Saskatoon Hilltops defeat Regina Thunder in PFC championship

The Saskatoon Hilltops defeated the Regina Thunder 30-27 in overtime to win the Prairie Football Conference championship.

In a true battle to the finish, the Saskatoon Hilltops defeated the Regina Thunder 30-27 in overtime on Sunday, with the Thunder failing to defend their 2024 Prairie Football Conference (PFC) championship title.

“We kept battling. We kept believing,” Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant told reporters after the win. “[I’m] walking really proud today.”

A late comeback effort from Saskatoon saw the two teams tied 24-24 at the end of regular play.

Regina settled for a field goal on their first possession of extra time.

On the following drive and with the game on the line, quarterback Griffin Sander found Isaiah Vallderruten in the endzone for a game-winning touchdown - ending the game 30-27.

“I had to catch it,” Vallderruten said. “No ifs, ands or buts. The defender thought I was doing a different route and he fell for it.”

“It’s just a great feeling,” he added.

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Since the year 2000, the Hilltops have won the PFC final a total of 17 times. The Thunder have won three times, in 2013, 2022 and 2024.

“It feels great,” Sander said about the win. “It doesn’t even seem real, though. [I’ve] never been a part of a game like this. It’s awesome.”

The Thunder had hoped for a repeat of last year’s performance, which saw the team defeat their provincial rivals 24-19.

Regina has never won back-to-back conference championships.

“I’m disappointed,” Thunder head coach Scott Macaulay said after the loss. “I’m proud of the way our guys play. We came out and balled. We had two opportunities to win the game.”

“We put a lot of a lot of hard work in, just like Regina has,” Sargeant said. “We wanted to make sure we were going to finish strong and we were going to finish for each other. And they did that today.”

“And we get to play another week,” he added

The Hilltops will now face the Okanagan Sun in the 117th Canadian Bowl at Saskatoon’s SMF Field on Sunday, Nov. 9.

In its storied history, Saskatoon has won a record 23 national junior football championships.