Photos courtesy of Wanda Harron Photography

It’s Football Weekend in Saskatchewan with the Riders hosting the Edmonton Elks Friday night at 7:30pm. Saturday the Thunder host the Hilltops at 1:00pm and the U of R Rams take on the U of S Huskies at 7:00pm. All games take place at Mosaic Stadium.

If you attended last year’s Mosaic game, you were witness to one of the most exciting games of the season as the Thunder came from behind for the second consecutive week to beat the Hilltops 30-27. That game cemented the Thunder’s position as the #1 ranked team in Canada.

Flip ahead twelve month’s and you have almost the exact same scenario. The Thunder never lead last week in saskatoon but a last-minute TD pass from Carter Shewchuk to Isaiah Woodley tied the game at 21-21. The Thunder would go on to win a thriller 29-21 setting up this weekend’s re-match.

The Thunder sit at 4-0 while the Hilltops are at 2-2, but make no mistake both teams know they are very evenly matched.

The Thunder boast the conference’s top passer in Shewchuk. He is 87 of 121 for 1318 yards with 11 TDs. The nation’s top receiving core features three of the top five receivers in the conference. Isaac Ford sits at 24 catches for 417 yards and 4TDs, Woodley sits at 23 catches for 375 yards and 4 TDs while Rylan Sokul has 20 catches for 261 yards and 2 TDs.

The defense has been lead recently by 2nd year linebackers Stephen Smith and Kenton Effa and a punishing front lead by Matthew Schill, Reed Rabbetz and Reece McCormick.

Make sure you have your tickets. If the last four games between these two teams are any indication, it’s going to be epic!