Hilltops win home opener 38-13 over Edmonton Huskies

The Saskatoon Hilltops opened their season with a win on Sunday, but it was far from perfection for the reigning Canadian Junior Football League champions.

While the Toppers downed the Edmonton Huskies 38-13 at SMF Field, head coach Tom Sargeant said he wasn’t feeling great about the overall play of his team.

“I’m happy with how hard our team worked, but it’s about playing smart football and doing the right things, and we didn’t do that today,” said Sargeant.

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“We were pretty sloppy. That falls on me. I need to do a better job of coaching and getting these guys ready and getting them preforming at a level that we expect consistently from Hilltop football.”

It was a slow start for the Hilltops, who trailed 2-0 after the first quarter. The Blue and Gold got on the scoreboard in the second, and took a 10-5 lead to the locker room.

The offense exploded in the second half, led by receiver Drake Douglas who found the end zone three times on Sunday.

“Drake was exceptional. We got good players, but at the end of the day we’re here to play good football and we didn’t play good football today,” said Sargeant.

“I’ll make sure by next Sunday we’ll have a better team performance.”

The Hilltops travel to Edmonton to face the Wildcats on Sunday.

–With files from Payton Zillich and Brent Bosker