St. Clair Saints @ Saskatoon Hilltops – Sunday October 29, 1:00pm CST – SMF Field | WATCH HERE

The CJFL National Semi-Final game highlights a pair of undefeated Conference champions going toe-to-toe for the right to play for the Canadian Bowl.  

These two franchises last met in 2017 in the Canadian Bowl with the Saints, known as the Windsor AKO Fratmen at that time, hosted the Hilltops.  The Prairie Conference champs dominated and won that game 56-11.

They have never faced each other in a National Semi-Final game; however, they have appeared in this game several times separately.  The Hilltops last played in this game in 2019 in London, while the Saints played in this game last year hosting the Okanagan Sun. 

Overall, the Hilltops are 6-2 in this contest and the Saints/Fratmen have an 0-3 record.   This is also the first time the Saints organization plays a game in Saskatoon. 

The Hilltops feature a dominating run game led by the Prairie Conference MVP in running back Boston Davidsen.  They will no doubt try and wear down the Saints early on and throughout the game with Davidsen, who carried the ball 21 times in the Prairie final and 170 times during the regular season. 

Defensively the Saints know a lot about strong running games facing the London Beefeaters last week who predominantly like to run the football.  Their defence is quick to the ball led by All-Star defensive linemen Carl Fabre and Mo Ibraheem who have the ability to get into the opposition’s backfield to disrupt the timing of the offence.

On their own offence side the Saints also like to run the football with All-Star running back MJ Doyle-Marshall who had a touchdown in the Ontario final last weekend.  That said, their offence runs through All-Star quarterback Maurice Sodja.  He is a very smart, mobile quarterback that can get out of trouble using his legs.  He has a strong arm and weapons down the field including Javier Lewis and Darius France. 

Arguably, Sodja and this Saints offence have not come across a defence as talented as the Hilltops.  They kept teams under seven points on average during the regular season and are extremely fast and physical.   All-Star linebacker Matt Wist led the way all year and last weekend with nine solo tackles and assisted on eight others in the Prairie final.  The Toppers secondary are flat-out ballhawks that can track the ball quickly as soon as it leaves the quarterback’s hand.  All-Star defensive back Dalton Urban will no doubt be busy on Sunday.

The forecast for Saskatoon on Sunday doesn’t look too bad as of right now.  Environment Canada calling for sunshine and a high of -1.

Head-to-Head (regular season stats)

Records: Saints 8-0 – Hilltops 8-0
Avg Points For: Saints 45 – Hilltops 43.1
Avg Points Allowed: Saints 14 – Hilltops 6.3

Passing Leaders: Maurice Sodja - 44 of 723 for 898 yards and 11 touchdowns (Saints) – Trey Reider – 108 of 167 for 1571 yards and 16 touchdowns (Hilltops)

Rushing Leaders: MJ Doyle-Marshall – 64 carries for 593 yards and 7 touchdowns (Saints) – Boston Davidsen – 170 carries for 1184 yards and 9 touchdowns (Hilltops)

Receiving Leaders: Javier Lewis – 20 receptions for 536 yards and 7 touchdowns (Saints) – Drake Douglas – 42 receptions for 591 yards and four touchdowns (Hilltops)

Leading Tacklers: Keewone Parker – 19 tackles (Saints) – Matt Wist – 22 tackles (Hilltops)