Photo courtesy of Louis Christ Photography

The Saskatoon Hilltops are the 2025 Canadian Bowl champions after a thrilling victory over the Okanagan Sun on November 9th. 

One of the heroes of the national championship game was kicker Ryden Gratton who nailed a 37-yard field goal with 29 seconds remaining on the clock in the fourth quarter for the winning score.  It was his only field goal attempt of the game, and he made it count.

He catches up with Ryan Watters and shares what he was thinking with time winding down and an opportunity to help his team capture their 24th Canadian Bowl title.

Saskatoon Hilltops 21
Okanagan Sun 18

The Hilltops are CJFL champs for the 24th time in franchise history after they beat the Sun on Sunday afternoon in Saskatoon.

There wasn’t much scoring in the first quarter as both teams conceded a safety.

Early in the second quarter the Hilltops got into the end zone taking advantage of a shanked punt that set them up at midfield.  At the 2:55 mark of the second frame running back David Collins scored his first touchdown to give the Toppers the lead.  

Defensively the Hilltops settled in and didn’t give up much once they had the lead. Later in the quarter their offence went to work again culminating with a second Collins touchdown from 23 yards out.  Before halftime the Hilltops conceded a safety and led 16-4 at the break.

The Sun made adjustments at halftime and came out strong in the third quarter and finished off a great drive with a Marcus Christos touchdown run from a yard out.

The only other scoring in the third quarter was a Sun conceded safety, their second of the game.

In the fourth quarter the Sun put together their most impressive drive of the contest, marching 108 yards before Liam Kroeger called his own number and rushed 18 yards for a touchdown to tie the game with under three minutes to play. 

With plenty of time on the clock, the Hilltops got the ball to within field goal range with under 30 seconds to go.  Kicker Ryden Gratton stepped up and kicked the biggest field goal in his career, booting a 37-yarder right down the middle for the game winning kick.

Collins was named the Offensive Player of the Game carrying the load 26 times for 143 yards and two touchdowns.  Quarterback Griffin Sandler completed 11 passes for 104 yards spreading the ball around to seven different receivers.  

On the defensive side Isaac Michayluk was named the Player of the Game coming through with some huge stops, leading the game with nine tackles.  

Charles Sawi was named the Special Teams Player of the Game with seven returns gaining 66 yards.

The Sun offence did gain 404 yards with quarterback Liam Kroeger throwing 296 yards on 26 completions.  He found six different receivers and running back Gerren Hardisty led they way on the ground with 71 yards on 17 carries.  

The Hilltops are champs of the Canadian Bowl in 2025 and will look to repeat next year with the national championship held in British Columbia.