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| Hilltops RB Des Vessey (#27) runs against the alumni team defence. |
The old Transformers slogan of “More than Meets the Eye” is
a fitting way to describe the Saskatoon Hilltops Alumni Game.
For decades, the venerable Canadian Junior Football League
franchise has hosted a clash with its alumni as part of the team’s training
camp. It is used as key evaluator for Hilltops coaches to grade current
players. The contest has some modified guidelines, but it is played mostly
under CJFL rules.
The game gives the current players a chance to interact and
meet the former players that have come before them. The match also allows the
Hilltops grads to renew bonds with their old club and see old teammates and
friends they normally don’t get to see on a regular basis due to real life
circumstances relating to work and family.
In recent years, the game has kind of branched out to
include various other members of the Saskatoon football community that have
never played with the Toppers. It has become common place for the recent alumni
squads to contain ringers that played for teams from the Canadian
Interuniversity Sport ranks and the CJFL.
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| QB Jordan Walls fires a pass downfield for the current Hilltops. |
This is done to increase the toughness of the alumni team to
give the current Hilltops a tougher challenge. When it comes down to it, the
alumni game might be the most difficult game the current Toppers play all year.
The old players have enjoyed the game so much that word has
gotten out, and more volunteers are turning out for the alumni team in terms of
both former Hilltops players and players from other post-secondary teams.
When the 2016 alumni game was held on Thursday at Saskatoon
Minor Football Field, a very powerful and deep alumni squad turned out to face
a Hilltops squad that lost 16 players due to graduation from last year’s CJFL
championship team and a small handful of other players to the CIS ranks.
With the current Hilltops fielding squad that contained a
number of recent 18-year-old high school grads against a squad of
well-conditioned men, the alumni rolled to a 41-10 victory.
Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant and his staff definitely
received a lot of film they can use for evaluations and corrections. The
veteran coaching staff realizes there is still a lot of work that needs to be
done to get the current team playing at the very high standard the Hilltops
program is used to performing in 70 years of existence. Saskatoon opens its
regular season hosting the Winnipeg Rifles on Aug. 14 at 1 p.m. at SMF Field.
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| Two Hilltops defenders up end an alumni team receiver. |
With that said, Thursday’s game wasn’t all bad for the
current Hilltops. A number of individuals put in good outings.
Backup quarterback Jordan Walls threw the ball well all over
the field. The alumni team defensive backs, who have tonnes of experience, said
the third year signal caller was doing a great job moving defensive players
around with his eyes creating openings for his receivers.
It took a great play by Joel Lipinski, who is a former
member of the University of Regina Rams and the Saskatchewan Roughriders, to
get an interception off Walls.
Receiver Jason Price looks ready to be a playmaker. He had
some nice catches and the only touchdown the current Hilltops scored in the
game. The Walter Murray Collegiate graduate was buried on the depth chart his
first two seasons behind five standout pass catchers the Hilltops graduated a
year ago.
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| Receiver Ryan Turple zips up field for the Hilltops. |
Possession receiver Ryan Turple also made some nice catches
and wasn’t afraid to mix things up in traffic despite standing 5-foot-9 and
weighing 160 pounds.
On defence, Adam Benkic was flowed to the ball well and
looks like he is going to take step another step forward after a strong
campaign in 2015. Rookie cornerback Leif Larson from Lloydminster showed that
he has lots of promise.
The current Hilltops sat out a number of their veterans for
the alumni game in order to spend more time evaluating others on the roster.
Those that didn’t dress included star quarterback Jared Andreychuk, last year’s
CJFL defensive player of the year and linebacker Cole Benkic and beast running
back Logan Fischer.
On the alumni side of things, Hilltops grads like
quarterback Steve Bilan, linebacker Warren Muzika and receivers Kit Hillis and
John Trumpy showed they can still have game. Current Hilltops vice-president
Rod Janzen showed he could still boot the ball as both a punter and place
kicker. Way back in 1997 as the Hilltops punter, Janzen averaged 53.6 yards a
punt, which is still a CJFL regular season record.
After the game, the former players retreated to a social
function the Hilltops held on the patio and lounge of the new clubhouse complex
at SMF Field. That provided a chance to visit with, reminisce and tell some old
tales with various members of the team’s staff including legendary executive
Don McDonald, who will be part of the 2016 class inducted into the Canadian
Football Hall of Fame.
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| Alumni team punter Rod Janzen gets set to boom the ball downfield. |
The former players - both Hilltops alumni and players from
other programs - come away feeling they had a good time and were treated in a
first-rate manner. While the former Toppers reconnect with their old club, the
former players from other teams get an increased sense of belonging to a city
they have made their working careers in.
As a spinoff, those players will be
back to watch games, donate to things like the Hilltops scholarship program or
convince the companies they work for to become team sponsors.
When all is said in done, everyone wins when it comes to the
Hilltops Alumni Game no matter what the result was on the scoreboard.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
