It was a day of sevens for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Brett Lauther went 7-for-7 on field-goal attempts to help Saskatchewan improve its record to 7-7-1 by defeating the Ottawa REDBLACKS at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday.
“Seven field goals … it’s awesome,” quarterback Trevor Harris said. “That’s who we know he is.
“Shoot, he had a little blip on the radar and everybody was, ‘Get him out of here!’
“Brett Lauther’s the man. I’m glad we have him.”
Since going 3-for-7 in a 27-24 CFL loss to the visiting Montreal Alouettes on Aug. 8, Lauther has hit 18 of 19 attempts. Factor in 33-yard convert attempts and the sixth-year Roughriders kicker has made 28 of his last 29 placements.
The Roughriders’ placing improved thanks to his latest effort.
With 15 points, Saskatchewan moved a notch ahead of the B.C. Lions (7-8-0) and into second spot in the West Division. Saskatchewan is three points behind the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (9-6-0).
With three regular-season games remaining, the Roughriders control their destiny in their bid to earn a home playoff game.
“We’ve won two football games in a row,” Harris said. “The goals we have are far more than that.
“The last thing you’ll feel from this team is the sense of, ‘We’re OK,’ or, ‘Whew! We’ve won two games in a row.’
“There will be none of that. We’re going to push the envelope harder. We know what we’re capable of.
“If we take three of those field goals and make them touchdowns, this game isn’t close.”
The two victories referenced by Harris follow a seven-game winless streak (0-6-1).
“Those guys worked hard, even through the streak when it wasn’t good,” Head Coach Corey Mace noted.
“It’s hard for us as coaches to look those guys in the face and say, ‘You’re doing a lot of things right. We’ve just got to fix the nuances.’
“It’s a little bit easier tomorrow when we meet to say, ‘Hey, we did a lot of things right, but we’ve got to fix the nuances.’
“We’ve got to be a better version of what we were today to try and come out and 1-and-0 next week.”
The Roughriders are to return to action next Saturday against the Edmonton Elks at Commonwealth Stadium (5 p.m., TSN, CKRM).
Before 27,676 eyewitnesses on a picture-perfect autumn day, the Roughriders led 15-3 after three quarters on the strength of five field goals by Lauther. Lewis Ward’s three-pointer accounted for all the REDBLACKS’ scoring over the opening 45 minutes — a period in which the Roughriders’ defence controlled the game.
“We just played our brand of football,” defensive halfback Amari Henderson said. “We just got back to what we usually do and helped the team as much as we can.
“We tried to force two-and-outs, get off the field, get the ball and take the belt away.”
Saskatchewan forced three turnovers — all on interceptions — without relinquishing the football.
In so doing, the Roughriders improved their league-best turnover ratio to plus-18.
Last year at this juncture, Saskatchewan was a league-worst minus-13.
Saskatchewan forced the only turnover (a victory-clinching interception by Jameer Thurman) on Sept. 20 in a 37-29 road win over the Calgary Stampeders.
Over the past two games, it appears that the Roughriders’ defence is returning to the form that helped the team sport records of 4-0-0 and 5-1-0 during the summer.
“It’s kind of like you’re in a matrix,” Henderson said after registering a team-high six defensive tackles. “You get in that flow and everything just starts feeling good. It just feels like practice.
“Everything we do in practice just flows into the game, so it felt good today.”
Especially after the Roughriders took control of the fourth quarter and settled matters.
After back-to-back field goals by Ward made the score 15-9, the Roughriders responded with 11 consecutive points.
Following a 26-yard touchdown run by Thomas Bertrand-Hudon at 6:41 of the fourth quarter, Harris threw to KeeSean Johnson for a two-point conversion.
Lauther’s 23-yard field goal gave the Roughriders a 26-9 lead at 10:57.
Ottawa scored its first touchdown when Jeremiah Masoli found Kalil Pimpleton for an 11-yard score with 1:56 left in the fourth quarter.
Lauther followed up with a 25-yarder that made him 7-for-7. He was one field goal shy of the Roughriders’ single-game record.
Dave Ridgway kicked eight field goals on July 29, 1984 (at Ottawa) and July 23, 1988 (versus Edmonton).
Bob Macoritti kicked seven field goals, then a league-record, against Toronto on Aug. 27, 1978 at Taylor Field. Macoritti was 7-for-8.
Harris completed 27 of 36 passes for 315 yards.
Johnson caught six passes for 101 yards. It was his first 100-yard game as a Roughrider and the ninth by a member of the team this season. Six different Saskatchewan receivers have put up at least 100 yards in a game this season.
Dhel Duncan-Busby (92 yards) and Samuel Emilus (63) each caught seven passes for Saskatchewan.
Emilus has 77 receptions with three games remaining. He caught 70 passes last year.
EXTRA POINTS
• Rolan Milligan Jr. registered his league-leading seventh interception for the Roughriders. Marcus Sayles and Adam Auclair had the other picks. Sayles registered his fourth interception of the season, tying a career high he set with B.C. in 2022.
• Harris needs seven completions to tie Kent Austin (2,709) for 14th on the CFL’s All-Time list.
• A 74-yard missed field goal return by Mario Alford was the 11th-longest in Roughriders history.
• The Roughriders had their earliest Saturday start time for a home game since Aug. 25, 2012, when the Stampeders paid a visit. That game also began at 1 p.m.
• Saskatchewan’s time of possession (37:39) was its 15th-best since the CFL began keeping track of that statistic. The team record of 40:42 was set when the Roughriders defeated Calgary 35-13 at McMahon Stadium in the 2013 West Division final. The Green and White’s regular-season record (40:14) was established on Aug. 11, 2002 in a 30-14 victory over the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
SUMMARY
FIRST QUARTER
Sask — FG Lauther 35 3:35
Harris to Johnson for 26 yards moved Roughriders into field-goal range
SECOND QUARTER
Sask — FG Lauther 21 1:33
74-yard missed field goal return by Alford gave Roughriders a first down on Ottawa’s 43
Sask — FG Lauther 33 10:13
Roughriders turned a Sayles interception into three points
Ott — FG Ward 37 13:07
Sanders’ sack forced Ottawa to settle for three
THIRD QUARTER
Sask — FG Lauther 41 5:22
Roughriders moved 31 yards in eight plays
Sask — FG Lauther 39 13:24
Riders moved 52 yards in six plays after Auclair interception
FOURTH QUARTER
Ott — FG Ward 52 0:23
REDBLACKS gained 36 on Hardy reception (21) plus Roughriders misconduct (15)
Ott — FG Ward 26 3:40
REDBLACKS settled for three after Bruggeling dropped a pass in the end zone
Sask — TD Bertrand-Hudon 26 run (Harris pass to Johnson for two-point convert) 6:41
Harris completed four passes in a row before handing off to Bertrand-Hudon
Sask — FG Lauther 23 10:57
Harris to Johnson for 58 yards was the big play
Ott — Pimpleton 11 pass from Masoli (Ward convert) 13:04
Ottawa scored to complete a seven-play, 70-yard mark
Sask — FG Lauther 25 14:43
Lauther surpassed his previous CFL single-game high of six field goals
