The Ottawa REDBLACKS transformed four Saskatchewan Roughriders turnovers into 25 points and held on for a 36-28 victory on Friday night at TD Place Stadium.
After Ottawa went ahead 36-14, Saskatchewan scored back-to-back touchdowns late in the fourth quarter to heighten the suspense.
But the late-game drama concluded when the REDBLACKS recovered an onside kick with 59 seconds left in CFL action at TD Place Stadium.
“We’re a little bit down right now,” linebacker Micah Teitz said. “It’s three in a row now that we’ve dropped.
“It’s tough, because we were looking at some of these games as games we should win to place ourselves in a really good spot going into the playoffs.
“It’s just confidence coming back. I think we were playing well right out of the gate. We had them, I felt like. I feel like when stuff starts going wrong for us, it sometimes goes downhill.
“We’ve just got to do a better job of playing confident football and being confident in yourself. The rest will flow.”
Saskatchewan (6-8) led 13-8 late in the second quarter when Ottawa’s Deandre Lamont returned a Jake Dolegala interception 44 yards. On the next play, Dustin Crum found Bralon Addison for a six-yard TD pass that put the REDBLACKS ahead to stay.
Crum proceeded to hit Justin Hardy for a two-point conversion to give Ottawa a 16-13 lead.
On the Roughriders’ next play from scrimmage, a Dolegala fumble was recovered by Adam Auclair with five seconds remaining before halftime.
Michael Domagala then kicked a 42-yard field goal to give Ottawa a 19-13 lead.
The REDBLACKS were ahead 22-14 when a Dolegala fumble was recovered on the Roughriders’ 47-yard line. Two plays later, Crum threw a 32-yard TD pass to Siaosi Mariner. Domagala’s convert fattened the host team’s advantage to 29-14.
“The bottom line is that I’ve got to take care of the ball better,” Dolegala said.
The Riders’ signal-caller rebounded with a 24-yard completion to Tevin Jones, but the ball was jarred loose and recovered by Ottawa.
Cue a seven-play, 70-yard march by Ottawa, which scored on a 35-yard TD run by Crum at 8:28 of the fourth frame. Domagala’s convert made it 36-14.
Saskatchewan’s Mario Alford answered with a 107-yard punt-return TD with 1:29 left in the fourth quarter.
After the Roughriders recovered an onside kickoff, they moved 55 yards in three plays, the last of which was a one-yard TD run by short-yardage quarterback Antonio Pipkin with one minute left. Dolegala’s pass to Samuel Emilus produced a two-point conversion that made it an eight-point, one-possession game.
However, the Roughriders’ ensuing onside-kick attempt was unsuccessful. Time soon expired, as did a REDBLACKS losing streak that had swelled to seven games.
Dolegala completed 24 of 35 passes for 291 yards, with two TDs and two interceptions. He connected with Emilus (54 yards) and Kian Schaffer-Baker (11) for scores.
Frankie Hickson, starting for an injured Jamal Morrow, paced Saskatchewan’s ground game with nine carries for 77 yards.
Schaffer-Baker caught seven passes for 76 yards to lead the Saskatchewan receivers. Jones (six for 59), Emilus (three for 63) and Jerreth Sterns (four for 72) also had busy nights.
Roughriders defensive end Christian Albright, making his CFL debut, registered two sacks and forced a fumble.
Cody Roscoe added his first CFL sack.
The Roughriders, who are third in the West Division, are to return to action next Friday against the host B.C. Lions.
“My message to the Rider Nation is ‘Stick with us,’ ” Head Coach Craig Dickenson said.
“We’re going to work extremely hard these next five weeks and put the best team we can out there, and hopefully we get hot at the end.
“I still believe in them, but we’ve got a lot of work to do. There needs to be a lot of action and less words.
“More action. Less talk.”
EXTRA POINTS
- Alford tied the Roughriders’ single-season record for punt-return touchdowns (three), joining Willis Jacox (1991), Curtis Mayfield (1999) and Corey Holmes (2005).
- Roughriders middle linebacker Larry Dean amassed 12 defensive tackles, increasing his career total to 556. He is 25th on the league’s all-time list after passing Malcolm Frank (551) and ex-Roughrider Omarr Morgan (545) on Friday.
