After a pause due to COVID, Team Saskatchewan have renewed their pursuit of a third straight championship Football Canada Cup at the Apple Bowl in Kelowna.

Saskatchewan previously claimed the U18 title in 2018 and 2019.

In Monday’s action at the tournament, Team Saskatchewan opened up with a dominating 40-0 win over Nova Scotia.

Quarterback Carter Casey was 13 for 22 with 150 yards and a pair of touchdowns, Owen Mazur had 65 yards rushing with a touchdown and Brady Blackburn had two receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown in the win for Saskatchewan.

Dwayne Masson, the Running Backs Coach and Running Game Coordinator for the University of Regina Rams is the Head Coach for Team Saskatchewan having previously worked with the provincial team at the 2018 and 2019.

He said their are positives and challenges when coaching the young men. “At the end of the day they’re all still under 18, they got shorter attention spans than you would like it, but they are all here working for one common goal.”

Discipline and character are couple of integral traits Masson is scouting when he is assembling Team Saskatchewan for the tournament.

“We pick guys that we see who can take coaching and who are getting better through the process.”

Looking within his team, Masson pointed out the strength of his squad would have to be the defensive line.

Plenty of questions about the future of the Canadian content in the CFL were raised during the offseason in the latest labour negotiations, Masson believes talent evaluators should take a glimpse of the Canadian talent on display that could play in the CFL one day.

“If you’re eliminating Canadians from the CFL, you’re making a mistake.” He added “There’s so much talent out here, it’s a shame any time they reduce the ratio in the CFL.”

Following their win over Nova Scotia on Monday, Team Saskatchewan has advanced to the semi-finals where they will meet Team Ontario on Thursday.

The Canada Cup wraps up with the Championship Final on Sunday.