Regina Thunder will renew rivalry with Saskatoon Hilltops in PFC Championship

The Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder will meet in the Canadian Junior Football League’s Prairie Conference championship on Sunday, renewing the all-Saskatchewan rivalry in the final for a third-straight season.

“It’s two very competitive teams that only have one goal in mind,” Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant told CTV Morning Live.

“There’s a mutual respect there,” said Thunder linebacker Kenton Effa. “We love to battle it out and it’s always interesting.”

The Hilltops took the title in 2021, their last of seven-straight PFC championships.

Saskatoon (9-0) will put their undefeated record on the line Sunday.

“Going into the year, they were maybe the favourite given what they’ve done the past couple of years,” Sargeant said. “Our goal is to always win a championship.”

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In those nine games, the Hilltops have surrendered just 53 points. Putting 388 on the board themselves. Top in the league for both categories.

“[Regina] loves to run the ball,” said Sargeant. “We got to be on point in a lot of areas.”

It’s a reversal of positions as the Thunder have gone into the past two finals undefeated.

Regina (7-2) is hoping to do what Saskatoon did two years ago and topple the top team in the PFC.

“We want to be confident when we get there,” said Thunder head coach Scott MacAulay. “Hopefully that will allow [us] to play a lot faster and more aggressive.”

The Hilltops are the only team to beat Regina this season. Doing so twice.

In Week 4 of the regular season Saskatoon dominated in a 36-6 win at Mosaic Stadium.

Then in Week 7, Regina kept it closer. Still losing but only by nine points.

The Thunder are hoping to change the tide this weekend.

“You got a bunch of gritty kids from the same province,” said MacAulay. “It’s going to be interesting.”

“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Sargeant added.

Kickoff for Sunday’s game is 1 p.m. in Saskatoon at SMF Field.

KEY MATCHUPS

The Hilltops and Thunder are the top two teams in the PFC for a reason. Individually, at least one player on each team holds a top three position in passing, rushing and receiving.

Quarterback - Trey Reider (SAS) v Carter Moberg (REG).

Reider has thrown for 1,636 yards so far this season. His 17 TD passes is best in the league.

Moberg has been consistent as well. In just seven games this season, he’s put up 13 TDs and nearly 1,500 yards in the air.

Running back - Boston Davidsen (SAS) v Ryland Leichert (REG)

Davidsen and Leichert are the top two rushers in the league by a large margin.

Both tailbacks put up more than 1,000 rushing yards this season. No one else had more than 577, nearly half of what Leichert (1,147 yards) recorded and behind Davidsen (1,316 yards) by over 700 yards.

Davidsen was given the ball more and scored three more TDs than his counterpart.

Receiver - Isaiah Woolley and Benjamin Walz (REG) v Drake Douglas (SAS)

Regina had two of the top four receivers in the league this season.

Woodley was second in both receiving yards (712) and TDS (5). Walz was fourth in both those categories.

As for Douglas, he slotted between the two Thunder wideouts in third. Tallying just over 600 yards receiving and notching four TDs.