Photo courtesy of Darrne Steinke

Saskatoon Hilltops 30
Edmonton Huskies 14

The Hilltops machine kept rolling on Sunday winning their sixth straight Prairie Conference title and second straight over the Huskies.  Their offence was primarily focused on the ground game led by Ben Abrook who set a new CJFL playoff record with 44 carries.    The old playoff record stood for 27 seasons and was held by Chris Curran of the Regina Rams who in 1991 rushed 38 times.  Abrook gained 246 yards and scored two touchdowns in the victory.

Quarterback Tyler Hermann only needed eight completions on Sunday, one of which was a short 10 yard touchdown pass to Keegan Dicks with 49 seconds left in the second quarter.    The major was the only Hilltops touchdown of the first half.

Over on the defence the Hilltops forced five turnovers.  Brant Morrow intercepted a pass and Jared Giddings recovered a fumble.  Caleb Haight had the lone sack.

For the second straight year the Huskies season comes to an end in Saskatoon.  Their offence was led by quarterback Declan O’Flaherty who completed 23 passes for 231 yards and threw for two touchdowns.   His favourite target was clearly Sam Clayton who hauled in 10 passes for 132 yards and had one of the touchdown receptions.  Adner St. Hilaire caught a seven yard touchdown pass in the first quarter giving the Huskies the lead at that time.

On the defensive side Mitchel Phillips had a great game with six solo tackles, forced a fumble and intercepted a pass.  Justin Hodinsky was also solid with six tackles and had one of two sacks.

The Hilltops will now head to London Ontario and meet the Beefeaters in the CJFL National Semi-Final game on Saturday.  The winner will head to the 112th Canadian Bowl in British Columbia.