Notebook: Milestones mean little to Duron Carter

Duron Carter wasn’t interested in consolation prizes.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ receiver caught 11 passes for 231 yards against the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday at Mosaic Stadium, tying his career high for receptions in a CFL game and setting a new personal best for receiving yards in a game.

Carter also went over the 1,000-yard mark in his first season as a Roughrider and for the second time in his CFL career — and yet it all took a back seat. Ottawa overcame a 12-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat Saskatchewan 33-32.

“(A 1,000-yard season) feels good; hopefully there are plenty more,” Carter said. “To me, I just care about winning, to tell you the truth. I’m very upset right now. Yeah, I had a good game, but I’m very upset right now.”

Carter set his previous single-game career highs of 11 catches and 181 yards on Nov. 2, 2014, when his Montreal Alouettes played the Toronto Argonauts. He finished that season with 75 catches for 1,030 yards and seven touchdowns.

After his showing Friday, Carter has 72 receptions for 1,037 yards and eight TDs this season.

“I was on fire,” he said of Friday’s outing. “It was just like playing (the video game) NBA Jam; I couldn’t miss. I had the blue flame going on under me and that’s just how I felt. I couldn’t drop anything.”

That said, Carter admitted he was “frustrated the whole game.” He took an unnecessary roughness penalty on Saskatchewan’s second possession of the contest and later had a bit of a meltdown on the Roughriders’ sideline.

Quarterback Kevin Glenn said he didn’t hear a word from Carter about wanting the ball more, nor did he see any questionable actions from the 26-year-old pass-catcher.

“The receivers congregate at their own little spot and we’re off looking at the iPad (to see) what’s going on with the defence and trying to figure out how to put the team in situations to be successful,” Glenn said.

“All receivers are like that. They want the ball every play. They’re always open … so sometimes they want to be the guy who makes the play and helps the team win. That could have been the situation.”

Carter joined Naaman Roosevelt (1,035 yards) in the Roughriders’ 1,000-yard club this season. It’s the 12^th time in franchise history that Saskatchewan has had multiple receivers reach that plateau.

That duo could yet be joined this season by Bakari Grant, who has 916 yards with three games to play.

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Roosevelt’s availability for Friday’s game against the host Calgary Stampeders won’t be known until the Roughriders return to practice Monday.

The slotback left Friday’s contest after hitting his head on the turf while being tackled late in the third quarter.

Roosevelt suffered a concussion during Saskatchewan’s 15-9 loss to the visiting Stampeders on Sept. 24 and that injury kept him out of Saskatchewan’s 18-17 victory in Ottawa on Sept. 29.

But that was the only game Roosevelt missed; he returned for the Roughriders’ 27-24 win over the host Argonauts on Oct. 7.

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Tyler Crapigna’s roll continued Friday.

Saskatchewan’s kicker connected on all six of his field-goal attempts, running his streak of successful kicks to 16 in a row.

His last miss — on a 43-yard attempt that was partially blocked — occurred in the third quarter of Saskatchewan’s 54-31 victory over the hometown Edmonton Eskimos on Aug. 25.

“That’s just the life of the kicker,” Crapigna said after connecting from 33, 21, 34, 18, 35 and 14 yards against the Redblacks. “Sometimes you feel like you can’t make a kick and then sometimes you feel like you can’t miss. I’m just in that moment right now where I feel like I can’t miss.

“I’m in a good rhythm with everything and I feel confident in what I’m doing, so I’m just going to try to continue to ride the wave.”

Crapigna went 3-for-3 against the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sept. 3, 2-for-2 versus the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sept. 15, 1-for-1 against Ottawa on Sept. 29, 4-for-4 in Toronto and 6-for-6 on Friday. He didn’t attempt any field goals in Winnipeg on Sept. 9 or at home against Calgary on Sept. 24.

But, like Carter, Crapigna wasn’t too excited about his recent run of success.

“Honestly, it doesn’t mean that much,” he said. “I hit six field goals, but if we convert a couple of those into touchdowns, we win this game.

“To be honest with you, I don’t even look at stats. It’s just a thing. I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing and the guys — Josh (Bartel, the holder) and Jorgen (Hus, the long-snapper) — are making it easy for me to do my job.”

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Trent Richardson showed flashes of his former self Friday.

In his second game with the Roughriders, the one-time University of Alabama Crimson Tide star tailback rushed 14 times for 60 yards (with one 15-yard carry).

He showed some power, especially on a third-and-two play in the fourth quarter. The Redblacks initially stopped Richardson short of the marker, but he kept churning ahead to get the first down.

After rushing just five times for 20 yards in Toronto, the former first-round NFL draft pick was more involved in the Saskatchewan offence Friday.

“I’m very comfortable with our guys,” Richardson said. “(The game) solidified a lot, with them trusting me with the ball more and being able to put it in my hands …

“As far as earning and gaining respect, I think that was done (Friday) but there’s a lot more that can be done.”