Hot hand by Harris: Strong start part of Roughriders’ 28-16 pre-season win in Winnipeg

Led by starting quarterback Trevor Harris, the Saskatchewan Roughriders exploded out of the gate with a touchdown that set the tone for Friday’s 28-16 CFL pre-season victory over the host Winnipeg Blue Bombers. 

Saskatchewan finished pre-season play with a 2-0 record for the first time since the championship season of 2007. 

Saskatchewan opened the scoring at 7:46 of the first quarter when Harris hit Derel Walker for a five-yard touchdown pass. 

The major capped an opening possession in which the Roughriders moved 83 yards over nine plays. Harris went 4-for-4 for 72 yards on that drive — his only one of the pre-season. 

All four of Harris’s completions were to fellow free-agent additions — Harris (two receptions), Jake Wieneke (one) and Shawn Bane Jr. (one). 

Winnipeg got on the board at 1:38 of the second quarter when Sergio Castillo kicked a 28-yard field goal. 

Harris was succeeded by Mason Fine, who threw a five-yard TD pass to Kalija Lipscomb at 11:07 of the second quarter to give the Roughriders a 12-3 lead. 

The lead expanded to 15-3 when Brett Lauther connected on a 51-yard field goal with 59 seconds left in the first half. 

Another Lauther field goal, from 32 yards away, gave Saskatchewan an 18-3 advantage to conclude the opening possession of the third quarter. 

Winnipeg responded with a nine-play, 70-yard drive that culminated in a five-yard TD pass from Tyrrell Pigrome to Amare Jones. 

The Roughriders then inserted Jake Dolegala in place ofs Fine, who was 9-for-13 for 86 yards. 

Lauther proceeded to hit a 33-yard field goal to give the visitors a 21-9 lead at 12:13 of the third quarter. 

Winnipeg answered with an eight-play, 70-yard march that concluded with a five-yard TD run by Jordan Salima at 1:40 of the fourth quarter. Marc Liegghio’s convert made it 21-16, Saskatchewan. 

Dolegala then directed the Roughriders for all but the final two snaps of a 13-play, 74-yard TD drive. The possession concluded with back-to-back one-yard runs by Shea Patterson, who was operating the short-yardage team.
Patterson’s one-yard plunge at 9:50 of the fourth quarter, followed by Lauther’s convert, gave Saskatchewan a 28-16 lead. 

Dolegala was 5-for-6 for 49 yards. 

The Roughriders’ regular-season opener is set for June 11 against the host Edmonton Elks. 

Winnipeg will then visit Mosaic Stadium on June 16. 

EXTRA POINTS: Friday’s game marked the Roughriders’ first pre-season visit to Winnipeg since June 8, 2002, when the Blue Bombers won 22-6. Saskatchewan’s previous pre-season game in the Manitoba capital was on June 10, 1985, when the Roughriders won 9-7 … Including the Green and White scrimmage, Harris has completed 10 of 11 passes as a Roughrider. He has thrown two TD passes, both to Walker … Dolegala rushed three times for 23 yards in both Roughriders pre-season games — the first of which was a 30-27 victory over the visiting B.C. Lions on May 27.