in Regina,Friday,October 27,2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards
With one game remaining in their regular season, the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders are still learning lessons.
The Roughriders beat the Montreal Alouettes 37-12 on Friday at Mosaic Stadium, but there were things about the game that didn’t sit well with Saskatchewan head coach-GM Chris Jones.
Veteran slotback Bakari Grant celebrated a touchdown before crossing the goal line and was stripped of the football at the one-yard line.
An unnecessary-roughness penalty on a Montreal field goal extended an Alouettes drive.
A possession that featured a first down at the Alouettes’ five-yard line ended in a field goal.
And so on.
“We didn’t play very well in the first half and we did some things in the second half that didn’t shut the door,” Jones said. “We played good enough to win the game, but we’re still learning to win. We’re still learning to shut the door on people.
“We played good football, not great.”
Even so, Saskatchewan improved to 8-3-0 in its past 11 games and 10-7-0 overall. The loss was the 10th in a row for Montreal, which fell to 3-14-0.
It was a game the Roughriders appeared destined to win, but they still had to do so.
“You say we’re supposed to beat them, but it’s not like you walk on the field and everybody says, ‘OK, Saskatchewan won the game;’ you still have to play the game,” Roughriders quarterback Kevin Glenn said.
“As players, you go out every week saying to yourself, ‘You’re going to win the game. You’re supposed to win this game.’ You never go into a game thinking, ‘Do you think we’re going to win?’ You’ve got to have confidence. Every game, we treat it the same no matter what the opposing team’s record is.”
The Roughriders complete their regular-season slate Nov. 4 against the visiting Edmonton Eskimos. Edmonton (10-6-0) is to play host to the Calgary Stampeders (13-2-1) on Saturday.
If the Eskimos lose Saturday, they’ll be tied for third in the West Division with the Roughriders. If Edmonton wins, it will remain two points ahead of Saskatchewan in the race for third — and that will set the stage for a titanic clash on Nov. 4.
The Roughriders won the teams’ only previous meeting by 23 points, so if the clubs finish tied in the standings (at 11-7-0), Saskatchewan will have the tiebreaking edge. The Roughriders then would stay in the West for the playoffs and the Eskimos would cross over into the East.
“We’ll watch the game (Saturday), but whatever happens, happens,” Glenn said. “We’ve still got to play the game next week.”
On Friday, Saskatchewan took the opening kickoff and drove 30 yards in five plays. But Tyler Crapigna’s 43-yard field-goal attempt was wide, ending his streak of successful kicks at 18.
Montreal took over at its two-yard line, but its possession ended three plays later when Drew Willy was stuffed on a third-and-inches gamble. The Roughriders took over at the Alouettes’ 12-yard line and opened the scoring three plays later.
Trent Richardson powered in from the one-yard line for his first career CFL touchdown at 6:49 of the first quarter. Crapigna added the convert and Saskatchewan led 7-0.
Montreal’s next possession lasted only two plays and ended with Ed Gainey’s 10th interception of the season.
Four plays later, Glenn flipped a two-yard touchdown pass to Chad Owens — the receiver’s first touchdown of the season. Crapigna’s convert made it 14-0 at 10:03 of the opening frame.
The Alouettes got on the board at 1:00 of the second quarter, when Tyler Russolino kicked a 15-yard field goal.
Brandon Bridge replaced Glenn to start Saskatchewan’s fifth possession of the game — and Bridge’s second throw was intercepted by Greg Henderson.
The Alouettes converted that turnover into points, as Russolino booted a 19-yard field goal at 5:59 of the second quarter.
He earlier had connected from 46 yards out, but Montreal took the points off the board to accept an unnecessary-roughness penalty against Ese Mrabure. Four plays later, Russolino was called on again.
Crapigna connected from 14 yards out at 11:52 to make it 17-6 and that was the score at the half. But the Roughriders had chances to add points before the first 30 minutes ended.
First, Grant inexplicably slowed down on his way into the Montreal end zone with a Bridge pass and was stripped of the ball at the one-yard line. The Als recovered the fumble.
Then, on the final play of the first half, Crapigna’s 30-yard field-goal attempt hit the right upright.
The Roughriders needed just three offensive plays in the third quarter to stretch their lead.
On a third-and-two gamble, Glenn used a pump fake to spring Caleb Holley for an uncontested 49-yard pass-and-run touchdown. Crapigna kicked the convert and the Roughriders led 24-6 at 2:12.
Montreal took the ensuing kickoff and drove 62 yards in seven plays, the last of which was a 10-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Shiltz to Samuel Giguere at 5:54. Russolini missed the convert, so Saskatchewan’s lead was 24-12.
Crapigna booted 24-yard field goals at 8:57 of the third quarter and 5:54 of the fourth quarter to make it 30-12. Richardson’s two-yard scoring run and Crapigna’s convert at 10:38 of the fourth completed the scoring.
Richardson finished with 127 yards rushing on 20 carries, cracking the 100-yard barrier for the first time in his four-game CFL career. Owens had nine catches for 114 yards, notching his first 100-yard receiving game since Sept. 11, 2016, when he was with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
In his first game in Regina since being traded to Montreal in January, Als quarterback Darian Durant was 9-for-20 passing for 126 yards with one interception. B.J. Cunningham was the Als’ leading receiver with five catches and 87 yards.
