Carlton hoists their second straight North Saskatchewan Football League championship after defeating St. Mary 41-12 in the finals at Max Clunie Field in Prince Albert on Oct. 25, 2025. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW)

By Logan Lehmann

Back-to-back

Carlton topples St. Mary in NSFL Finals, will face MJ Central in provincial semi-finals

Oct 25, 2025 | 4:54 PM

The Carlton Crusaders have gone back-to-back in the North Saskatchewan Football League (NSFL).

The Cru downed their longtime crosstown rivals in Saturday’s championship game, winning 41-12 over the St. Mary Marauders at Max Clunie Field in Prince Albert.

The victory caps off an undefeated season for Carlton, their second in a row, en route to their second consecutive league title. The win also advances the Crusaders on to the provincial semi-final round, where they will face off against the Central Cyclones from Moose Jaw.

Carlton poses with the North Saskatchewan Football League trophy for the second year in a row. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW)

Carlton quarterback Colm Phillips and Zane Litzenberger connected multiple times for a pair of touchdowns, while Phillips also scored the game’s opening TD with an impressive run. Rylan Morrison also had two rushing touchdowns.

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St. Mary’s lone score came at the start of the fourth quarter, where quarterback Cohen L’Abbé and receiver Simon Dube linked up for the late-game touchdown.

Carlton head coach Lindsay Strachan said it took a village to hoist another NSFL Championship.

“[It took] lots of work to get to this point and blood, sweat and tears over the last 10 weeks to put ourselves in a position to take advantage of this opportunity. We’ve had different guys step up at different times and make plays.”

On the other side of the ball, the loss is the second in the finals for St. Mary in the short three-year history of the league. The other came during the inaugural league finals in 2023, where they fell 35-21 to North Battleford.

“It’s just, it’s tough for our Grade 12’s,” said St. Mary head coach Curt Hundeby moments after the loss. “They put in so much work, and they battled so hard. Last week we played well, and this week, we had a good game plan, and we just fell short.”

He continued that there are many lessons to learn from this game heading into next season, and expects lots of new faces as the team is losing many players this offseason, including the majority of their linemen, the three starting linebackers, and their QB L’Abbé.

“There’ll be some turnover for sure, but there are some young guys that I know are going to step up.”

For Carlton, their sights are now set on Moose Jaw Central, who cruised past Swift Current in the South Rural League final.

“They’ve kind of seemed to roll through that league for most of the year, putting up lots of points and lots of shutouts,” said Strachan, when asked about their next opponent in the Central Cyclones.

“I’m sure they’re going to be athletic, I’m sure that they’re well coached, and we saw a little bit of them on film last year because they had played [Bishop James Mahoney] in the semi-finals. I think they got a pretty good returning cast, and at this time of year, you’re going to play good teams no matter who they are. [I’m] excited to get into the film and see what we’re up against next weekend.”

Next weekend’s semi-final matchup takes over Max Clunie Field on Saturday, Nov. 1, at 1 p.m. On the other side of the bracket, Saskatoon’s Bishop James Mahoney Saints are off to Regina to take on the F.W. Johnson Wildcats at Leibel Field, also at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

The provincial finals will be played on Saturday, Nov. 8, in either Prince Albert or Moose Jaw.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

On Bluesky: @loganlehmann.bsky.social