Taylor Shire
Regina Leader-Post
The Saskatchewan Roughriders got contributions from all three phases in a bounceback win on Friday night.
Quarterback Trevor Harris threw a pair of touchdown passes, rookie Mathew Sexton recorded a 101-yard punt return touchdown on special teams and Saskatchewan’s defence forced a crucial turnover on downs as the Roughriders beat the Ottawa Redblacks 27-22 on Friday night in the nation’s capital in Week 5 of the CFL season.
With the win, the Roughriders rebounded after a loss to Toronto last week to improve to 3-1 while the Redblacks dropped to 0-4.
However, things didn’t start great for the Green and White as Saskatchewan found themselves in a 10-0 hole early.
On the second offensive play of the game, the Redblacks recorded the first turnover as defensive back Alonzo Addae deflected a pass by Harris up into the air before former Roughriders linebacker A.J. Allen sprawled out to secure the pick.
That led to another former Roughrider, quarterback Jake Maier, putting together a touchdown drive as he led the Redblacks on an eight-play, 47-yard drive capped off with a 15-yard scoring toss to receiver Cade McDonald. Yet another former Roughrider, kicker Brett Lauther, tacked on the convert to make it 7-0.
Minutes later, Ottawa’s special teams unit made a play as Brian Cole blocked a punt by Saskatchewan’s Oscar Chapman, which led to the Redblacks getting the ball on the Roughriders 31-yard line.
That led to a 32-yard field goal by Lauther to make it 10-0.
Saskatchewan’s offence woke up on their fourth offensive series as Harris led the Roughriders on a 10-play, 70-yard drive finished off with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Dhel Duncan-Busby to make it 10-7.
In the second quarter, it was the Roughriders special teams unit forcing a turnover as Nick Wiebe stripped Kalil Pimpleton of the ball on a punt return before Wiebe jumped on the loose ball to secure the fumble.
The Roughriders turned that into a 21-yard field goal by Alex Hale to tie the game before the teams traded field goals to make it 13-13 at halftime.
In the second half, it was another special teams play that changed the course of the game as Sexton, starting in place of James Letcher who has been placed on the six-game injured list, returned a punt 101 yards up the sideline for a touchdown to put Saskatchewan up 20-13.
Lauther added a field goal for Ottawa to make it 20-16 before Harris led the Roughriders on another touchdown drive as the quarterback put together an eight-play, 70-yard drive capped off with a 23-yard touchdown pass to KeeSean Johnson to put Saskatchewan up 27-16 through three quarters.
Maier immediately responded for the Redblacks as he hit Justin Hardy for a pair of first downs before a deep throw to Eugene Lewis to the one-yard line. From there, short-yardage QB Bryson Barnes snuck into the end zone for the touchdown to make it a 27-22 game after a failed two-point convert attempt.
As time ticked down in the fourth quarter, Maier put together a drive with first-down throws to Hardy, Pimpleton and Lewis before Roughriders safety Jaxon Ford stopped Barnes on third-and-one quarterback sneak that resulted in a turnover of downs on Saskatchewan’s 16-yard line with 2:37 left.
Harris then hit Emilus for a 27-yard gain before backup quarterback Tommy Stevens came into the game and picked a pair of first downs along the ground to run out the clock.
“I don’t know what it is about this place, it’s hard to play (at TD Place),” Roughriders head coach Corey Mace told CKRM after the game. “Weird stuff happens.
“But what I thought is, when we needed a side of the ball to make a play, whether it was the defence with a two-point convert that we needed a stop there, whether it was Mathew Sexton taking one 100 to the house, big catch obviously at the end there from Sam, KeeSean had a great game, and then Tommy comes in there and closes the game out.
“We responded when we needed to. As always, tons of (stuff) to look at to get better at.”
Harris ended the game having completed 18 of 31 passes for 243 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Maier was 23 of 30 for 259 yards and one touchdown.
“That’s an ugly win,” Harris told CKRM after the game. “Offensively, I think it’s the worst we’ve played this year, but we were able to make some big plays when we needed them, and that’s kind of the most important thing, is being able to respond to adversity and being down 10-0 early.
“We were able to respond and climb out of the hole and be able to get a win. Complimentary football, team win, but was proud of us in terms of being able to make some plays when we need them offensively.”
Johnson was Saskatchewan’s leading receiver with 137 yards and a touchdown on nine catches. Hardy led the way with 92 yards on five receptions for the Redblacks.
Along the ground, rookie Quali Conley recorded 57 yards on 12 carries in his second straight start filling in for the injured A.J. Ouellette. Saskatchewan’s defence held Ottawa’s Greg Bell to 45 yards on nine carries.
Defensively, Roughriders linebacker Jameer Thurman had five tackles and a sack while Josh Woods and Antoine Brooks each had seven tackles.
Saskatchewan will now get set to host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats next Sunday at 5 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium in Week 6 of the CFL season. The Tiger-Cats (2-1) host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers this Sunday.
“We have a little bit longer of a week this week to spend time getting to know what they’ve got going on,” Mace said of upcoming preparations for Hamilton. “Obviously, they’ve got an explosive offence, they’ve got some pieces coming back on defence, they’re well coached.
“It’s going to be another tough battle.”
