On a cool, breezy afternoon made for October football, the HCI Mohawks secured first place in their conference, and guaranteed homefield to begin the playoffs, with a 45-12 win over the Melfort Comets.

Defence was the theme of the first quarter, as the two sides punted the ball back and forth in a scoreless opening quarter.

The Mohawks struck first when Genesis Legaspi found the endzone on a three yard run. Cole Grace added a field goal on the following offensive possession after an interception from Jared Giddings.

Giddings, who doubles as a slotback and safety for the Mohawks pushed the lead to 17-0 after he hauled in a 69 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Landon Seipp.

Melfort would find the endzone just before the half after some fortune. On a blocked punt, the Comets were able to recover the ball and run for a first down. Later in the drive, a fake punt pass on third down would eventually lead to a four yard rushing TD.

In the second half, the Mohawks scored on both sides of the ball, with special teams once again factoring in heavily.

Jacob Zimroz found the endzone in the third quarter to make it 24-6 Humboldt after Tanner Gerwing returned a punt inside the Comets 10 yard line.

Legaspi scored two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter as he received a pass from Seipp, and then picked off Melfort pivot Troy Taylor and returned it for a pick six.

The win gives the Mohawks a 6-0 record to end the regular season, which secured a home playoff game to begin provincial playoffs on October 31.

Who the Mohawks will play on Halloween is yet to be determined, as Kindersley and Martensville have a conference playoff game with the winner advancing to the quarter-finals.

Kickoff at Glenn Hall Park will be 1:00pm.

The other quarter-finals will see Broadview against Warman, Melfort travels to Fort Qu'Appelle, and John Paul II out of Battleford visits Esterhazy.