Carlton and St. Mary are set to meet in the North Saskatchewan Football League (NSFL) finals for the first time in the league's short history on Oct. 25. Here, Carlton's defensive line charges North Battleford's offensive line during a Crusaders 39-0 semi-final win at Max Clunie Field in Prince Albert on Oct. 17, 2025. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW)

By Logan Lehmann

High School Football

Carlton, St. Mary to meet in NSFL Championship following semi-final wins

Oct 17, 2025 | 11:20 PM

It will be an all Prince Albert showdown in the North Saskatchewan Football League (NSFL) finals this year.

Both Carlton and St. Mary won their respective semi-final matchups on Friday night to advance to the league championship game at Max Clunie Field on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 1 p.m.

St. Mary was on the road taking on Martensville in an afternoon battle that saw the Marauders down the Royals, 35-18. The win comes after Martensville beat St. Mary in the regular season, 31-12, and also gets the Marauders back on track after falling in their last two contests.

Meanwhile, Carlton welcomed North Battleford to Max Clunie Field and showed the league, along with the rest of the 5A Saskatchewan football scene, why they’re the defending provincial champions. The Crusaders cruised past the Vikings on the back of Rylan Morrison, who had three rushing touchdowns in a 39-0 win.

“At the start of the year, you hope to put yourself in a position to win the league and we punched our ticket today,” said Crusaders head Lindsay Strachan after the win. “I thought we played well, you know you’re in for a physical test anytime you play North Battleford. There was times where they caused some issues for us physically, but we battled and we worked.”

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Carlton and St. Mary met earlier this season in the 13th annual Car Guys Classic, where the Crusaders shut out the Marauders 48-0 back on Oct. 3. The cross-town rivals have met in the playoffs during the last two seasons, with both games coming in the semi-finals. St. Mary won the first game 31-28 in 2023, and Carlton took last year’s contest, 43-0.

The NSFL championship game is set for 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25 at Max Clunie Field. The winner will be crowned North Saskatchewan Football champs, and represent the league the in the 5A provincial playoffs.

The winner of the North will face off against the victors from the South in the provincial semi-finals while at the same time, the winners from Saskatoon will face off with Regina. Then, the winners of those provincial semi-final matchups will advance to the finals on Nov. 8, which will be hosted by the winners of the North/South game.

5A 12-A-Side Football – 2025 Provincial Playoff Bracket. (SHSAA)

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com