REGINA -- The Saskatchewan Roughriders spent the entire week preparing for what they hoped would be a one-game battle with the Calgary Stampeders for first place in the Canadian Football League’s West Division.
But thanks to a last-second victory by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers over the Montreal Alouettes about an hour before kickoff at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday afternoon, all that changed in a hurry.
Instead of a max-intensity game with a playoff bye on the line, the game suddenly became meaningless in the standings, and Roughriders head coach Corey Mace took advantage.
With a host of regular starters sitting out at the last minute -- including quarterback Trevor Harris, defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr., receivers KeeSean Johnson and Samuel Emilus and running back A.J. Ouelette -- the Roughriders would fall behind 14-3 at halftime and go on to a 27-12 defeat to close out the CFL regular season.
Saskatchewan finishes with a 9-8-1 record and in second place in the West and will host the B.C. Lions in the Division semifinal next Saturday. Calgary caps their campaign with a 5-12-1 mark to finish in last place in the West and miss the playoffs.
The Reaction
Roughriders head coach Corey Mace was naturally disappointed in the performance but added that his team would be turning the page quickly as they prepare for the West semifinal.
“Lacklustre, that wasn’t us,” Mace said on the CKRM RIder Radio post-game show. “We started a little slow and at half time we tried to rally a bit but couldn’t find our groove in the offensive end or on defence. We had to make some big plays and we didn’t quite get them, we couldn’t push momentum. So it was a rough one for us, there are definitely things we are going to have to look at and fix, but the reality is we have to flush and get ready for next week.”
Even though the game meant nothing in the end, the contest did still give a handful of players a chance to play when they otherwise wouldn’t have. The fact that chance came and ended in a loss was less than ideal.
“The one thing I will say is the guys were disappointed,” Mace said. “A lot of guys had opportunities that might not have had as much and everyone was excited to see them go. They want to help this team and even guys who play every week want to help and we definitely wanted to end this with a win.
“There will be tons of stuff we’ll see on film from guys who will be playing next week that we’re going to have to tighten up a little bit.”
The team won’t be wasting any time getting to work in preparation for B.C. -- that all starts on Sunday and will carry on throughout the week as the team aims to turn the page and rebound quickly.
One factor the Roughriders are hoping will be a major part of their success next Saturday is their playoff fan support, something Mace is looking forward to witnessing first hand in Mosaic Stadium.
“They’re the absolute difference maker,” Mace said. “Just the decibels they put out there, they make the opposing team go backwards or get off schedule, It’s like having an actual extra player on the field. I've been hearing nothing but crazy stuff about what playoff football looks like here, I’d love to see it levelled up to whatever it was before, let's set a new dang bar and let's go get these guys.”
The Game
The Roughriders opened scoring with 7:33 remaining in the first quarter, as Brett Lauther finished off a nine-play drive with a 29-yard field goal.
Saskatchewan almost had their first touchdown moments earlier, as receiver Joe Robustelli nearly hauled in a pass to the back of the end zone from Shea Patterson, but had the pass go off his fingertips.
Back-to-back big catches by Clark Barnes saw the Stampeders take the lead two drives later. Barnes first hauled in a 40-yard pass from Stamps quarterback Jake Maier to get Calgary down to the Roughriders 34, and one play later the duo would hook up for the touchdown with 1:20 remaining in the opening quarter.
There things remained until the 7:44 mark of the second quarter when Calgary struck for their second major. Cam Echols hauled in a nine-yard pass to complete a six-play, three-minute drive and give the Stampeders a 14-3 lead.
Jack Coan took over at quarterback for the Riders late in the first half and made his first career CFL appearance in the process, completing a pair of passes but falling short of putting up any points.
The teams opened the second half by exchanging field goals, with Lauther hitting from 50 yards to close out a five-play drive and Calgary’s Rene Paredes responding with a 21-yard boot to finish off a seven-play drive.
The Stampeders then made it a 24-6 game on the first play of the first quarter, thanks to Marken Michel hauling in a pass at the Saskatchewan 32 and going the rest of the way for a 69-yard pass-and-run major.
A great punt return by Mario Alford and facemasking penalty on the ensuing tackle set Saskatchewan up at the Calgary 19-yard line with 7:56 to play, and the Roughriders would strike quickly.
Coan recorded his first career passing touchdown, finding Jerreth Sterns in the end zone for major, with Sterns also scoring his first major of the campaign. The Riders went for the two-point convert on the play but would miss.
Parades added a 37-yard field goal on the next drive to make it 27-12 and close out scoring.
The Stats
Patterson finished the game 5-for-12 passing for 56 yards in his brief appearance, while Coan was 10-for-21 for 100 yards.
Frankie Hickson had 12 carries for 54 yards to lead the Saskatchewan ground attack, while Sterns had four catches for 69 yards.
Maier was 19-for-26 for 293 yards for Calgary, including three touchdowns through the air.
Dedrick Mills ran 20 times for 128 yards, Barnes had three catches for 90 yards.
Saskatchewan had a total of 210 yards of offence on the day, Calgary racked up 436 yards.
