It began with a bobble and ended with a bang.
Such was the case with Mario Alford’s 101-yard kickoff return on the opening play of Saturday’s CFL game between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the visiting Edmonton Elks.
The Elks’ Boris Bede began the proceedings with a 71-yard kickoff that Alford fielded on his nine-yard line.
“Honestly, the wind took it to the right,” Alford said on Tuesday. “I was squared up on it and, at the last second, it went to the right. I’ve just got to focus up on that.
“I picked it up and I just saw green grass. I saw a hole that you could drive an 18-wheeler through.”
Alford proceeded to show off his own wheels.
“I saw that hole and I just shot through it,” he continued. “Once I got to the second wave, it was over with.”
The first wave of would-be tacklers was effectively eliminated by, among others, Clint Ratkovich, Lake Korte-Moore and Thomas Bertrand-Hudon.
In an instant, Alford was off to the races down the right sideline. One final block, by A.J. Allen, removed Bede from the picture before Alford outran the last possible Elks tackler.
The 101-yarder was also facilitated by Ajou Ajou, Justin Herdman-Reed, Nelson Lokombo, Mitch Picton, Godfrey Onyeka, Caleb Sanders and Melique Straker.
“They blocked their tails off for me,” Alford said. “I get all the credit for it but, honestly, it’s the guys who block who freed me up, so a shout-out to them.”
Corey Mace was also quick to praise the entire return team when asked about Alford’s scoring sprint, which was the fourth-fastest touchdown in Roughriders history.
“It’s a combination of everybody doing their job and ’Rio hitting the crease,” the Roughriders’ head coach said.
“We were happy for everybody on the return unit. We’ve been waiting on that. It’s good to see that the guys have been putting the work in and that it pays off.”
Leading up to Saturday’s game, Alford had registered four returns of 40-plus yards — two on kickoffs (46, 41), one on a punt (46) and one on a missed field goal (48).
As well, punt returns of 91, 52 and 32 yards had been negated by penalties.
Then came Saturday, when Alford fattened his Roughriders career record for special teams return touchdowns to eight.
“It’s a beautiful thing when you can do that, especially at home,” he said.
“Whatever we can do on special teams to help the team win, we try to do. We’re going to keep doing it.
“I’m feeling it now. Many more to come.”
Also on Saturday, Alford set up a touchdown by taking off on a 46-yard punt return.
His efforts were recognized on Tuesday, when he made the Honour Roll as the league’s top returner and top special teams performer for Week 9.
It was an eventful Saturday in so many respects for Alford, who:
• Registered the second-longest kickoff return in Roughriders history. Bobby Thompson erupted for a 115-yard touchdown against the visiting B.C. Lions on Oct. 24, 1971.
• Increased his total of CFL regular-season return touchdowns to 11. He tied with Janarion Grant for sixth on the league’s All-Time list, behind Henry Williams (31), Bashir Levingston (15), Brandon Banks (13), Keith Stokes (12) and Earl Winfield (12). Alford had three punt return touchdowns for the Montreal Alouettes before being traded to Saskatchewan in July of 2022.
• Ascended to 10th on the Roughriders’ All-Time punt returns list, with 165. He is seven back of ninth-ranked Terryl Ulmer.
• Closed to within 15 yards of Albert Brown, whose 2,687 kickoff return yards place him third on the Roughriders’ lifetime list. Corey Holmes (4,077) and Tristan Jackson (3,435) occupy the top two spots.
• Assumed sole possession of first place in the league in the big plays category, with eight — three missed field goal returns of 30-plus yards, three kickoff returns of 40-plus, and two punt returns of 30-plus.
• Took a major step toward becoming only the third Roughrider with 5,000-plus special teams return yards. Holmes (7,713) and Jackson (5,408) have already reached that milestone. Brown was 10 yards shy. Alford needs 96 return yards to surpass Brown for third spot and 105 to reach 5,000. The magic figure could be reached on Thursday when the Roughriders visit the Ottawa REDBLACKS (5:30 p.m., CKRM, TSN).
