Edmonton Huskies

Prairie Outstanding Players

By CJFL Media 10/23/2025, 9:45am PDT

The major award winners on the Conference are recognized

Photo courtesy of Matthew Hamilton

The Prairie Conference announced their Most Outstanding Players and Coach of the Year for the 2025 season as a build up to the Prairie Conference final on Sunday.

Prairie Conference Outstanding Players:

Coach of the Year – Scott MacAulay – Regina Thunder – he led his team to their second straight Prairie Conference championship banner with the Conference’s best record. They clinched homefield advantage through the CJFL Canadian Bowl playoffs and will host the Conference championship game this Sunday

Outstanding Offensive Lineman – Caleb Barajas – Regina Thunder
Outstanding Running Back – David Collins – Saskatoon Hilltops - he carried the rock 126 times for 1028 yards and a Conference high 13 touchdowns, averaging 8.2 yards per carry

Outstanding Receiver – Jarome Penner – Winnipeg Rifles - he led the Conference with 794 receiving yards on 40 receptions and tallied three touchdowns. He averaged 19.9 yards a catch

Outstanding Quarterback – Riley Element – Winnipeg Rifles – he led the Conference in completions (159), yards (2394), attempts (260) and was tied with 11 touchdowns. He completed 61.2% of his passes and had a passer efficiency rating of 79.9

Outstanding Defensive Lineman – Johnathon Stevens – Saskatoon Hilltops - he led the Conference with three sacks, had 11 tackles, 18 assisted stops, had a knockdown, forced and recovered a fumble

Outstanding Linebacker – Kyler Banfield (pictured) – Winnipeg Rifles – he led the Conference with 37 tackles and 26 assisted stops. He added two sacks, four knockdowns, forced two fumbles, and recovered a pair

Outstanding Defensive Back – Cooper Filazek – Regina Thunder - he had three interceptions, six tackles, and two knockdowns

Outstanding Special Teams Player – Charles Sawi – Saskatoon Hilltops – he was busy on Specials, returning 64 kicks this season and gobbled up 811 yards

Offensive Rookie of the Year – QB Wesley Neitz – Edmonton Huskies – he started the majority of the games for the Huskies this season and finished with a completion percentage of 56.4% after 115 completions and 1407 yards along with six touchdowns

Defensive Rookie of the Year – LB Chris Mattiello – Edmonton Huskies – in his rookie campaign he tallied 26 tackles, assisted on nine others, had a sack, a forced fumble, recovered three other fumbles and returned his lone interception 28 yards for a touchdown

Most Valuable Player – RB Peter Boersch – Regina Thunder - he won the Conference rushing title with 1327 yards on 174 carries and four touchdowns averaging 7.4 yards a carry

Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year – Kyler Banfield – Winnipeg Rifles – he led the Conference with 37 tackles and 26 assisted stops. He added two sacks, four knockdowns, forced two fumbles, and recovered a pair

Outstanding Offensive Player of the Year – David Collins – Saskatoon Hilltops - he carried the rock 126 times for 1028 yards and a Conference high 13 touchdowns, averaging 8.2 yards per carry

Sunday afternoon the Regina Thunder will host the Saskatoon Hilltops, with the winner hosting the CJFL Canadian Bowl national championship on Sunday November 9, 2025.

Thunder and Hilltops Advance

By CJFL Media 10/21/2025, 10:15am PDT

The Prairie Conference final is set

Photo courtesy of Louis Christ Photography

Sunday afternoon the province of Saskatchewan celebrated a pair of Prairie Conference semifinal victories in Regina and Saskatoon. As a result, the Conference title game is set!

Regina Thunder 49
Edmonton Huskies 10

The Thunder will host the 2025 Prairie Conference championship game this coming weekend after a home semifinal victory over the Huskies on Sunday.

Whether it was offence, defence or specials, the Thunder controlled the pace of play en route to their victory. On the offensive side they had a balanced attack including 375 yards on the ground led by former Huskie Jackson Harnett who averaged 29 yards a carry and finished with 204 total with two touchdowns. Peter Boersch added another major on eight carries and 54 yards. Through the air quarterback Adam Mosher completed 10 passes for 180 yards and a pair of majors to Andrew Sweeney.

The defence held the Huskies run game to 97 yards and forced four turnovers on downs. Linebacker Kenten Effa was outstanding with four tackles, five assists, blocked a punt and recorded a sack.

On Specials, kicker Shawn Green accounted for 17 points including nailing all three field goal attempts, the longest from 28 yards out.

The Huskies did all their scoring in the second quarter. Quarterback Wesley Neitz hit William Campbell for a 21-yard strike before kicker Boaz Comeau kicked an impressive 51-yard field goal.

Speaking of Neitz, the rookie did find some success through the air completing 20 passes for 202 yards. Campbell was his favourite target making 11 receptions for 112 yards.

The Thunder advance and will host the Saskatoon Hilltops in the Prairie Conference championship game next weekend with the winner hosting the 2025 Canadian Bowl.

Saskatoon Hilltops 60
Winnipeg Rifles 26

After a 21-point first quarter, the Hilltops blew open the game in the third frame with 28 more points and cruised to the lopsided semifinal victory over the visiting Rifles on Sunday.

The ground assault was simply outstanding for the Hilltops to the tune of 380 combined yards and David Collins had himself a day. He rushed 16 times for 207 yards and two touchdowns while teammate Charles Sawi only carried three times but made them count averaging 34 yards and scored two touchdowns, including an 80-yard sprint. Corbin Ebben also scored two majors on the ground on six carries. Their lone throwing touchdown came from backup Griffin Sander in the fourth quarter finding David Boyd Jr from 29 yards out.

On the other side, the Rifles offence did collect 461 total yards primarily through the air but did turn the ball over six times. Quarterback Riley Element was good with 24 completions for 338 yards and threw a touchdown pass to Jarome Penner who caught eight passes for 119 yards. Cole Davies also had a big game with seven catches for 116 yards. Running back Kaiden Banfield was outstanding and gave the Rifles another option on the ground carrying the ball 24 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns in a losing cause.

Both defences coughed up over 460 yards to the opposition’s offence. The Hilltops “D” bent but didn’t break too often. Nathan Gallant intercepted two passes and had a team high four tackles, and Noah Chelsom forced and recovered a fumble.

Rifles’ linebacker Derek Gumieny led his club with a game high 6.5 tackles, 1.5 for a loss and forced and recovered a fumble.

The Hilltops advance to the Prairie Conference championship game and will visit the Regina Thunder next weekend to win the right to host the 2025 Canadian Bowl.

Prairie Conference All-Stars

By CJFL Media 10/19/2025, 9:15am PDT

The best individual performances of the regular season

Photo courtesy of Wanda Harron Photography

The Canadian Junior Football League in conjunction with the Prairie Conference is proud to announce the 2025 Conference All-Stars and All-Rookie Team.

There are 11 positional categories, and the Conference leading Regina Thunder have collected nine All-Star selections.

The 2025 Prairie Conference All-Stars are:

Offensive Line:

Caleb Barajas* – Regina Thunder (second consecutive season)
Tristan Rapchalk – Regina Thunder (All-Rookie team last season)
James Luico* – Regina Thunder
Jack Erlandson – Saskatoon Hilltops
Matt Elash – Saskatoon Hilltops

Running Backs:
Peter Boersch* – Regina Thunder – he won the Conference rushing title with 1327 yards on 174 carries and four touchdowns averaging 7.4 yards a carry

David Collins – saskatoon Hilltops – he carried the rock 126 times for 1028 yards and a Conference high 13 touchdowns, averaging 8.2 yards per carry

Receivers:
Jarome Penner* – Winnipeg Rifles – he led the Conference with 794 receiving yards on 40 receptions and tallied three touchdowns. He averaged 19.9 yards a catch

Jacob St. Hilaire – Edmonton Wildcats – he collected 37 receptions for 533 yards, averaging 14.4 yards a catch and had 4 touchdowns

Isaiah Vallderruten – Saskatoon Hilltops – he led the Conference averaging 24.5 yards a reception, making 16 catches for 392 yards and had 4 touchdowns

Ben Walz – Regina Thunder - he had 21 receptions for 232 yards and a touchdown

Quarterback:
Riley Element – Winnipeg Rifles – he led the Conference in completions (159), yards (2394), attempts (260) and was tied with 11 touchdowns. He completed 61.2% of his passes and had a passer efficiency rating of 79.9

Place Kicker:
Shawn Green* – Regina Thunder – he led the Conference with 83 points. He booted a Conference high 17 field goals, knocking through 81% of his kicks.

Defensive Line:
Johnathon Stevens* – Saskatoon Hilltops (third consecutive season) – he led the Conference with three sacks, had 11 tackles, 18 assisted stops, had a knockdown, forced and recovered a fumble

Jonathan Kampen – Regina Thunder - he collected 7 tackles, assisted on 6 others, and had half a sack

Jordan Southern – Calgary Colts – he had 10.5 tackles, 2.5 sacks and recovered a fumble

Dwayne Williams – Edmonton Wildcats – he recorded 27 tackles, 12 assisted stops, forced two fumbles and even had an interception

Linebackers:
Isaac Michayluk* – Saskatoon Hilltops (second consecutive season) – making 32 tackles, 22 assists, knocked down three passes, forced two fumbles, recovered one and intercepted three passes

Kyler Banfield* – Winnipeg Rifles (second consecutive season) – led the Conference with 37 tackles and 26 assisted stops. He added two sacks, four knockdowns, forced two fumbles, and recovered a pair

Kenten Effa – Regina Thunder – he recorded 30 tackles, 18 assists, had half a sack, a knockdown, forced and recovered a fumble

Defensive Backs:
Cooper Filazek* – Regina Thunder – he had three interceptions, six tackles, and two knockdowns

Jake Mayo – Regina Thunder - he had 3 interceptions, returned 1 for a touchdown, added 15 tackles, 2 assists, half a sack, a Conference high 6 knockdowns and forced a fumbles

Jace Mowles – Saskatoon Hilltops – he made 3 interceptions, 4 knockdowns, 13.5 tackles

Juven St. Hilaire – Edmonton Huskies (All-Rookie team last season) – he made 21 tackles, 6 assisted tackles, had two interceptions and had two knockdowns

Quinn Feodoroff – Calgary Colts – 23 tackles, 7 assisted stops, intercepted four passes, recovered two fumbles, forced one and had two knockdowns

Punter:
Gabriel Yaipen – Winnipeg Rifles – he led the Conference with 67 punts, averaging 38.4 yards and scored four singles

Return Specialist:
Mekhi Tyrell – Edmonton Wildcats – he returned six punts for 122 yards, averaging 20.3 yards a return and broke one 80 yards for a touchdown

The Prairie Conference is preparing for their Conference semi-finals this Sunday. The #1 Regina Thunder host the #4 Edmonton Huskies, and the #2 Saskatoon Hilltops entertain the #3 Winnipeg Rifles. The winners advance to the Prairie Conference championship game and one step closer to hosting the 2025 Canadian Bowl.

*unanimous selection

All-Rookie Team

Offensive Lineman
Matt Elash – Saskatoon Hilltops

Running Back
Thomas Barrett – Calgary Colts

Receivers:
Simon Leckie – Winnipeg Rifles

Quarterback:
Wesley Neitz – Edmonton Huskies

Defensive Linemen:
Enoch Oludamiro – Regina Thunder

Linebacker:
Chris Mattiello – Edmonton Huskies

Defensive Back:
Nigel Reader – Winnipeg Rifles

Kicker:
Lucas Hryniuk – Calgary Colts