SASKATOON — The Saskatchewan Roughriders are poised to face a rival squad at Griffiths Stadium for the first time.
However, the team does have a connection to the facility dating back to 1921 — 46 years before the stadium’s grand opening.
Wyn Griffiths scored the final three points for the host Saskatoon Quakers as they defeated the Regina Rugby Club — forerunner to the Roughriders — 9-6 at Cairns Field on Nov. 4, 1921.
Griffiths Stadium was officially named after Wyn’s brother, Joe, on June 23, 1967.
At that very location on the University of Saskatchewan campus, the Roughriders will oppose the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in CFL pre-season action on Saturday. (Standing-room tickets are AVAILABLE HERE.)
Destination Bridge City, presented by Cameco, is highlighted by a game that is to begin at 5 p.m.
Saturday’s event will mark the 31st time that the Roughriders will play a game — or a match, to use rugby parlance — in Saskatoon.
None of the first 30 games were played at Griffiths Stadium, where the Roughriders routinely hold Coors Light Training Camp.
The Roughriders and Blue Bombers previously played here in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991, but those games were at Gordie Howe Bowl.
They, too, are part of the Roughriders’ long, eventful and often-unpredictable history in Saskatoon — where Wyn Griffiths was part of an extraordinary chain of events in 1921.
On Oct. 29 of that year, the Regina Rugby Club defeated the Quakers 10-8 at Cairns Field to win the Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union championship.
Hold on. Not so fast.
A try — the equivalent of a modern-day touchdown — was awarded to Regina’s Fred Wilson after he recovered his own punt in the end zone.
However, several observers believed the football had hit a fence before bouncing back into the field of play and being pounced upon by Wilson.
The Quakers filed a protest which, after much deliberation and controversy, was upheld. The SRFU ordered the match to be replayed in Saskatoon.
In the rematch, held on Nov. 4, 1921 at Cairns Field, the teams were tied 6-6 before Wyn Griffiths punted for three fourth-quarter rouges. Saskatchewan thus captured the provincial title, dethroning a Regina side that had dominated Saskatchewan rugby since 1911.
Ah, yes … 1911.
The Riot!
The RRC’s Sept. 30, 1911 date with the Quakers at Saskatoon’s exhibition grounds was called late in the third quarter — with Regina leading 14-0 — after unruly fans ran on to the field. Some of the players also became involved in the commotion.
The field was over-run to the point where it was eventually rendered unplayable. Regina was awarded the victory.
Any enmity between the teams subsided in time for players of both allegiances to dine together that evening at Saskatoon’s Flanagan Hotel.
Whereas some people were fit to be tied on Sept. 30, 1911, the proceedings of Oct. 29, 1929 were historically uneventful.
Before 1,000 spectators at Cairns Field, the Quakers and Regina Roughriders — the team had dispensed with the Regina Rugby Club title in 1924 — played to a 0-0 draw.
“The Roughriders had two beautiful chances to kick field goals or even to kick to the deadline for points,” the Regina Leader-Post reported. “Instead of kicking for points, the Reginans tried to plunge through the Quaker line and the blue shirts held like a stone wall.”
Until then, the lowest-scoring game in Roughriders/RRC history had been played on Oct. 13, 1923, when the host Quakers won 3-1.
That was during an era in which rugby teams from Regina and Saskatoon regularly collided in both cities. Saskatoon’s involvement eventually extended beyond the Quakers — to the senior Hilltops and the U of S varsity.
The last match of that description was played on Oct. 15, 1935, when the Roughriders downed the U of S 15-6 at Cairns Field.
In 1936, the Roughriders joined the Western Interprovincial Football Union — a three-team circuit that also consisted of the Blue Bombers and Calgary Bronks (later the Stampeders).
The SRFU carried on for one more season. The Moose Jaw Millers captured the final league championship in 1936.
The Roughriders returned to Saskatoon 52 years later, for the first of four consecutive pre-season games against Winnipeg at Gordie Howe Bowl.
Before 5,100 spectators on June 26, 1988, Saskatchewan won 41-6 and foreshadowed a breakthrough season. The Roughriders had missed the playoffs for 11 consecutive years before returning to the post-season in 1988.
A memorable season began on June 25, 1989, when Saskatchewan opened its exhibition slate with a 37-7 victory over Winnipeg. Roughly 2,000 rain-soaked spectators witnessed the rout. The Roughriders capped that season by winning the Grey Cup.
The raining, er, reigning champions kicked off their 1990 pre-season schedule with a 41-40 loss to the Blue Bombers before an estimated Saskatoon crowd of 4,000. Trevor Kennerd hit a game-winning 32-yard field goal with two seconds remaining. The Blue Bombers won despite being outgained by 237 yards (583-346).
The fourth annual Roughriders-Bombers game in Saskatoon was played on June 23, 1991. The attendance was estimated at 3,500.
Saskatchewan won a 17-16 nailbiter, the difference being a 29-yard touchdown pass from Tony Rice to Willis Jacox with 1:47 left in the fourth quarter.
Rice, who had guided the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to the 1988 national title, was released 12 days after the 1991 pre-season game against Winnipeg.
A former Notre Dame quarterback would not join the Roughriders again until Jack Coan signed with Saskatchewan on March 15, 2024.
Coan will be on the field on Saturday at Griffiths Stadium.
RIDERS IN SASKATOON: THE FIRST 30 GAMES
Sept. 30, 1911: Regina Rugby Club 14, Saskatoon Quakers 0 — Alex Page scored both tries for Regina before, you know, the riot …
Oct. 12, 1912: Saskatoon Quakers 20, RRC 2 — Art Olliver led the Quakers with a try (after recovering an onside kick) and two rouges.
Oct. 25, 1913: RRC 10, Quakers 3 — Wales Finnegan ran for a try and Fred Wilson added five singles.
Nov. 6, 1915: RRC 11, Quakers 1 — Two drop-kick field goals by Wilson helped Regina win a provincial-championship match one week after the RRC had defeated the visiting Calgary Canucks 17-1 to win the Western Canada title. OK, the sequence was out of order, but …
Oct. 21, 1916: RRC 13, Quakers 6 — Despite a 65-yard scoring run by Saskatoon’s Tom Creighton, Regina won at Cairns Field in the finale of a 1916 season that was shortened by the First World War. The RRC would not play again for another 1,071 days.
Oct. 18, 1919: RRC 30, University of Saskatchewan 0 — Wilson ran for a score and set a Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union record for converts in a game (five).
Oct. 25, 1919: RRC 29, Quakers 0 — Regina scored five tries, worth five points each, en route to winning the SRFU title.
Oct. 29, 1921: RRC 10, Quakers 8 — Cue the protest.
Nov. 4, 1921: Quakers 9, RRC 6 — As mentioned earlier, Wyn Griffiths took over in the fourth quarter. For the Quakers, it was a win-Wyn scenario.
Sept. 29, 1923: RRC 6, Quakers 0 — Scotty McEachern had three singles.
Oct. 13, 1923: Quakers 3, RRC 1 — Mel Kerr punted for all three Saskatoon singles.
Oct. 4, 1924: Quakers 18, Roughriders 5 — Kerr scored on two fumble returns and Gordon Fullerton added a Quakers try on an 80-yard punt return.
Oct. 18, 1924: Roughriders 9, Quakers 0 — Dan Dojack scored the Roughriders’ major on a fumble return.
Nov. 1, 1924: Roughriders 6, Quakers 2 — Howie Milne scored on a fumble return for the game’s lone try.
Oct. 31, 1925: Roughriders 30, Quakers 0 — Regina scored five tries, three of which were on fumble returns, to win the provincial rugby title.
Oct. 26, 1929: Roughriders 0, Quakers 0 — Next …
Sept. 13, 1930: Roughriders 3, Quakers 0 — All three singles were registered in the third quarter at a muddy Cairns Field.
Sept. 26, 1931: Roughriders 16, Quakers 3 — Greg Grassick ran for both Roughriders scores.
Oct. 1, 1932: U of S 8, Roughriders 4 — Johnny Logan threw a 20-yard TD pass to Ron Silver on a fake punt.
Oct. 15, 1932: Roughriders 38, Quakers 0 — Angie Mitchell caught a 25-yard TD pass from Austin DeFrate and added two converts and a single.
Sept. 16, 1933: Roughriders 17, Hilltops 3 — DeFrate threw a TD pass to Andy Young and ran for a major.
Oct. 7, 1933: Roughriders 6, U of S 0 — DeFrate led the way with a field goal and a rouge.
Oct. 20, 1934: Roughriders 19, Hilltops 0 — Paul Kirk contributed a TD and two converts.
Oct. 27, 1934: Roughriders 30, U of S 5 — Quarterback Walter (Oke) Olson ran for two TDs and added two singles.
Sept. 28, 1935: Roughriders 29, Hilltops 0 — Olson ran for two scores.
Oct. 19, 1935: Roughriders 15, U of S 6 — Young had two converts to go with a 30-yard interception-return TD.
June 26, 1988: Roughriders 41, Winnipeg 6 — Kent Austin threw touchdown passes to Jeff Fairholm and Rob Bresciani at Gordie Howe Bowl.
June 25, 1989: Roughriders 37, Winnipeg 7 — Fairholm and James Ellingson caught TD passes from Jeff Bentrim.
June 24, 1990: Winnipeg 41, Roughriders 40 — Bentrim and Fairholm collaborated for TDs of 83 and eight yards.
June 23, 1991: Roughriders 17, Winnipeg 16 —Jacox caught four passes for 108 yards and two TDs.
