PHOTO CREDIT: Wanda Harron Photography
The CFL’s regular season has not yet concluded and the Saskatchewan Roughriders already have a 2024 champion on the field.
Linebacker Stephen Smith, who is on the Roughriders’ practice roster, helped the Regina Thunder defeat the host Saskatoon Hilltops 24-19 in Sunday’s Prairie Football Conference final.
To commemorate the feat, Smith was invited by Roughriders Head Coach Corey Mace to apply a finishing touch to Tuesday’s workout at Mosaic Stadium.
“I just said, ‘Stephen won a big game. It’s your breakdown, kid. Let’s go!’ ” Mace said.
“Everybody was hyped for him. They know how much work he puts in. He’s a part of this, so we’re happy for him.”
Smith has been a part of two of the Thunder’s three league-championship teams. Regina previously celebrated PFC supremacy in 2013 and 2022.
Most recently, the Thunder avenged two regular-season losses to the Hilltops — by scores of 29-15 and 36-11 — by winning a down-to-the-wire thriller at SMF Field.
“It was quite the experience, but the job’s not finished,” Smith asserted. “This is where we were expecting to get to and we’ve still got more to go.”
The Thunder is preparing to play host to the B.C.-champion Okanagan Sun on Sunday in a Canadian Junior Football League semi-final. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m., at Leibel Field.
Sunday’s winner will advance to the Canadian Bowl, which is slated for Nov. 9 on the home turf of the Ontario champion.
Members of the Scott MacAulay-coached Thunder aspire to reach the Canadian Bowl for the third time. Regina won it all in 2013 and lost a 21-19 heartbreaker to the Kelowna-based Okanagan side in the 2022 national final, played at Mosaic Stadium.
“Obviously, we learned from last time,” said Smith, who joined the Thunder in 2021.
“We beat (the Hilltops) and made it to the national championship and I think we took our foot off the gas a little bit. We know not to do that this year.
“We know how to reset now and how to keep our foot on the pedal and not take a step backwards.”
That is an important consideration, given the nature of junior football.
A league championship is the pinnacle in most sporting organizations, but the structure of junior football — much like junior hockey — does not allow for an all-out celebration until after the national final.
Hence the need to reset … and fast.
“It’s definitely a challenge, because you’re fighting so hard (to win a league title),” the 6-foot-0, 220-pound Smith said.
“Saskatoon’s a very good team, so you’re fighting hard to get past them.
“Then it happens. You’ve just got to take the night and celebrate it, but then reset in the morning and dive back into the film and continue playing like we’re playing.”
Regina snapped a Saskatoon winning streak that had swelled to 19 games and included a Canadian Bowl win — the Hilltops’ 23rd — in 2023.
Before meeting the Thunder, the 2024 Hilltops had won nine games by a combined score of 358-124.
“To go into their barn and knock them off definitely made it a little bit sweeter,” said the Abernethy-born Smith, who in 2023 was named the CJFL’s top defensive player.
The Roughriders took notice of Smith’s excellence and invited him to training camp. Since July, he has been practising with the Thunder and a CFL team that, having clinched a home playoff game, also has championship aspirations.
“It’s pretty exciting,” he said. “It’s definitely making the year worth it.
“When you’re doing double duty and both teams are successful, it’s very exciting to see both sides of it.”
The Roughriders’ current Thunder ties extend beyond Smith.
Melfort-born Logan Ferland, who played for the Thunder from 2015 to 2019, has been named the Roughriders’ Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman in each of the past two seasons.
Dr. Jordan Buchko — the Roughriders’ orthopaedic surgeon since 2016 — was a defensive back with the Thunder from 2001 to 2003 after graduating from the Riffel Royals high school program.
Dr. Buchko now serves as the Thunder’s orthopaedic surgeon in addition to assisting various other athletes at the amateur and collegiate levels.
