The Saskatchewan Roughrider lost a few key players early on Thursday night, but the CFL club still found a way to win its season opener
Taylor Shire
Regina Leader-Post
The Saskatchewan Roughriders may have won Thursday night’s season opener, but the CFL club also may have lost a few key players due to injury.
Running back A.J. Ouellette, halfback Rolan Milligan Jr., and receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker were all injured in the first half of Saskatchewan’s 31-26 Week 1 win against the Ottawa Redblacks and did not return. The extent of their injuries was not immediately known.
“No real update yet,” Roughriders head coach Corey Mace said after the game before meeting with medical staff. “Hopefully it’s nothing long-term, but we’ll see.”
As for the game itself, played in front of an announced attendance of 25,973 at Mosaic Stadium, the Roughriders (1-0) used a strong second and third quarter to power them to victory over the Redblacks (0-1).
After the Redblacks started the game with an opening-drive touchdown, the Roughriders responded with two touchdowns and a field goal in the second quarter to take a 17-7 lead at half.
Saskatchewan tacked on two more touchdowns in the third quarter before four punts and a fumble on five drives in the fourth quarter.
After Ottawa scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to make it a one-score game, Saskatchewan’s defence stepped up and secured the win with timely stops, including sacks by Malik Carney and Jameer Thurman.
“We found a way to finish,” said Thurman, who also had a game-high 10 tackles in his 100th career CFL game. “It wasn’t pretty, but we got the win. That’s all that matters.”
Offensively for Saskatchewan, quarterback Trevor Harris completed 19 of 26 passes for 277 yards and two touchdowns and an interception. However, the offence failed to register a first down in the fourth quarter.
“We were moving the football, but fourth quarter, just self-inflicted wounds,” said Harris. “And those are things that we can get better at.
“But I’m never going to apologize for winning. We’re 1-0.”
One of those touchdown passes was to Samuel Emlius, who had a team-high 133 receiving yards on eight catches.
“Obviously it’s good to get the W,” said Emilus, who is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. “We’ve got a lot of improve, but it’s the first game of the season, so we kind of knew that it’s going to be ups and downs.
“Offensively (in the) fourth quarter, we were kind of stagnant a little bit, so the defence had to step up for us. And that’s why we’re a team. They came through for us, and they were clutch and iced the game for us.”
After Ouellette went down in the first quarter, backup running back Thomas Bertrand-Hudon entered the game for Saskatchewan and had a solid performance with one touchdown on the ground and another through the air. Overall, the third-year Roughrider had 14 carries for 57 yards to go along with two catches for 17 yards.
“Confidence was there since the beginning,” said Bertrand-Hudon. “First run, I kind of got rocked a little bit and kept going. And after that, once the juice is going, I just keep going.
“Just happy to help the team win, honestly.”
“Any time this kid’s been called upon to carry the football, he makes plays,” added Mace. “I’m just so happy for him to be able to celebrate that kind of success, because he puts so much work in.”
While the Roughriders picked up the win, Mace said the vibe in the room was slightly subdued because the group knows they can be better.
“It wasn’t like jubilation, which kind of made me happy, to be honest,” said Mace. “I feel like the room knows that we didn’t kind of really meet the expectation, as crazy that sounds with coming out with a win, we didn’t do it the way that we wanted to.
“Everybody’s happy, don’t get me wrong. But we know we have work to do. And I know how they’ll respond.”
While the Riders limited Ottawa running back William Stanback to 26 yards on nine carries, Saskatchewan gave up 413 passing yards to Redblacks quarterback Dru Brown, who completed 34 of 41 passing attempts. The Roughriders also registered just one turnover, which was a turnover on downs late in the fourth quarter, while giving up the ball three times.
“This defence gives up a lot of yards passing, but it allows us to be opportunistic to go get the ball,” said Mace. “That’s what I’m disappointed about.
“But as far as the defence being able to stand up when we needed it … and they made them when we needed them.
“I don’t want to pat ourselves in the back too much. But what I will say is, any time they did attempt (to run), I thought our run defence was ready to rock.
“We didn’t blitz a lot. We kind of let those D-linemen go get it, and they did that, and I thought they put pressure, and they came through with timely sacks.”
Injury Woes
After the Roughriders were forced to make a lineup change this week when offensive lineman Jacob Brammer was injured during practice, the Green and White suffered more injuries on Thursday night.
Schaffer-Baker was hurt in the first quarter with what appeared to be a foot injury. He remained on the sideline for the rest of the first half and limped into the locker room at halftime with Mitch Picton entering the game at slotback.
Ouellette took a big hit to the helmet near the end of the first quarter and went to the sideline to be assessed. Shortly after, the running back went into the locker room as Bertrand-Hudon took over.
Early in the second quarter, Milligan was hurt after throwing a hit on Redblacks receiver Bralon Addison. Milligan stayed down before heading to the tent and eventually the locker room with trainers. Kerfalla Exume entered the game at cornerback.
And in the third quarter, starting left tackle Payton Collins, playing his first CFL game, limped off the field after getting rolled on. Backup offensive lineman Daniel Johnson, also a CFL rookie, entered the game for Collins.
“Guys stepped up in a lot of different ways,” said Thurman. “We had guys playing a lot of special teams, playing a lot of defensive snaps, but they found a way and we came away with the win.”
“It’s never ideal, but it’s always great to see guys come in and step up and be ready to play,” added Harris. “We didn’t have a single person flinch.”
“The expectation is you got to get the job done,” said Mace. “You’re on this team; you’re a professional athlete.
“We’re not going to change too much stuff up just because somebody else is in there. If you’re on the active roster, things keep rolling. So, extremely proud of the guys who had to step up and double duty, because a lot of those guys also are on special teams.”
Scoring summary
The Redblacks opened the scoring as Brown engineered an efficient 11-play, 87-yard drive capped off by Dustin Crum plunging into the end zone for the touchdown from one yard out to make it 7-0 Ottawa early.
On Saskatchewan’s second drive, Harris hit Picton for a first-down pass before finding Emilus for another potential first down. However, Emilus fumbled the ball and Ottawa recovered at the Roughriders’ 44-yard line.
From there, the Redblacks’ 46-yard field goal attempt was wide and Mario Alford returned it 60 yards to once again give Saskatchewan field position near midfield.
After a 13-yard gain by Ouellette and an 18-yard catch by Picton, Harris hit Dohnte Meyers for another first down before a roughing the passer call took the ball to the one-yard line.
From there, short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens surged in for Saskatchewan’s first touchdown of the season to tie the game 7-7 early in the second quarter.
On Saskatchewan’s fourth series, Harris hit Emilus for a 33-yard gain before going back to his top target a few plays later as the two connected for a nine-yard touchdown to put the Riders up 14-7 with the convert midway through the second quarter.
After Saskatchewan forced Ottawa to punt the ball away following a sack by Carney, the Roughriders gave the Redblacks the ball back as Harris was intercepted by defensive back C.J. Coldon, who attended training camp with the Riders in 2024.
Later in the second quarter, the Riders tacked on a field goal to lead 17-7 at the half.
In the second half, Bertrand-Hudon rumbled for 37 yards along the ground on first down before Harris found KeeSean Johnson for gains of 38 and 23 yards to get Saskatchewan into scoring range.
From there, Harris hit Bertrand-Hudon on a short swing pass before the running back found his way into the end zone from 14 yards out to put Saskatchewan up 24-7 with the convert.
On the next series, the Redblacks cut the lead to 24-14 as Brown led Ottawa on a 10-play, 61-yard drive capped off by an eight-yard touchdown pass to Eugene Lewis.
After a 34-yard kickoff return by Alford, the Roughriders responded with a touchdown drive of their own as Harris hit Emlius for a pair of first downs before Bertrand-Hudon scampered into the end zone from six yards out to make it 31-14.
The back-and-forth second half continued as Brown and the Redblacks put together a nine-play, 53-yard drive, aided by a 42-yard pass interference call, capped off by a two-yard touchdown run by William Stanback to make it 31-20 after the convert was blocked.
After Saskatchewan punted the ball away on their next series, the Redblacks put together another touchdown drive as Brown hit Justin Hardy for a 27-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 31-26. Ottawa was unsuccessful on the two-point covert attempt as Saskatchewan carried a five-point lead into the final four minutes.
On Saskatchewan’s next series, Harris hit Johnson on a short pass before the receiver fumbled the ball near midfield, which was recovered by the Redblacks with 2:39 left.
After a sack by Thurman, the Roughriders were able to force Ottawa to punt it away.
Following a punt by the Riders, Brown and the Redblacks fielded the ball at their 41-yard line with 1:12 left in the game.
After an incompletion on first down, Carney notched his second sack of the night pushing the Redblacks back 16 yards.
On third-and-26, Brown threw a pass short of the first down, which led to a turnover on downs. From there, the Roughriders were able to close out the last 40 seconds of the game to secure the win.
Next up
The Roughriders will visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in Week 2 on June 14. The team will return to practice Tuesday where it’s expected we will get more of an injury update.
