REGINA – The Saskatchewan Roughriders won in back-to-back weeks as they defeated the Ottawa REDBLACKS in a statement victory, claiming a 29-16 win in front of their home crowd at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Both teams relied heavily on their kickers before second half touchdown scores, but Trevor Harris and the Riders came out on top.
He completed 27 of 36 passes for 315 yards in the win, while the lone touchdown for the Riders was rushed in by Thomas Bertrand-Hudon, who tallied 72 yards on nine carries.
Jeremiah Masoli recorded 258 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions in the loss, while Justin Hardy led the REDBLACKS in receiving with 111 yards.
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As the Riders received the ball on offence first, a long reception from KeeSean Johnson for 26 yards put Saskatchewan in field goal range, and unable to get into the end zone Brett Lauther‘s first kick of the day from 35 yards out put the Riders on the board first.
The only points of the first quarter, Lauther added another three, this time from 21 yards out, to open the second quarter as neither offence was able to get movement into the end zone.
Just as the REDBLACKS got the ball back, Saskatchewan’s defence turned the momentum back around as Rolan Milligan intercepted Masoli, his seventh interception of the season which moves him to the top of the league in the category.
While the Riders had to punt on their next possession, the defensive unit did everything to get the ball in Harris’ hands as quick as possible, as on back-to-back possessions Masoli was intercepted, this time by Marcus Sayles.
After exchanging punts from each team, the Riders moved downfield to get Lauther in range for another field goal to add to their lead, this time from 33 yards out.
Ottawa returned to the field looking for their first points of the game, and despite the Riders defence sacking Masoli and shutting down any chance of a touchdown, Lewis Ward hit a 37-yard field goal to put the REDBLACKS on the board.
In the third quarter, the Riders forced a two-and-out from the REDBLACKS defensively, and the offence used their first drive of half to get back to a nine-point lead as Lauther’s attempt from 41 yards out was successful.
Adam Auclair, who formerly played for the REDBLACKS, picked off Masoli as the Riders defence recorded a third interception on the afternoon, which led to another scoring opportunity for Saskatchewan. Lauther continued his strong showing on the day with a 39-yard field goal to take a double-digit lead.
The Riders defence thwarted Ottawa’s offensive attempt as they recorded another sack on Masoli, but Ward hit a long range kick from 53 yards out to add another three points for the REDBLACKS.
On their next offensive drive, the REDBLACKS sat at the Saskatchewan 19-yard line after moving downfield from plays by Justin Hardy and Kalil Pimpleton, but were unable to get into the end zone and settled for a Ward field goal from 26 yards out which cut the lead to six points.
After a back and forth kicking battle through three quarters, the Riders finally found the end zone as Harris handed the ball off underneath to Bertrand-Hudon who rushed up the middle for 26 yards and a touchdown. Saskatchewan opted to go for two, and Johnson walked into the end zone to give the Riders a 14-point cushion.
Sitting on second down on their next drive, a 53-yard reception from Johnson went to the REDBLACKS 30-yard line and gave Saskatchewan a fresh set of downs, and a 22-yard run from Bertrand-Hudon put the Riders on first-and-goal on the Ottawa eight-yard line. Ottawa’s defence stood tall at the goal line, and the Riders sent out Lauther once more to successfully kick a 23-yard field goal.
Despite the deficit the REDBLACKS refused to bow out, and Masoli connected with Pimpleton for Ottawa’s first touchdown of the day and to cut the lead to 10 points, but as the Riders got the ball back with less than two minutes to play, one final 35 yard field goal from Lauther for sealed the victory.
The REDBLACKS will be on bye during Week 18 action, while the Riders will travel to Commonwealth Stadium to take on the Edmonton Elks at 7:00 p.m. EDT on Oct. 5.
