The Saskatchewan Roughriders were in Calgary for a CFL West Division showdown with the Stampeders Thursday night. The Riders went in with a 3-0 record while the Stamps were 1-2 heading into Work 4. Here's the game log from the broadcast booth:
- It was 23 degrees Celsius and sunny at the 7:00 pm kickoff. There was a northeast wind at 8 km/h.
- The Rider scratches from the 46-man roster were RB Brandon West, LB Darren Stone, DB Woodny Turrene and OL Chris Best.
- Riders wore white jerseys, helmets and pants. Stampeders wore red jerseys, black pants and red helmets.
- Former CFL Commissioner and current UFC Canada head Tom Wright sang the national anthem.
- The Stampeders won the coin toss and elected to take the football to open the game. They started their opening drive at their 39-yard line. They got to the Rider 43-yard line before punting.
- Saskatchewan's first drive commenced at their 11-yard line. They were 2-and-out.
- Calgary opened the scoring with 8:07 to go in the first quarter on a 46-yard Rene Parades field goal. 3-0 Calgary. Rider DE Brent Hawkins got credit with a sack on the drive.
- Riders' second drive started at their 33-yard line. They got to midfield before punting.
- Saskatchewan's third drive started at the Calgary 54. They took the lead on a 2-yard touchdown plunge by Kory Sheets with 1:22 to go in the first quarter. It's his fourth TD of the season, one in each game.
- AFTER ONE: RIDERS 7 STAMPS 3
- Rider DB Eddie Russ went down with what appeared to be a hamstring injury early in the second quarter. He was replaced by Tristan Jackson.
- On that Calgary drive, Stamps' slotback Nik Lewis cuaght a 5-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Glenn to give Calgary a 10-7 lead with 11:01 to go in the half.
- Riders regained the lead on their next drive when FB Neal Hughes caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from back-up quarterback Drew Willy. That came with 8:34 to go in the half and made it 14-10. The key play in the drive was a 48-yard run by Sheets.
- Calgary got three back with a 36-yard Rene Parades field goal with 4:00 to go in the half. 14-13 Riders.
- Stampeders took the lead when the Riders conceded a safety with 2:50 to go. A snap flew over the head of P Chris Milo into the end zone and he jumped on it. That gave the Stamps a 15-14 lead. That was the fifth lead-change of the half.
- With 0:10 to go in the half Chris Getzlaf ran a post-corner route and Darian Durant hit him for a 30-yard touchdown hook-up. That gave Saskatchewan a 20-15 lead.
- HALF-TIME: RIDERS 21 STAMPS 15
- With the UFC in town Saturday night, team mascots Ralph The Dog and Gainer The Gopher had a cage match at halftime at midfield. I didn't see who won but saw Gainer with one big takedown.
- Saskatchewan got the ball to start the second half and started at the Calgary 42 after a 62-return by Tristan Jackson. The drive ended with a 20-yard touchdown reception by Weston Dressler just 3:26 into the second half making it 28-15.
- Stamps OL Dmitri Tsoumpas was kicked out of the game with 8:36 to go for throwing a punch at Rider DT Terrius George.
- Calgary put three points on the board with a 44-yard Rene Parades field goal with 0:13 to go in the third quarter.
- AFTER THREE: RIDERS 28 STAMPS 18
- Riders went up 35-18 with a one-yard touchdown run by Kory Sheets with 9:50 to go in the fourth quarter.
- The attendance was announced at 32,228.
- With 6:20 to go Rider DT Keith Shologan got his first sack of the season when he took down Kevin Glenn. However on the same drive Kevin Glenn tossed a 21-yard touchdown to Nik Lewis with 5:17 left. 35-25 Riders.
- Darian Durant threw his first interception of the season, to Calgary LB Malik Jackson, with 3:26 to go. He returned it to the Rider 20.
- One play later Kevin Glenn found Larry Taylor for a 20-yard TD. 35-32 Riders.
- Calgary returner Larry Taylor fumbled a punt return with 2:14 to go and the Riders got it at the Calgary 39. It was stripped by Rider LB Abraham Kromah. Saskatchewan couldn't cash in though, as Durant took a huge 13-yard loss on a sack taking the Riders out of field goal range.
- With 1:40 left Calgary started a drive at their 16-yard line. They got to the Rider 23-yard line but Kevin Glenn was plowed to the turf by Rider DE Brent Hawkins and he had to come out for three plays. He was replaced by back-up Bo Levi Mitchell. They got a 17-yard field goal from Rene Parades to tie the game at 35-35 with 0:29 to go.
- Riders took it at their 35. On first down Weston Dressler dropped a deep pass at the Calgary 40. The second down pass went through Getzlaf's hands. Punt.
- With 0:10 to go the Stamps got it at their 35. They knelt down to grind out the clock and force overtime.
- THROUGH FOUR QUARTERS: RIDERS 35 STAMPS 35
- Stamps won the coin toss and elected to go on defence first. On first down Durant couldn't hook up with Getzlaf in the endzone. On second down Darian Durant was sacked for an 8-yard loss. Chris Milo lined up a 50-yard field goal and was good. 38-35 Riders.
- The Stampeders won the game on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Glenn to Nik Lewis.
FINAL: STAMPEDERS 41 RIDERS 38
POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM RIDER HEAD COACH COREY CHAMBLIN
- That's football. No excuses whether it's a young team or veteran team. We need to learn to play for 60 minutes and learn from our mistakes.
- The whole key is they fought 60 minutes. Calgary did. Kudos to those guys. At the end of the day it's football. It shouldn't have come to that. I'm looking forward to not saying that again this season.
- Darian's pick was football. Hey you're not gonna go a whole season with no turnovers. They got one. But we gave them momentum back. The whole game's about momentum and we didn't get it back.
- The whole team dropped the ball. That's the biggest key. I wouldn't think 7 and 89 would do that but we'll be a better team for this loss and we'll look forward and get better.
- Coming off a short week the guys did a phenomenal job. I understand it was a short week but at the end of the day we have to finish.
- We did some good things and I'm very proud of the guys. But it's a production business and we didn't get the result. We played well in all three phases but not for 60 minutes.
- We had some opportunities to win the game but it did not happen. I can tell you that I'm proud of this team and we'll fight and we'll have a lot of wins down the stretch. We'll have some days off and then get ready to win the next one.
**The Riders' next game is Saturday, July 28 at home to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
