St. Mary is set to play for the NSFL championship on Saturday against North Battleford with the winner moving on to the 5A Provincial semi-final match next weekend. St. Mary Head Coach Curtis Hundeby (grey sweater) talks to his team following their playoff-clinching victory over Lloydminster on Oct. 13, 2023. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

By Logan Lehmann

Winner take all

St. Mary set for NSFL Final clash against North Battleford

Oct 27, 2023 | 4:00 PM

The stage is set for the inaugural North Saskatchewan Football League (NSFL) championship game.

On Saturday afternoon, Prince Albert’s St. Mary High School will face off against North Battleford Comprehensive for the title with the winner not only being crowned champions but will move on to the 5A Provincial semi-final game next weekend.

St. Mary, the #4 seed and #2 seed North Battleford have met once in the regular season, which resulted in a 21-13 victory for the Vikings.

“I thought that game we played against North Battleford in the regular season – we played pretty well, we just didn’t finish,” said St. Mary Head Coach Curt Hundeby. “We didn’t finish our drives well enough [and] we didn’t put enough points on the board, but I did think it was a much-improved game from our first game against Carlton [a 51-14 loss] which was our first regular season game.”

A lot of time has passed since then and Hundeby said that the plan isn’t going to change much from the regular season.

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“We’re not going to stray away from the things that got us here. The kids are coming off an exciting win last week against Carlton and the trick is to make sure that we’re as focused and as excited, or more so, for this game as we were for the last one.”

The Marauders are entering the game having won a thrilling semi-final matchup against their crosstown rival Carlton. In a game that came down to quite literally the very last play, St. Mary’s defence stood tall in the final seconds to defuse a walk-off attempt by the Crusaders to pull off the upset, winning 32-28.

Hundeby said the win has had a great effect on his players during the latest week of practices.

“[The win] has translated into some real focus for our guys and that’s been very beneficial. There’s also been a ton of confidence – if we can play well against Carlton then we can play well against anybody. They were undefeated for a reason and were at the top of all the stats categories. I think for our guys, the confidence they gained from that last game should be a huge benefit going into this [next] one.”

North Battleford enters the game having blanked their opponent in their semi-final matchup, defeating Martensville 22-0. Hundeby said he expects nothing less than a war come Saturday afternoon.

“We still are the underdogs and this is a great opportunity for us, but we’re certainly not taking North Battleford lightly. We’re going to need a very focused effort for four quarters. They’re a very physical team with a great defensive line and without taking care of them, we will be in for a very long day. We need to do a good job upfront and on the line of scrimmage – we know that’s where the game will be won and lost. We will need to play four good quarters of football.”

The inaugural NSFL championship game takes place at Beaver Lions Stadium in North Battleford with kickoff at 2:00 p.m. The winner will advance to face either Aden Bowman or Bishop James Mahoney from Saskatoon in the semi-finals of the Provincial playoffs on Nov. 4. That game is scheduled for Nov. 4 in Saskatoon.

How the 5A Provincial bracket stands as of Friday afternoon. (Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association)

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com