Saskatchewan Roughriders Marcus Thigpen returns a kick for a touchdown during third quarter CFL action against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in Hamilton, Ontario on Thursday, July 19, 2018. (CFL Photo - Geoff Robins )
HAMILTON — Marcus Thigpen had an above-average night Thursday.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ tailback had just one carry in his team’s 31-20 CFL victory over the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats, but he finished the contest with an 80-yard rushing average.
Thigpen’s long-distance touchdown run on the first offensive play of the second half got the Roughriders back into the game at Tim Hortons Field and gave them the momentum they needed to sweep their home-and-home series with the Tiger-Cats.
“That’s just kind of how it rolled,” Thigpen said when asked about his big average. “We (three tailbacks) rotate every two series and I always try to maximize my opportunities when I get them — and that was the only opportunity I had.
“Fortunately, it opened up. They blocked it really well and I took care of business.”
The Roughriders trailed 17-7 at the half and were hoping to do something early in the third quarter to gain some traction. Thigpen delivered, bursting through a hole in the middle of the Hamilton defence and speeding to the end zone.
“The first drive of the second half, whether you’re on offence or defence, (it’s huge) if you can come out of there with some kind of points,” Saskatchewan head coach-GM Chris Jones said. “That’s what we talked about before we went out: ‘If we can come out with some kind of points, then it’ll be a tight ball game.’ “
The longest run of Thigpen’s CFL career was the longest jaunt by a Roughrider since Wes Cates went 83 yards in a game against the Edmonton Eskimos on July 17, 2010. Thigpen’s previous long was a 75-yarder against the hometown Ottawa Redblacks in the 2017 Eastern Semi-Final.
“(Striking quickly) is what I’ve done before on special teams, so that’s how I look at it from a backfield perspective, too,” said Thigpen, who also had one catch for six yards Thursday. “I can hit the hole, get to the second level and find a seam.
“I’m just trying to give the team the spark that we need — and we definitely needed it coming into the second half. We were down and that helped us turn it around. From there, we were hitting on all cylinders.”
Thigpen’s output helped the Roughriders put up a season-high 218 yards rushing. Jerome Messam added 70 yards on 15 carries, Tre Mason had 51 yards on seven rushes, and Brandon Bridge chipped in with 17 yards on five attempts.
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The Roughriders gratefully accepted a gift from the Tiger-Cats after Thigpen’s TD.
With his team leading 17-14, Hamilton head coach June Jones had quarterback Jeremiah Masoli attempt a punt with onside players behind him.
Masoli shanked the punt which, because it didn’t cross the line of scrimmage, was deemed a fumble. Willie Jefferson recovered for the Roughriders at the Hamilton 47-yard line and, three plays later, Bridge hit Naaman Roosevelt with a 24-yard touchdown pass.
Saskatchewan led 21-17 after Brett Lauther’s convert — and it never gave up the lead.
“(June Jones) had a well-designed play,” Chris Jones said. “They actually started out with their punt team and then they went back out with their O and kind of got us in between personnel groupings. It comes down to the kick on those types of things.”
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Lauther may have made the most overlooked play in Thursday’s game.
On the kickoff after Roosevelt’s major, Hamilton returner Sean Thomas-Erlington found a hole in the Roughriders’ cover team and looked to have a chance at a momentum-shifting TD.
But Lauther felled Thomas-Erlington with a big hit after a 38-yard return. Six plays later, Lirim Hajrullahu kicked a 35-yard field goal, but the Roughriders still had the lead.
“I was just trying to fill in and make sure that nothing got scored on us,” Lauther said. “I take a lot of pride in that as a kicker. As a team, we sit in on every defensive pursuit meeting, so we know what’s going on out there.
“I was just trying to make the play for the rest of the guys, like any other player would.”
Lauther now has done it three times this season; he also had a special-teams tackle in the Roughriders’ 39-12 pre-season loss to the Calgary Stampeders on June 8 and one in Saskatchewan’s 40-17 loss to the Redblacks on June 21.
Thomas-Erlington was injured on the play, but Lauther didn’t feel so good, either.
“It might have looked worse for him, but I’m feeling it right now,” he said. “I don’t get in on too many hits. I’ll be all right.”
Lauther also went 3-for-4 on field-goal tries — his second-quarter miss snapped a string of 11 consecutive successful kicks — and was 3-for-3 on convert attempts.
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Charleston Hughes remains upwardly mobile.
His fourth-quarter sack of Masoli was Hughes’ sixth takedown of the 2018 season and the 105th of his CFL career. That moved him into a tie for 10th on the league’s all-time list with former Toronto Argonauts star Rodney Harding.
“Ten ain’t going to do it,” Hughes said with a laugh. “I’ve still got a lot of work to do.”
Hughes is five sacks behind the ninth-place man, Tyrone Jones, and 15 out of eighth place. That spot is held by the Montreal Alouettes’ John Bowman, the only other active player in the top 10.
Hughes admitted he has set his sights on Bowman, who has yet to record a sack this season. For now, though, Hughes will gladly sit at No. 10.
“It means you’re being recognized as one of the elite pass-rushers to ever come into this league,” said Hughes, who spent the first 10 seasons of his CFL career with the Stampeders.
“That’s pretty much what’s driving me right now and why I’m still playing. I want to be the best I can be and to keep shooting for No. 1.”
