By Rod Pedersen
Voice of the Riders
The door was open for the Saskatchewan Roughriders (6-4) to seize first-place in the CFL West Division Sunday afternoon as they hosted the Edmonton Eskimos (5-5) in a 2:00 kickoff at Mosaic Stadium. With Calgary’s loss at Hamilton two nights prior, the Riders had the opportunity to move a game up on the Stampeders (6-5) with their seventh victory of the 2009 campaign.
Sunday was the second meeting of the season between the Riders and Eskimos, as Edmonton erased a 22-point deficit in Week 4 in Regina to come back and claim a 38-33 triumph. You had to know that was in the back of the Riders’ minds as they took the field in Week 12.
Here’s the game log from the broadcast booth:
– Rider scratches from the 46-man roster are Jason Clermont, Hugh Charles, Kevin Scott and Michael Stadnyk.
– 22 degrees Celsius at game time under cloudy skies, with a WNW wind at 45 gusting to 65 km/h.
– The Riders win the coin toss and defer to the second half. They wind up with the ball and the wind to open the game, meaning they defend the north endzone.
– Rider opening drive starts at their 39-yard line. QB Darian Durant sacked on the first play for a 15-yard loss. 2 and out.
– Eskimo opening drive starts on their 49. They moved it to the Saskatchewan one yard line and were forced into a 3rd and goal situation. The Riders stuffed them, but got called for having too many players on the field and Edmonton got an automatic 1st down. Two plays later, Arkee Whitlock rushed for a touchdown to make it 7-0 Edmonton. It was a 14-play, 61 yard drive.
– Saskatchewan ties the game on their second possession. Wes Cates caps an 11 play drive with a one-yard touchdown run. That was the first play of the second quarter. 7-7.
– Eskimos cap their second drive with another Whitlock touchdown, from three yards out, to make it 14-7 with 9:38 to go in the first half. It was a nine play, 67-yard drive. Rider linebacker Sean Lucas came out after a head-on collision with Edmonton receiver Kamau Peterson. CB Tad Kornegay moved to LB with Tamon George going out to play the quarter.
– Riders answer with a 22-yard Luca Congi field goal on their next drive making it 14-10 Edmonton with 4:58 left in the half.
– The Eskimos score a third straight touchdown on just their third possession of the game as Ricky Ray hooks up with Fred Stamps with a 5-yard touchdown toss. 21-10 Edmonton with 1:23 left in the half. 9-play, 75 yard drive.
– Halftime guns sounds: Edmonton 21 Saskatchewan 10
– “They’ve been challenging our defense,” said Rider coach Ken Miller at the break. “We have to find a way to get them stopped. We just couldn’t stop their drives. We could move the ball on offense, but for some reason we couldn’t get ‘em stopped so we’ll work on that in the second half.”
– Riders give the Esks the ball and the wind to open the third quarter. Saskatchewan elects to take the wind in the fourth.
– Edmonton’s first drive of the second half starts on their 42. They move it to the Rider 5-yard line, but tailback Arkee Whitlock fumbles into the arms of Rider CB Omarr Morgan and he returns it 108 yards for a touchdown. 21-17 Edmonton. It’s the longest fumble return in CFL history.
– Edmonton goes up 23-17 with 7:14 to go in the third when Rider punter Jamie Boreham concedes a safety.
– Eskimos get a single point on a 38-yard missed field goal single by Noel Prefontaine to make it 24-17 Edmonton with 4:37 to go in the third and they carry it over into the fourth.
– Third quarter stretch. Last Saskatchewan Pirate. Sellout crowd announced at 30,945.
– Riders tie the game 1:28 into the fourth quarter on a 20-yard Durant-to-Getzlaf touchdown pass to make it 24-24. It was a nine play, 97-yard drive.
– Riders ring up their first sack on the next Edmonton possession as Stevie Baggs hauls down Ricky Ray for a 5-yard loss, forcing a 3rd down punt.
– Punter Jamie Boreham rushed for a first down on 3rd and 3 at the Edmonton 47 with 9:12 to go. After a measurement, it’s a first down! Then a pass interference penalty against Getzlaf gives the Riders another first down at the Edmonton 14.
– Luca Congi gives the Riders their first lead of the game with a 21-yard field goal with 7:13 to go. Rain pounding Mosaic Stadium at this point.
– Eskimos take the lead with a 68-yard Ray-to-Maurice Mann touchdown with 1:09 to go to make it 31-27.
– A key point in the game came moments earlier when a Rider punt single was nullified by coverman James Patrick who got called for no yards in the endzone. They lost the point and Edmonton got the ball at their own 15-yard line and the ensuing drive ended in the touchdown.
– Riders start a last minute drive at their 42-yard line with 1:00 to go. A field goal might’ve tied the game if not for Patrick’s brain cramp on the no yards penalty. So the deficit was four points, so Saskatchewan needed a touchdown to win.
– They got as far as the Edmonton 17-yard line but on the final play of the game, Durant threw a pass over Getzlaf and in front of Dressler in the endzone and time ran out.
– Game over. Edmonton 31 Saskatchewan 27
– Eskimos pull into a three way tie with Calgary and Saskatchewan for first in the West at 6-5. These two teams meet next Saturday in Edmonton at 4:00.
– Postgame quotes:
– RIDER DB EDDIE DAVIS: “It was a tough one to swallow. The defense didn’t play very well and we spotted them 21 points. That last TD was tough. It was a mistake. They made a play and we didn’t. The name of the game is to make plays and they made more than we did. We’re gonna be gunning for them next week to get even.
– ESKIMO RECEIVER FRED STAMPS: “We came out this week after those big losses to Calgary and we were focused. We knew we had to face a hostile environment in here and we got it done. We watched a lot of film on these guys but you never know what you’re going to get out of them. You can’t get anything deep on them so we went quick with the underneath stuff and it worked.
– RIDER COACH KEN MILLER: “They made more plays than we did. For the longest time we weren’t able to get ‘em stopped. Offensively we moved the ball but they just made the big plays particularly that last one. I didn’t really see what happened on it so we’ll have to go back and have a look at it.”
– “The fumble return was a great play and it looked like they were gonna be unstoppable but unfortunately that changed the momentum for us. We were able to back on top of them for a bit.”
– “They really moved the ball and now we’ll have an opportunity to look at their offense on film and get ready for them up there. They have a new offensive coordinator and we really didn’t know what to expect. Darian played well, our receivers played well and we protected well. That’s what I liked about our game but we have to be better on defense in Edmonton next week.”
– RIDER DE STEVIE BAGGS: “They came out with a different game plan and they dinked and dunked us all game. The quick passes they did didn’t allow us much pressure. We didn’t game plan for that. We’ll be fine, all we have to do is go back to the drawing board. Next week we’ll come back with the win up there.”
– “On that fumble return by Omarr, we felt good about the game at that time. At any time we’re trying to get the ball back or score. We lead the league taking away the ball. That’s our main objective and that play by Omarr changed the momentum for us.”
– “We came in, definitely feeling like we were in co
ntrol of the game, and our destiny in the West. This game made things interesting with seven games to go.”
– “Not only are the fans looking forward to that game up in Edmonton but we really are as players after the loss.”
