Two years after leaving his first Prairie Football Conference team in the Regina Thunder, Drake Douglas was invited to a Saskatoon Hilltops practice in 2022 following a year away from the game.
That practice would end up changing his football career, catching passes from then Hilltops backup quarterback Trey Reider.
“He was kind of the first guy who started throwing to me in practice when we got into the one-on-ones,” said Douglas. “To come this far, I definitely wouldn’t have completely expected it.”
Since that meeting, Reider and Douglas have grown into one of the most feared offensive duos in Canadian junior football.
In the midst of his final season in blue and gold, Reider has thrown for 1,530 yards through seven games and has found the end zone 16 times compared to just one interception.
Of those 16 touchdown passes, eight have gone to Douglas alone who has separated himself amongst PFC receivers with a league-best 856 receiving yards.
Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant has called the pair one of the most dynamic in all of his years on the Saskatoon sideline.
“Three years ago when Drake came on board, Trey is a five-year guy and Drake is a three-year guy, it just started to happen naturally,” said Sargeant. “Last year was the tip of the iceberg.
“Their completion rate between the two is over 80 percent, that’s just unbelievable.”
That production has helped the 7-0 Hilltops secure first place in the conference standings with one game to go against the Edmonton Huskies.
As they’ve done all season, the ‘Toppers will follow the lead of their top offensive weapons into the first weekend of October with playoffs approaching and a duo thriving on their shared chemistry.
“When I see a coverage I’m like, ‘OK, Drake is going to be open on this,’” said Reider. “When he’s thinking the same thing, it’s hard as a defence to cover that when you got two guys on the same page like that.”
The Hilltops will visit the Huskies at 1:00 pm on Sunday, while they’re scheduled to host the PFC semi-final on Oct. 13 at SMF Field.