After competing in the senior bowl on the May long weekend one of the graduating members of the Humboldt Mohawks football team got the opportunity to play for Team Saskatchewan at the 2017 Saskota Bowl.
The bowl, which pits the best graduating high school football players in Saskatchewan against the best from North Dakota was played in Rolla, North Dakota on July 4.
Joining Team Saskatchewan from Humboldt Collegiate Institute was Ethan Paslowski. Â
Ethan Paslowski
Paslowski, a 6’1” 315lb offensive lineman, was really pleased to have the opportunity, saying it was a really interesting experience to be able to see how they played the game and what the American football environment was like.
“We played on the 4th of July in North Dakota so there was fireworks going off in the middle of the day and everybody was just really excited. It was really interesting to see American football through that lens.”
One of the biggest memories Paslowski will take away from the experience was the opportunity to bond with many of his teammates, pointing to practices in Lumsden and the bus ride to North Dakota.
“We really got to meet each other and make friends. You’re going to be able to see them for the rest of your life hopefully if you make that good of a connection.”
Paslowski notes in addition to meeting his teammates another memory he will take away is knowing that he played against future NCAA players.
“That’s just really chilling to know that you’re going to be playing against some guys who could be stars in a different league five, ten years from now.”
While he was able to take away some memories from the experience Paslowski was also able to take some lessons away as well, noting that the biggest lesson learned was to persevere and continue playing to the best ability possible.
Overall Paslowski was pleased with how he played, noting that he felt he had a good game, and said the whole offensive line played well.
“We had great coaching and we really felt like we were ready for anything the United States team could throw at us and we all performed really well.”
Looking ahead, Paslowski will be joining the Saskatoon Hilltops in the Canadian Junior Football League.
“It should be a great experience, there’s still a few guys there that used to play for Humboldt and I know them pretty well so it should be great.”
Paslowski will be joining the likes of Jared Giddings, Tristan Hering, and Connor Guillet, all of which are former Mohawks, and says being able to join a team with players he knows will make the transition easier, but says the Hilltops do a good job of making an inviting environment.
“Everybody there is really helpful and really encouraging. It’s a great environment to play football in.
The game
Unfortunately for Paslowski he and his Team Saskatchewan teamamates came out on the wrong side of the scoreboard.
After an evenly matched first half that saw the teams hit the locker room tied at 21, Team Cando North Dakota took over in the second half outscoring Team Saskatchewan 20-7 en route to a 41-28 victory.
