Taylor Shire
Regina Leader-Post
The Saskatchewan Roughriders left no doubt on Saturday night.
In Week 9 of the CFL season, the Roughriders improved to 7-1 on the year with a convincing 34-6 road win over the Montreal Alouettes, who dropped to 5-3.
The win was not only Saskatchewan’s third straight victory but also the most convincing one following a 33-27 win over the B.C. Lions and a 21-18 win over the Edmonton Elks in the previous two weeks.
“I think this whole week for us, everything was built (around) being able to finish,” Roughriders head coach Corey Mace told 620 CKRM after the game. “Last couple weeks, even though we get away with the W, we wanted to have convincing wins.
“The progression has been just be us every play, play with conviction, and last piece was to finish. And today, I thought we did all three.”
Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris completed 19 of 27 passes for 289 yards with two touchdown passes. Dohnte Meyers led all receivers with five catches for 136 yards while Tommy Nield and KeeSean Johnson caught touchdown passes. Running back A.J. Ouellette had 74 yards on 15 carries.
“We had a focused group,” Harris told TSN after the game. “We knew that we came off of a close win last week, and we know we’re building into the team we want to be.
“And you know, you kind of hate to have a bye at this point in time because you just feel like we’re getting so much momentum and starting to grow a little bit more.
“We left some stuff on the table here offensively tonight and I can be better, quite a few plays I want back, but any time you get a win against this type of a team on the road, it’s a Grey Cup-calibre team, we’ll take it.”
Saskatchewan’s defence made life tough for Alouettes quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson as he was intercepted by linebacker Jameer Thurman while also being sacked twice by defensive linemen Shane Ray and Mike Rose. Bethel-Thompson finished the night having completed 15 of 26 passes for 126 yards. Saskatchewan’s defence also allowed just 59 rushing yards.
“We definitely got the main goal, the main stat, and that was a win,” defensive end Malik Carney told 620 CKRM after the game. “There were some things we could definitely clean up on the back end and definitely up front but never complaining about a win for sure.
“Our main goal was just getting the win by any means. We knew that they were a good group, and it was going to be a physical battle, but we definitely came out on top of that.”
Right from the opening kickoff, the Roughriders controlled the game on Saturday night.
After a 46-yard kick return by Meyers, the Roughriders put together a seven-minute drive, going 54 yards on 10 plays, with short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens plunging into the end zone from one yard out to make it 7-0.
In the second quarter, the Roughriders made it 14-0 as Harris engineered a nine play, 69-yard drive capped off with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Nield, who was making his first start of the season in place of the injured Samuel Emilus.
The Alouettes got on the board with five minutes left in the half as kicker Jose Maltos nailed a 56-yard field goal to make it 14-3.
On Saskatchewan’s next drive, Harris hit Meyers for a 58-yard gain up the sideline before Brett Lauther kicked a 17-yard field goal to make it 17-3.
On Montreal’s next possession, the Roughriders defence got the ball right back as Thurman intercepted Bethel-Thompson near midfield. However, Saskatchewan’s offence was forced to punt it away and the 78-yard punt by Joe Couch went into end zone for a rouge to make it 18-3.
In the first half, Saskatchewan’s defence limited Montreal to 80 yards of offence and just five first downs. The Roughriders offence had 212 net yards and 13 first downs while leading time of possession 20:14 to 9:46
After a 25-minute lightning delay during halftime, the Alouettes cut into the lead by three points early in the third quarter as Maltos made a 54-yard field goal to make it 18-6.
On the ensuing drive, Saskatchewan’s offence picked up where it left off as Harris hit Meyers for a 32-yard gain, which put the second-year receiver over 100 yards on the night, before Lauther hit a 32-yard field goal to make it 21-6.
Saskatchewan’s defence then forced a turnover on downs as Ray sacked Bethel-Thompson on a third-down gamble. Bethel-Thompson appeared to have fumbled the ball, which was returned for a 45-yard touchdown by defensive tackle Caleb Sanders. However, the play was reviewed and Bethel-Thompson was ruled to be down by contact, which negated fumble.
With good field position, Harris went back to work as he hit Meyers for a 24-yard gain before finding Johnson for a 14-yard touchdown strike to put Saskatchewan up 28-6.
In the fourth quarter, Ouellette picked up a first down along the ground before backup running back Mario Anderson rumbled 26 yards to get Saskatchewan into field goal position as Lauther made a 32-yarder to put the Riders up 31-6.
After hitting the upright on a field-goal attempt with 2:37 left, Lauther got another crack in the final minute as he made a 48-yard field goal to make it 34-6 to cap the scoring.
The Roughriders are now entering their second bye week of the season. Saskatchewan will return to action Aug. 16 at home against the East Division-leading Hamilton Tiger-Cats (6-2), who beat the Edmonton Elks 28-24 earlier on Saturday.
tshire@postmedia.com
