CALGARY — It would appear that Chad Geter can do impressions.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ rookie defensive end started in place of Charleston Hughes on Saturday and did a passable imitation of the veteran during Saskatchewan’s 29-24 victory over the Calgary Stampeders at McMahon Stadium.
“I felt like I did pretty well,” Geter said after making his first career start in the CFL. “I was texting (Hughes) all day Friday and again (Saturday), asking him for keys to watch for and pointers to help me with my game. He gave me some good feedback and I feel like I used that well in the game.”
Hughes was removed from the Roughriders’ active roster on Friday due to some ongoing legal issues. Saskatchewan turned to Geter to replace Hughes — and the rookie came through with two tackles for losses.
He took down Calgary tailback Don Jackson for a loss of six yards in the first quarter and, in the third quarter, felled tailback Romar Morris two yards behind the line of scrimmage.
The whole time, Geter was feeling the strain of replacing a future Hall of Famer.
“There was a lot of pressure, but at the end of the day, I looked at it as just another football game,” said Geter, a 24-year-old product of Gardner-Webb University. “Me and him, we put our pads on the same way. He had my back giving me pointers and I took that to the game.”
Geter has appeared in all 17 of the Roughriders’ regular-season games in 2018, but he has done most of his damage on special teams. He has 16 tackles on the cover teams, and has recorded 14 tackles and three sacks as a backup defender.
On Saturday, he got a chance to start in place of the CFL’s leading sack man this season.
“It’s not that I necessarily tried to be Charleston Hughes, but I did take some of his moves and some of the things he does in his game and tried to put them into mine,” Geter said.
“I don’t try to compare myself to him. I just want to do my best and if I do, I feel like it’ll work out for the whole team.”
It’s unknown if Geter will start again Saturday when Saskatchewan wraps up its regular-season schedule against the visiting B.C. Lions or if Hughes will be back on the roster for the finale.
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Roughriders kicker Brett Lauther must like facing the Stampeders.
Lauther kicked five field goals in Saturday’s game, giving him 16 successful kicks in as many attempts over Saskatchewan’s three games against Calgary this season.
That’s far and away the most three-pointers Lauther has recorded against a single team. He’s 7-for-7 in three games against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 7-for-8 in two contests against the Toronto Argonauts, 5-for-5 over two games with the Montreal Alouettes, 5-for-6 in two games versus the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 5-for-7 in two contests against the Edmonton Eskimos, 3-for-4 in one outing versus the Lions, and 2-for-2 in two games against the Ottawa Redblacks.
“I try to keep everything the same and try not to rise up to a higher competition, but it always is fun playing the No. 1 team in the league,” Lauther said of the Stamps. “I’m just trying to make points for the guys.”
Lauther hit from 50, 27, 49, 31 and 20 yards in Saturday’s game. In the previous contest in which he attempted a kick, he went 4-for-6 against the Eskimos on Oct. 8 — the first time all season that he missed two attempts in a game.
“I’m always trying to make every kick I can,” Lauther said. “It doesn’t feel good to miss points for these guys, so to get back out there and get a win is the biggest thing.”
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The Roughriders put together some impressive drives in Saturday’s game — even if some of them did end in Lauther field goals.
Saskatchewan’s 10 drives included a 15-play possession, an 11-play march, three nine-play drives and a seven-play effort. The Roughriders ran 74 plays to the Stampeders’ 52.
Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones said the offensive line did a good job of protecting quarterback Zach Collaros, who made good reads and good throws. As well, the Roughriders’ receivers made some contested catches to keep drives going.
As a result, Saskatchewan was able to control the ball for 34 minutes 40 seconds and keep the Stampeders’ defence on the field.
“You don’t have all the stats that they have and you’re not sitting at the top of all those defensive stats if you stay on the field,” Jones said in reference to Calgary’s D. “It’s uncharacteristic of their defence to allow the other team to drive. We were fortunate enough (Saturday) to get that done.”
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For the second straight game, there were some fireworks on the field at the end of the game.
One week after players exchanged words following Winnipeg’s 31-0 victory over Saskatchewan on Oct. 13, there were scrums at both ends of the field after the final whistle Saturday.
“It’s just a lot of competitive guys and guys who don’t like to lose,” Collaros said. “They’ve had a lot of success here, things happen and it gets heated out there. It’s part of the game.”
Jones agreed, suggesting that people were interested only in protecting their players.
That’s why Jones himself was in the middle of Saturday’s beef. He was motioning to Calgary players to get away from safety Mike Edem, who drilled Stampeders receiver Lemar Durant on the game’s second-last play.
“I wanted to make sure I got Mike Edem off the field,” Jones said. “They were a little mad over the hit.”
