VANCOUVER — The Saskatchewan Roughriders and B.C. Lions proved once again Saturday that football is a game of inches.
The Roughriders stopped Lions quarterback Cody Fajardo inches short of a first down on a third-and-one gamble from the Roughriders’ 46-yard line with 31 seconds left in regulation time, a play that helped Saskatchewan post a 24-21 CFL victory at BC Place.
“It’s the difference in the ball game,” Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones said of the third-down play. “A lot of teams would just give that up and let you have that yard and a half or whatever it was.
“Our group came off the football and we were fortunate enough to keep him behind the line and win the game.”
The Roughriders improved to 5-4-0 with the win and pulled into a tie for third place in the West Division with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Winnipeg fell to 5-5-0 on Saturday with a 39-26 loss to the host Calgary Stampeders.
The Stampeders hold down first place in the West at 8-1-0, with the Edmonton Eskimos second at 6-4-0 and the Roughriders and Bombers tied for third. The Lions are fifth at 3-6-0.
Saskatchewan’s next two games are against the Bombers, who visit Mosaic Stadium for the Labour Day Classic on Sept. 2 before playing host to the rematch on Sept. 8.
Saskatchewan had its issues in every phase of Saturday’s game, but still managed to snap a four-game losing streak in Vancouver. The Roughriders hadn’t won at BC Place since a 20-16 triumph on Aug. 24, 2014.
“Nothing was perfect, certainly,” Jones said. “We gave up a couple of big plays defensively that resulted in points. We gave up a kickoff return that resulted in points. Offensively, we stubbed our toe in the middle parts of the game. But you know what? We did enough to win the football game in a very tough environment, a place where nobody else has beat B.C.”
The Lions were 3-0-0 at home this season entering Saturday’s contest.
The Lions opened the scoring at 5:35 of the first quarter on a 20-yard field goal by Ty Long. B.C. had a first-and-goal from the Roughriders’ nine-yard line, but an incompletion on first down and a sack by Cameron Judge on second down forced the Lions to settle for three.
Saskatchewan responded on its subsequent possession, as Nick Marshall scored on a one-yard run out of the Wildcat formation at 9:46. Brett Lauther added the convert and the Roughriders led 7-3.
Marshall’s second offensive touchdown of the season came five plays after Zach Collaros completed a 52-yard pass to Shaq Evans — the longest completion of the season to date for the Roughriders.
The Lions’ Chris Rainey returned the ensuing kickoff 74 yards to the Roughriders’ 26, but Saskatchewan’s defence held again. That forced Long to kick a 27-yard field goal that cut the Roughriders’ lead to 7-6 at 11:43 of the first quarter.
The Roughriders immediately answered, with Lauther kicking a 38-yard field goal at 1:01 of the second quarter. His kick was preceded by a Shawn Lemon sack — the first sack of a Roughrider quarterback since a game against Calgary on July 28.
A sack set up Saskatchewan’s next score.
Roughriders defensive end Charleston Hughes hit Travis Lulay and forced a fumble that Tobi Antigha recovered and advanced to the B.C. 23-yard line. Two plays later, Collaros found Jordan Williams-Lambert with a six-yard touchdown pass at 3:50. Lauther’s convert gave the Roughriders a 17-6 lead.
Long was on target from 41 yards at 8:39 to cut Saskatchewan’s lead to 17-9, but Lauther restored the 11-point lead with a 44-yard field goal at 11:23.
Lulay found Bryan Burnham with a 10-yard touchdown pass at 12:53 of the second, but a two-point convert attempt failed. That made it 20-15 for Saskatchewan.
The TD was scored two plays after Lions head coach Wally Buono successfully challenged for pass interference, an infraction that gave B.C. a first down at the Saskatchewan 10.
Long completed the first-half scoring with a 48-yard field goal at 14:13.
Lauther missed a 38-yard field-goal try at 3:03 of the third quarter, but the 50-yard single gave the Roughriders a 21-18 lead. The miss snapped Lauther’s streak of consecutive field goals made at 16.
Lauther started a new streak at 8:57 of the third when he connected from 26 yards away to put the Roughriders ahead 24-18. The three-pointer was set up by a 60-yard punt return by Christion Jones to the Lions’ 18.
Long kicked a 30-yard field goal 19 seconds into the fourth to cut the deficit to three. Those were the final points of the game.
Collaros, who completed seven of eight pass attempts for 113 yards in the first quarter, finished 19-for-32 for 215 yards. Naaman Roosevelt caught a team-high five passes for 41 yards, while Tre Mason led the rushing attack with 57 yards on 11 carries.
“Obviously we squandered some opportunities,” Collaros said. “We’ve got to cash in when the defence gives us great field position and when Christion and the special teams do as well.
“We escaped with a win, but we got a lot of good film from this to learn from and we’ve got a big back-to-back coming with Winnipeg.”
Lulay completed 21 of 36 pass attempts for 240 yards. Burnham was the Lions’ leading receiver with 72 yards on four catches.
Mike Edem had six tackles and Judge, Sam Eguavoen and Sam Hurl each had five tackles for the Roughriders. Alexandre Chevrier added four special-teams tackles for Saskatchewan.
Former Roughriders linebacker Otha Foster III recorded seven tackles and two pass knockdowns for the Lions.
