Saskatoon Hilltops 43
St. Clair Saints 0

Under clouds and chilly conditions, the Saskatoon Hilltops punched their ticket to the 2023 CJFL Canadian Bowl with a dominating shutout of the Ontario Conference champion St. Clair Saints Sunday afternoon.

The Hilltops scored 24 points in the first half, taking the wind out of the sails of the Saints.  The defence was solid despite coughing up 354 yards to the Saints offence.   All-Star Riece Kack was a one-man wrecking crew setting a new CJFL playoff record with six sacks and defensive tackle John Stevens tied a CJFL playoff record forcing two fumbles. In addition to his sacks, Kack made four tackles, had four assisted stops, and forced and recovered a fumble.  He was named the Defensive Player of the Game. 

As a team the Hilltops compiled nine quarterback sacks which is tied for third in a CJFL playoff game, and their five team forced fumbles are tied for first in a CJFL playoff game. 

Offensively the Hilltops used the passing game to move the football against the Saints secondary.  Quarterback Trey Reider threw for 200 yards on only seven completions and connected on three touchdown throws finding Drake Douglas once and Offensive Player of the Game Noah Flaman twice. On the ground Charles Sawi and Brexton Elias found the endzone while Prairie Conference MVP Boston Davidsen was oddly quiet rushing for 62 yards on 13 carries. 

Despite the lopsided loss the Saints did find success throwing the ball as two quarterbacks combined for 296 yards.  Maurice Sodja threw for 123 yards and Matt Guenette connected on 173 yards.   Ontario Conference Rookie of the Year Darius France had a nice game with 110 receptions yards on seven catches. 

Saints’ returner Boruz Wright was named the game’s Special Teams Player of the Game.  He returned six kicks averaging over 12 yards a return. 

With the victory the Hilltops return to the Canadian Bowl for the first time since 2019 and will head to British Columbia to take on the Westshore Rebels on Saturday November 11th at 3:00pm.  This is a rematch of the 2016 national final that the Hilltops won 37-25.