By Gary Lawless,
National Post
It’s kind of the ugly cousin of Canadian football titles but for the 60 or so young men on the field today, nothing could mean more to them than the chance to get their hands on the Canadian Bowl.
The top ranked St. Leonard Cougars and the storied Saskatoon Hilltops will get it on at Canad Inns Stadium today (noon) for the Canadian Junior Football League championship.
Played in the shadow of a big-time CFL game and a university football playoff showdown, there’s not a lot of turf left for the junior gridders but that can’t take the shine off their biggest weekend of the year.
“To be here, with this chance to play for a championship, we couldn’t ask for anything more,” said Hilltops coach Tom Sargeant before a crowd of media and players during Friday’s press conference. “These opportunities don’t come along very often. As a player and a coach, this is all you can ask for.”
The Hilltops have climbed this mountain before, winning three Canadian titles from 2001 to 2003 and 12 times in their history. For the Cougars, a win Saturday would be their first national title.
“We’re probably the fastest team in Canadian football. That’s our strength and our players are saying the field here is the fastest they’ve ever been on. We’ll look to bounce things outside and see if we can’t break off a long run or two,” said Cougars coach Tony Iadeluca.
The Hilltops are led by running back Adrian Charles but are hoping the return of wide receiver Andrew Busby can provide a spark. Busby suffered a knee injury earlier in the season and then was banged up in a traffic accident and still had to pass a last minute test from his coach.
“I want to see him run and if he can do what I expect, I’d be crazy not to have him in the lineup,” said Sargeant. “He’s a special player and we’d love to have him on the field.”
The Cougars have a simple plan for today.
“We want to stop their running game. If we can force them to drop and back and pass the ball, it’s to our advantage,” said Iadeluca.
