St. Mary's (#3) Griffin Johns runs the ball down the sidelines after receiving a kick during the tenth annual Canadian Tire Classic on Sept. 15, 2022. (Susan McNeil/paNOW staff)

By Logan Lehmann

Playoff fever

High school football: A preview to the playoffs

Oct 20, 2022 | 8:00 AM

The 2022 high school football playoffs begin tonight and both P.A. high schools are in the running for this year’s SSSAD City Championship.

Carlton and St. Mary each managed to clinch spots in the Division 1 playoffs after picking up big wins. The Crusaders ran over the Walter Murray Marauders on Friday winning 49-14 while the St. Mary Marauders escaped with a 22-21 win over the Tommy Douglas Tigers last Thursday.

Carlton finished the regular season tied for second with Holy Cross at a 4-1 record. Although the Red and Gold beat out Holy Cross in the points-for category, the Saskatoon powerhouse had fewer points-against than the Cru and clinched second as a result.

The final standings from the 2022 SSSAD 6A regular season. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW staff)

For their opening playoff game, the Crusaders will take on the Walter Murray Marauders, a team they shut out 28-0 back on Sept. 28.

Raiders lead series 3-1

Raiders fooled by Rebels in Game 4

1h ago

High-stakes flight

Canadians gather to watch Artemis II moon launch

6h ago

Crime Watch

RCMP make arrest after patrolling Kinistino area break and enter suspects

7h ago

Crusaders receiver Tristan O’Connell will hope to replicate that shutout win on Thursday, as he hauled in 115 receiving yards and two touchdowns while running back Scott Adamko ran for 49 yards on seven carries with one touchdown. Quarterback Sullivan Smith-Windsor threw for166 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception on 9/16 attempts while adding 18 yards rushing on four carries.

For Walter Murray, they finished the season with a 1-4 record which was just good enough to clinch the sixth seed in the Division 1 playoffs. It will be a tough test for an offense that managed to put up only 48 points over the five regular season games. And in a rematch against a team they failed to score at against, Murray will need to leave it all on the line.

In the game where the Marauders were shut out by Carlton, quarterback Jayden Mansfield threw for 149 yards on ten of nineteen attempts while running back Sam Wardell ran for 31 yards on 12 carries, performances that Murray will look to build off to help keep their season alive.

The contest is slated for 5:15 in Saskatoon. The winner will go on to face the Holy Cross Crusaders in the second round.

The bracket for the 2022 SSSAD 6A Football playoffs. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW staff)

The situation is a bit different for St. Mary. With the Marauders entering the playoffs as a five seed, the blue and silver will have to be the underdogs this year and try to knock off the third-seeded Centennial Chargers in round one.

Like Carlton and Walter Murray, St. Mary and Centennial faced off earlier this season with the Chargers coming out with a 24-0 victory. In the game, Marauders quarterback Liam Martin threw for just 53 yards on five of ten passing attempts. Meanwhile, Chargers quarterback Carter Hunt had 151 passing yards and two touchdowns on eight of eleven passing attempts.

Despite the poor outing in the air that game, the ground proved to be more successful for St. Mary.

The Marauders managed to outrun the Chargers, rushing for over 140 more yards than Centennial had in the entire game. To put that into perspective, St. Mary had 271 rushing yards compared to the 129 yards that the Chargers had. And to make it crazier, the Chargers only put up a combined 280 yards in the entire game while St. Mary had 324 total yards. Those yards also led to the Marauders outdriving Centennial in the game, having five more first downs.

So, although the scoreboard may have looked bad for the Marauders, St. Mary came away from the game with smaller in-game victories than Centennial.

The battle is set to begin at 7:30 in Saskatoon. The winner will go on to face the undefeated St. Joseph Guardians in the second round.

—

logan.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @lloganlehmann