Carlton hoists the North Sask. Football League trophy for the first time in program history. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW)

By Logan Lehmann

Champions

Carlton wins North Sask. Football League, advances to provincial playoffs

Oct 27, 2024 | 12:53 PM

The Carlton Crusaders are kings of the North.

Carlton crowned themselves champions of the North Sask. Football League (NSFL) in front of a healthy and lively home crowd on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Martensville Royals 40-22 at Max Clunie Field.

Hoisting the league trophy for the first time, Crusader football head coach Lindsay Strachan said it was a sweet moment to win it all on home turf.

“[I’m] really proud of our group of guys, our coaching staff. We’ve had a really good year and it’s just a credit to the kids and we work hard and you hope that it’s realized down the road. It was a really good day for us today, and I’m excited for those guys.”

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Carlton finished the NSFL season with a perfect 6-0 record, becoming the first team to achieve the feat in the league’s history. Following the second season of play in the NSFL, the Cru stands with an overall 10-1 record.

This past season, Carlton was forced to play the entire regular season on the road as Max Clunie Field was undergoing renovations. Speaking to that, Stachan said he’s proud of his group for the resiliency they showed week-after-week.

“That was the focus, we needed to take care of business early in the year to give us the opportunity to play these games later. It’s not easy playing four or five weeks out of the bus and we embraced it. There was ups and downs along the way there, but we learned some good lessons, and we hung in. Realizing the results down the road here, it’s awesome.”

Carlton’s captains pose for a photo after accepting the NSFL trophy from principal Jenn Ferguson. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW)

With the victory, Carlton now represents the league in the 5A provincial bracket where they will face F.W. Johnson Wildcats from Regina in the semifinals. Preparing to face a team unfamiliar to them, it’ll be a busy week in the film room and on the practice field in order to get ready for Saturday’s win or go home contest.

“It’s exciting, bit of an unknown,” Strachan said with a smile. “We don’t see much out of that Regina league, so we got to kind of figure out what lies ahead. I know they’ve been putting up some lofty scores, winning pretty handily down there so I’m sure they’re a good football team.”

In the 5A Regina city final, the Wildcats defeated the Thom Collegiate Trojans, 44-3.

Kickoff for the 5A provincial semifinal match between Carlton and F.W. Johnson is set for 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Max Clunie Field in Prince Albert. The winner will advance to the 5A provincial finals where they will face either the Bishop James Mahoney Saints from Saskatoon, or the Central Collegiate Cyclones from Moose Jaw. A date, time, and location have yet to be determined.

The 2024 Carlton Crusaders football team. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW)

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com