MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- It was a time for celebration for five high school football teams across the province on Saturday afternoon.
The Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association provincial finals saw a little bit of everything, from dominating victories to hard-fought battles down to the last minute, but in the end, one team reigned supreme in each division.
Here’s a rundown of how things turned out.
In the 1A Six-Aside division, the Hafford Vikings completed their drive for a sixth-straight provincial title in style, rolling to a 74-22 victory over the Hanley Sabres in Hafford.
It was a dominant run for the Vikings throughout the playoffs, as they defeated Big River 84-6 in the provincial quarter-final and followed with a 62-16 win over Lemberg in the semis.
The bronze medal game saw one of the closest games of the weekend, as St. Brieux defeated Lemberg 43-42.
In the 2A Six-Aside division, the Clavet Cougars found themselves in an offensive shootout with the Wakaw Warriors but used their powerful offence to repeat as provincial champs with a 90-51 victory.
Clavet won their first round playoff game 60-21 and were equally as strong in the semifinal, where they defeated Rosetown 72-36.
Rosetown defeated Southey 50-42 to claim bronze.
In the 4A Nine-Aside division, the Melfort Comets left nothing to chance in their quest to return to the top of the provincial mountain, hammering out an 86-27 win over the Tisdale Tornadoes in Melfort.
The Comets were utterly dominant the whole playoff run, with a 98-24 victory over Fort Qu’Appelle in the quarter-final and 63-42 win over fellow perennial provincial contender Lumsden in the semifinal.
In the 5A 12-Aside division, the Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders won their first ever provincial title in an absolute barnburner, defeating the Saskatoon Bishop Mahoney Saints 35-34 in Saskatoon.
Sullivan Smith-Windsor was absolutely spectacular at quarterback for the Crusaders, completing 28-of-30 passes for 424 yards and four touchdowns, including the winning major to Zane Litzenberger with 1:12 remaining in the contest.
Litzenberger was outstanding in his own right, catching 14 passes for 206 yards and two majors.
Prince Albert reached the final thanks to a 40-22 win over Martensville in the North Saskatchewan League final and a 39-13 semifinal win over Regina Johnson.
In the 6A 12-Aside division the St. Joseph Guardians became the first Saskatoon highest-division school to win a provincial title since 2009 with a 52-14 victory over the Regina Campbell Tartans.
The Guardians went 8-2 overall on the season, defeating Saskatoon Holy Cross 38-34 in the city final to book their spot in the provincial title game.
