The 17th overtime victory in Saskatchewan Roughriders history was secured by No. 17, appropriately enough.
Rookie defensive back Jaxon Ford made the game-ending play on Sunday by deflecting a pass from Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros, who was coveting a completion that would have produced a two-point convert and forced a second overtime period at Mosaic Stadium.
The moment the ball hit the turf, the Roughriders and their fans began celebrating a 32-30 victory in the 58th Labour Day Classic.
“It’s huge,” Ford said shortly after Sunday’s game. “It means a lot to my family.”
A rich family tradition was upheld in fine style.
The Roughriders had a 10-1 record during Labour Day weekend games in which Alan Ford, Jaxon’s grandfather, was an on-field participant.
Saskatchewan was also 8-3 on Labour Day weekend during Alan Ford’s 11-season tenure as the CFL team’s General Manager and Chief Operating Officer.
Tack on Sunday’s result and the Fords are now 19-4 on the final long weekend of summer.
Another historical note: When the Roughriders played in the CFL’s first regular-season OT game, Alan Ford was the team’s Administrative Assistant.
That game, against the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sept. 14, 1986, ended in a 21-21 tie.
Alan Ford’s uniform number: 21.
OVERTIME 101
Sunday’s overtime game was the 36th in Roughriders history.
Saskatchewan has a 17-15-4 record in games that extend beyond 60 minutes.
Over the first 17 OT games, the Roughriders were 3-11-3. Since then, they are 14-4-1.
Here’s the complete list of OT games …
Sept. 14, 1986: Hamilton 21 at Saskatchewan 21 — Tiger-Cats’ Paul Osbaldiston kicked 51-yard field goal on final play.
July 4, 1987: Toronto 33 at Saskatchewan 33 — Earlier in the day, the WWF (now WWE) visited Taylor Field. Where have you gone, Brutus Beefcake?
Sept. 8, 1991: Saskatchewan 41 at Winnipeg 49 — One of four games the 1991 Roughriders lost despite scoring 35-plus points.
July 15, 1992: Saskatchewan 31 at Edmonton 34 — Only points of overtime were provided by Sean Fleming (40-yard field goal with eight seconds remaining).
Aug. 13, 1992: Saskatchewan 46 at B.C. 43 — Roughriders set single-game franchise record for first downs (46). Kent Austin threw for team-record 559 yards.
July 9, 1993: Saskatchewan 26 at B.C. 33 — Roughriders’ Jeff Fairholm caught seven passes for 215 yards and one TD.
July 16, 1994: Saskatchewan 22 at Las Vegas 32 —Victorious quarterback: A rookie named Anthony Calvillo.
July 7, 1995: Edmonton 26 at Saskatchewan 19 — Edmonton’s Chris Vargas scored on one-yard QB sneak in OT.
Aug. 23, 1996: Saskatchewan 16 at Montreal 23 — Alouettes QB Tracy Ham scored winning TD on 57-yard run with 37 seconds left.
Aug. 7, 1998: Calgary 46 at Saskatchewan 27 — Calgary’s Mark McLoughlin forced OT with 28-yard field goal at 14:34 of the fourth quarter.
July 28, 2000: Calgary 52 at Saskatchewan 52 — Six TD passes for Calgary’s Dave Dickenson; five for Henry Burris.
Oct. 28, 2000: Saskatchewan 54 at Edmonton 52 — 220 rushing yards by Roughriders’ Darren Davis.
June 28, 2002: Saskatchewan 30 at Ottawa 27 — First game in Ottawa Renegades history.
Aug. 1, 2002: Saskatchewan 31 at Hamilton 34 — Roughriders’ Kevin Glenn threw for 377 yards and two TDs.
Oct. 6, 2002: Winnipeg 35 at Saskatchewan 32 — Four TD receptions for Winnipeg’s Milt Stegall.
Sept. 12, 2003: Saskatchewan 24 at Hamilton 27 — Tiger-Cats’ only victory of 2003.
Nov. 14, 2004: Saskatchewan 25 at B.C. 27 — First overtime playoff game in Roughriders history (West Division final).
Sept. 24, 2006: B.C. 20 at Saskatchewan 23 — Kerry Joseph’s 12-yard TD pass to rookie Andy Fantuz was the winner.
Oct. 26, 2007: Saskatchewan 36 at Edmonton 29 — Two TDs by Henri Childs, including OT winner.
Oct. 17, 2009: Saskatchewan 44 at Calgary 44 — 427 aerial yards by Roughriders’ Darian Durant.
Oct. 24, 2009: B.C. 30 at Saskatchewan 33 — Game-ending interception by Roughriders’ James Patrick.
July 1, 2010: Montreal 51 at Saskatchewan 54 — Roughriders rallied from 33-12 deficit; 478 yards, five TD passes for Durant.
Sept. 17, 2010: Calgary 37 at Saskatchewan 43 — Career-high 500 yards for Durant; 10 receptions, 255 yards by Fantuz.
Nov. 14, 2010: B.C. 38 at Saskatchewan 41 — Durant to Jason Clermont for winning TD in West semi-final.
July 19, 2012: Saskatchewan 38 at Calgary 41 — Stampeders rallied from 17-point fourth-quarter deficit.
Sept. 21, 2014: Ottawa 32 at Saskatchewan 35 — Chris Milo’s 22-yard field goal was the difference.
July 5, 2015: Toronto 42 at Saskatchewan 40 — Winning quarterback was Trevor Harris.
July 10, 2015: Saskatchewan 32 at B.C. 35 — Lions’ Richie Leone forced OT with 56-yard field goal at 14:45 of fourth quarter.
Nov. 8, 2015: Saskatchewan 30 at Montreal 24 — Weston Dressler with winning TD in final game as a Roughrider.
July 8, 2016: Saskatchewan 36 at Edmonton 39 — Four TD passes by Durant.
Sept. 18, 2016: Edmonton 23 at Saskatchewan 26 — Durant wins it with six-yard TD run.
Oct. 7, 2016: Saskatchewan 32 at Ottawa 30 — Six field goals by Tyler Crapigna, including the winner.
July 1, 2017: Winnipeg 43 at Saskatchewan 40 — First game at new Mosaic Stadium.
Nov. 28, 2021: Calgary 30 at Saskatchewan 33 — Brett Lauther’s 34-yard field goal produced winning points in West Division semi-final.
June 24, 2023: Saskatchewan 29 at Calgary 26 — Nic Marshall with walk-off pick.
Sept. 3, 2023: Winnipeg 30 at Saskatchewan 32 — Jaxon Ford with walk-off pass knockdown.
BANE LANE
The winning points on Sunday were provided by Shawn Bane Jr., who made a tough catch in the front left corner of the north end zone for a two-point conversion that followed a one-yard TD run by short-yardage quarterback Antonio Pipkin.
Bane Jr.’s grab gave the Roughriders a 32-24 lead. Winnipeg quickly countered with a 35-yard TD pass from Zach Collaros to Kenny Lawler, whereupon a blitzing Ford registered the aforementioned pass knockdown.
On the pass to Bane Jr., there was a narrow window for quarterback Jake Dolegala.
“It was very small,” Dolegala said with a chuckle. “If you guys could see it from my angle, I shouldn’t have thrown it.”
Fortunately, he did.
“I thought I made the right read,” Dolegala said. “It was Bane just running away from the linebacker. (The Bombers’ Kyrie Wilson) was undercutting it, so it had to be a perfect ball and a perfect catch, and it was.”
SURPRISE!
The Roughriders began Sunday’s game by successfully executing an onside kick. Lauther dribbled the ball 11 yards before pouncing on it to give Saskatchewan possession on its 41-yard line.
“Kent Maugeri gets credit for that,” Head Coach Craig Dickenson said while dispensing kudos to the Roughriders’ Special Teams Co-ordinator.
“He told me all week, ‘Coach, we got it, we got it.’ And then I said, ‘When do you want to call it?’ He said, ‘Well, let’s open the game with it.’ I said, ‘OK, but it had better work!’ ”
Sure enough, it did.
“He’s a good coach and he’s got guts,” Dickenson continued. “Lauther’s got a little bit of moxie, too. He’s pretty good at those kicks.”
All kicks, actually.
Lauther has made his last 18 field-goal attempts. That is his second-longest streak since becoming a full-time member of the Roughriders in 2018. That year, he made 27 consecutive field-goal attempts, missed one, and then hit the next 17.
The Roughriders’ record for consecutive field goals (28) was set by Dave Ridgway in 1993.
Converts included, Lauther has made 28 consecutive placement kicks.
AUSTRALIAN BOOMERS
Australian-born Roughriders punter Adam Korsak averaged 53.4 yards on nine boots in his first Labour Day Classic.
Korsak twice punted for a fourth-quarter single. He registered a rouge on punts of 61 yards (at 6:04) and 65 yards (12:08).
Crucially, the latter point put Saskatchewan in position to tie the game with a field goal.
Lauther did just that with 31 seconds left in regulation time, splitting the uprights from 18 yards away to create a 24-24 deadlock and ultimately force OT.
“We didn’t necessarily try to kick for the single, but we did want to pin them in, and (the ball) did go into the end zone,” Dickenson said.
“Every point matters in this league. That’s why it’s such a great game. When it comes down to the end, you never know when that single point you got in the second or third quarter is going to help you tie or even win a game.”
SHORT SNORTS
- The Roughriders’ Kosi Onyeka has seven special teams tackles over the last two games. On Aug. 20 against the visiting B.C. Lions, he became the first Saskatchewan player to register four special teams stops in one game since Alexandre Chevrier on Aug. 25, 2018. Onyeka followed up on Sunday with three more tackles.
- Officially, Saskatchewan has allowed only six sacks over the past four games. Three of those sacks were registered on Sunday, but that number is somewhat deceiving. Dolegala was toppled twice while attempting to pass. The Bombers’ other recorded sack was actually a tackle of Pipkin behind the line of scrimmage on a designed running play.
- Dolegala has directed two TD drives of 100-plus yards this season. On July 29 against the Toronto Argonauts in Halifax, he led the Roughriders on a five-play, 100-yard march. He guided the Roughriders 101 yards in eight plays on Saturday. Actually, the Roughriders were pushed back to their four-yard line due to a penalty before they made a 106-yard trek toward the end zone. The key plays: Dolegala’s passes for gains of 64 (by Tevin Jones) and Mitch Picton (37).
- Pipkin’s two TD runs on Sunday gave him a share of the team lead in that category. Also as the short-yardage quarterback, Shea Patterson scored both of his TDs in an overtime game — a 29-26 victory in Calgary on June 24. Patterson, Pipkin and running back Jamal Morrow each have two rushing majors this season.
