUARTER

SASK-TD Gryba 6 run (Schmidt Convert) 2:23

REG    SASK

1ST DOWNS        9      25

YDS RUSH        42      309

YDS PASS        161     115

NET OFFENSE     181     413

PASSES C/A      17/30  11/19

INTS            3        1

FUMBLES/LOST    1/1      0/0

T.O.D            0        2

PUNTS         10/31.1  6/35.3

PENALTIES/YDS  10/67    7/95

PASSING

C   A   YDS TD INT

Hastings     REG 17  30  161  0    3
Karpinka    SASK 8    15   95    1   1

Andreychuk SASK  3    4    20    0   0
RUSHING

C   YDS   TD

Brown         REG   12   30    0

Banin           REG    4    12    0

Hastings      REG    1      0    0

Lalonde      SASK    25  155  1

Gryba           SASK    8    91   2

Lewis           SASK     5    29   0

Andreychuk SASK    3   28   0

Shockey      SASK     2     6    1
RECEIVING             C   YDS    TD

Cooke            REG   6   60     0

Brown            REG   4   41     0

Lagimodiere      REG   3   31     0

Carr                REG   2   16     0

Heward         REG    2  13      0
Trumpy         SASK   3  50    0

Unruh           SASK   5   46    1

Turkington      SASK   1    8     0

Gryba            SASK   1    8     0

Braun            SASK   1    3     0
DEFENSE LEADERS:

Cabylis REG 9 Tackles, 6 Assists, 2 Special Teams Tackles, 1 Special Teams Assist  29 DPTS

Selinger REG  5 Tackles, 4 Assists 14 DPTS

Pierce    SASK  3 Tackles, 1 Assist, 2 Special Teams Tackles  15 DPTS

Kemp    SASK   4 Tackles, 3 Assists, 1 Special Teams Tackle   13 DPTS

Cressman SASK 4 Tackles, 1 Assist, 1 INT, 25 YDS  13 DPTS

Pisio        SASK  3 Tackles, 1 Assist, 2 Special Teams Tackles, 1 Special Teams Assist 12 DPTS