The Saskatoon Hilltops defeated the defending champion Regina Thunder 30-27 in overtime at Mosaic Stadium on Sunday afternoon to win the 2025 Prairie Football Conference championship.
The pads were popping in the opening quarter as the provincial rivals set a physical tone. After being hemmed deep in their territory on their first two drives, the Thunder, with the wind in their face, conceded a safety to give Saskatoon a 2-0 lead.
The next Saskatoon drive moved the ball deep into Regina territory, but the Hilltops settled for a 25-yard field goal from Ryden Gratton to extend their lead to 5-0.
Late in the quarter, the Thunder found rhythm on offence and methodically marched the ball to the Hilltops' goal line, where Jackson Harnett plunged into the end zone to give Regina their first lead of the game, 7-5.
Before the first quarter was out, the Hilltops started to lose their discipline, which resulted in the ejection of offensive lineman Victor Bikulo from the game.
In the second quarter, the Hilltops moved the ball into the wind, but their drive came up short, and Gratton kicked his second field goal from 27 yards out to restore the Hilltops lead, 8-7.
Penalty problems began to plague the Hilltops, as the Toppers found themselves behind the sticks and extending drives for the Thunder. Regina made a 37-yard field goal from Shawn Green and a one-yard touchdown run from PFC rushing leader Peter Boersch, forcing the Hilltops to concede a safety before the first half was out. After 30 minutes, Regina led 19-8.
After the break, the Hilltops lack of discipline cost them a touchdown as a deflected pass was intercepted and returned to the end zone by Isaac Michayluk. However, a roughing the passer penalty took the score off the board.
With the wind at their back and despite executing a fake punt, the Hilltops settled for a single point off a missed 37-yard field goal attempt by Gratton. Regina led after three quarters, 19-9.
In the fourth quarter, Regina, with the wind at their back, was able to trap the Hilltops deep in their own territory in the early goings, forcing Saskatoon to concede a safety 84 seconds into the final stanza.
After a defensive stop, Saskatoon misplayed a punt, allowing the Thunder to recover the ball deep in Saskatoon territory. However, Regina could not capitalize on the miscue and instead settled for a 17-yard field goal off the left upright and in to extend their lead to 24-9.
On the next possession, Saskatoon's offence showed a sense of urgency, marching the ball down into Regina territory. A disputed pass interference call allowed David Collins to plunge in from one-yard out to cut into the lead, Regina 24-16.
Regina’s offence moved the ball and drained the clock, but without Boersch in the game, after sustaining an ankle injury, the Thunder missed his game-changing presence and had to kick the ball back to the Hilltops late.
In their final drive in regulation, the Hilltops moved the ball into Regina Territory. With 31 seconds left in the game, Saskatoon receiver Isaiah Vallderruten hauled in a Griffin Sander pass to get the Hilltops within two points. Vallderruten then proved clutch, catching a pass off a slant route for the two-point conversion to tie the game 24-24.
The defending champion Thunder weren’t going to be denied. After a kickoff return set the Thunder up at their own 45-yard line and more penalties to the Hilltops, Regina sent out the kick team to attempt a game-winning, 51-yard field goal with three seconds on the clock. With the wind at his back, Green’s kick hit the crossbar and bounced out, keeping the score tied with no time on the clock.
However, another Hilltops penalty, this time for hitting the centre, gave Green and the kick team another opportunity to win the game from the 36-yard line. The kick sailed wide to the right, Saskatoon’s Charles Sawi ran the ball out of the end zone to preserve the tie and send the game to overtime, 24-24.
In overtime, the Thunder got the ball first, after earning a second set of downs, saw their drive stall deep in Sasaktoon territory. Green jogged back onto the field for Regina and kicked the go-ahead field goal to make it 27-24.
Saskatoon’s possession started with a pair of runs for nine yards and a gutsy third-down conversion that gave them a second set of downs. On the next play, Sander dropped back and spotted Vallderruten running a post pattern. The lanky receiver extended and made a finger-tip reception in the end zone for the winning score, giving the Hilltops their 35th PFC championship, 30-24.
“We knew they were probably going to be in man, but they actually went zone. They thought I was gonna run a corner, so I flipped and went post, and it was wide open. QB threw a perfect ball to me and we won the game," Vallderruten said.
Regina Thunder head coach Scott MacAulay was proud of his team’s effort.
“I thought we did everything in our game plan. We did a great job, containing No. 10 [Hilltops RB David Collins] and all that kind of stuff throughout the whole game, unfortunately, you can't put the game in other people's hands.”
Hilltops' head coach Tom Sargeant admitted his team wasn’t playing connected football through most of regulation time.
“We certainly weren't the best team for the first 50 minutes, but you know, the heart of a champion finds a way -- these kids did.”
Vallderruten admits his heart was pounding when Regina had two chances to win the game on the final plays of regulation time.
“I ain't gonna lie, I was kind of nervous, but I'm glad he missed. Look, we won the game, so I can't dwell on it.”
MacAulay won’t dwell on those two plays either, as Green has been great for them all year.
“Sean Green won us a lot of games. He had two kicks prior to those that were bang on and put us in the situation that we had an opportunity to win the game.”
The Hilltops will host the Canadian Bowl championship game on Sunday, November 9, an opportunity Sargeant is excited about.
“All we do is we get to play another week, I’m very thankful.”
