The Prairie Football Conference season is hitting the stretch run, and one of junior football’s best rivalries is set to take centre stage in Regina.
The Regina Thunder and Saskatoon Hilltops meet Saturday night at Leibel Field, with plenty at stake in the opening game of the second half of the PFC season. The Thunder enter the weekend sitting alone atop the standings with a perfect 4-0 record, while the Hilltops are 3-1 after an early-season loss to the Edmonton Wildcats.
For Saskatchewan Roughriders centre Logan Ferland, few games bring back more memories than Thunder-Hilltops. Ferland spent his junior career with Regina before eventually establishing himself as a starting offensive lineman in the CFL. He knows firsthand just how personal the provincial rivalry can become.
“It's tough to describe. It's a fun week,” Ferland said. “That was one of my favourite weeks when I was playing in the Thunder days.”
Ferland believes the rivalry remains so intense because the two Saskatchewan programs are often battling for the same prize.
“We're battling for the top spot in Sask all the time,” he said. “And it always seems to be those two teams, the frontrunners for the national championship.”
While Ferland has moved on to the professional ranks, he still keeps tabs on his former team and stays in contact with some of the current Thunder players that are practicing with the Riders. He hasn't made it out to a Thunder practice yet this season, but he's hoping to change that.
“I still have yet to get out to a Thunder practice. I got to drag my butt over there,” Ferland said with a laugh.
For the young players currently wearing the Thunder uniform, Ferland's advice is simple: take advantage of every opportunity.
“They live in the stadium,” he said. “They're here just as much, if not more than most guys. They really take advantage of it.”
Ferland remembers being told the same thing during his own junior career.
“I remember telling them, you've got to take advantage of this while you have it,” he said. “Because this opportunity doesn't always come. And it's a special thing to be a part of.”
That mindset played a major role in Ferland's own development. Before football became his full-time focus, Ferland was also studying carpentry. But when he realized junior football could be his opportunity to take the next step, he committed himself completely.
“When that time came, I put all that to the side,” Ferland said. “It was straight football and I knew that was my shot to make it.”
He took advantage of the facilities, the coaches and, perhaps most importantly, the veterans around him.
“Get in the facility, use that amazing facility like it was meant to be,” Ferland said. “Talk to the guys, talk to the veterans, learn as much as you can and soak all the information in that you can, because it's a pretty special opportunity that you don't always have.”
Ferland's journey is also a reminder of the important role small-town Saskatchewan continues to play in developing football talent. Both the Thunder and Hilltops have plenty of players who have come through smaller communities before making the jump to junior football. Ferland grew up in Melfort and knows the adjustment can be significant.
“It was a grind,” he said. “I remember how much faster of a game it was.”
He credited the people around him in Melfort for helping prepare him for the jump, both physically and mentally. But not every young player has that same path.
“Some come from six-man football where it's a completely different football game,” Ferland said. “So it's really hats off to the small-town guys that can make it work and adapt to what they have.”
Now, as a Roughrider and a former Thunder player, Ferland gets to watch the next generation chase the same dream. And on Saturday night, he'll have plenty of reason to keep an eye on Leibel Field. The Thunder and Hilltops kick off at 7 p.m.
The other two PFC games this weekend see the Edmonton Wildcats travel to Calgary to face the Colts, while the Winnipeg Rifles host the Edmonton Huskies.
The Wildcats and Huskies are both 2-2, while Calgary sits at 1-3 and Winnipeg is still searching for its first win of the season.
But in Regina, all eyes will be on a rivalry Ferland knows better than most. Thunder versus Hilltops. For one night, junior football takes centre stage and for Ferland, it brings back some familiar memories.
