Hilltops coach shares high praise for past Thunder rival Ferland

It’s rivalry week in the Canadian Football League.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers will renew hostilities from Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Edmonton is visiting Calgary in the season’s first Battle of Alberta, and Toronto is visiting Hamilton for an all-Ontario matchup. The other marquee game this week sees BC hosting Ottawa in “Touchdown Pacific” out on the island in Victoria.

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For Roughriders offensive lineman Logan Ferland, Sunday’s game will mark his fourth Labour Day Classic against Winnipeg.

Coming to the Roughriders as a territorial junior off the roster of the Regina Thunder, Ferland is no stranger to a prairie rivalry after spending five years fending off the Saskatoon Hilltops.

His Thunder career coincided with Saskatoon’s five-year run as national champions, Ferland’s only win in the series coming during the regular season in 2017.

Even though the Hilltops may have dominated the rivalry during Ferland’s time in Regina, it wasn’t hard for Saskatoon Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant to see Ferland’s potential.

Enjoying another season as one of the Roughriders most dependable lineman, Sargeant commended Ferland for the career he has carved out so far coming from the junior ranks.

“What Logan Ferland has done coming out of Melfort, and now being a key piece to the Roughriders offensive line… I was blessed at a very young age to coach Gene Makowsky, and I see very similar traits, mindsets, skillsets, and you know just that potential to be dominant.” said Sargeant, reminding that Makowsky is a CFL Hall of Famer. 

Watching Ferland grow out of being a territorial junior has to be a treat for any CJFL coach. Sargeant went back to when Ferland first arrived on the scene.

“Came into the PFC as an 18-year-old, started playing, and each year he developed.” said Sargeant, as Ferland parlayed that growth into a spot on the Riders practice roster. “Just a dominant player, as good as any PFC player I have seen over the last 10-15 years, and I have been a coach for a quarter-century.” he finished, also crediting the Thunder and the Riders for allowing the junior player a chance to flourish.

Now an established CFL’er, Ferland’s story can be a great one for CJFL coaches like Sargeant to point at. It’s an attainable path once you get to the right level.

“If you become an all-Canadian, you become a dominant player, I talk to (Roughriders GM) Jeremy O’Day every year and we talk about personnel. Greg Newman was a safety for me, went on and played eight years in the CFL and performed very well with the Riders, and Winnipeg,” said Sargeant. “There is always opportunities and chances, you just got to believe in it, believe in yourself, and set those high goals. If you do that, there is always something good around the corner for you.” 

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While the Hilltops don’t have any players on the Roughriders practice squad this year to join Regina Thunder linebacker Stephen Smith, he does have his eye on a few players with the potential to be added, one being Eatonia native and star defensive lineman John Stevens.

“If John has another great year, he might have the potential to go there as well. I felt my players were a year away, they are getting more seasoning, and more ability to play, and so hopefully this year I will be sending two or three is how I am looking at it.”

Find more from Sargeant on this year’s team, and Stevens himself after the Hilltops stopped in Eatonia for a practice on route to Calgary last week.