Rob Vanstone: Smiling Schager sported shiner after resilient Riders rallied to win

SASKATOON — The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ offence operated out of the eye formation during the climactic stages of Saturday’s CFL pre-season game at Griffiths Stadium.

With clear vision restricted to his left eye, Brayden Schager unerringly led the Green and White on a 99-yard scoring drive late in the fourth quarter against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The former University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors standout threw a three-yard, game-winning touchdown pass to University of Saskatchewan Huskies alumnus Daniel Wiebe with 42.9 seconds remaining. Alex Hale’s convert provided what proved to be the final point as the Roughriders won 31-27.

Meeting the media after the game, Schager looked as though he had just emerged from a prize fight — and not necessarily as the victor. The area around his right eye was puffy, bruised and lacerated.

After being poked in the stricken eye early in the fourth quarter, he left the game for a few plays before returning to action just in time to have a pass intercepted and returned for a touchdown.

But guess who was celebrating at the end, battered but not beaten?

“There was a lot of adversity throughout the game,” Schager said. “I got poked in the eye pretty bad and could hardly see out of my right eye for the rest of the game. That was tough, not being able to see, and there was obviously the pick-six.

“But I just keep fighting. That’s what I do. I’ve had a lot of adversity with football in my life and I just keep fighting, no matter what. I’m never going to quit.”

The same could be said of the Roughriders, who weathered two interception-return touchdowns and shrugged off an early 10-point deficit.

The second pick-six, thrown by Schager, was followed by a Brady Lidster field goal that gave Winnipeg a 27-21 lead with 4:25 remaining in the game.

Schager responded by marching the Roughriders into field-goal range, whereupon Jonathan Kim split the uprights from 35 yards to narrow the gap to three points with 2:30 left.

Saskatchewan’s defence then forced a two-and-out. Following a punt, the Roughriders were backed up to their 11-yard line.

Schager ignited the game-winning drive by finding Abdul Janneh Jr. for a 39-yard gain.

It was an impressive response under any circumstances, but especially so when you consider the swollen eye.

“On the last drive, I couldn’t see great out of the right eye,” Schager said. “It’s coming back a little bit now, but there were some times when I just had to close my eye and throw the ball using the left eye only.”

That was his little secret.

“I told the coaches I was good,” Schager said with a grin. “I’m always going to tell them I’m good.

“I didn’t want to come out of the game in the first place, but they made me sit out for a couple of plays. That’s just my mindset. I want to stay in there. I’ll close my eyes and throw it if I have to.

“I want to stay in there for my guys. I don’t want to quit. I don’t want to show any weakness. I want to show them that I’m always ready to play, no matter what.”

Schager put on quite a show for a standing-room-only crowd of 7,654 fans, completing 14 of 19 passes for 179 yards. The overflow crowd included his parents, who made the trip to Saskatoon from Dallas.

“They’re pretty worried about me,” Scott and Ginger Schager’s 23-year-old son. “My mom’s trying to make sure I can still see, but I’m all good.

“It was great to have them here and experience this with them.”

Schager wasn’t the only Saskatchewan quarterback to experience a rollercoaster on Saturday.

Jack Coan, who assumed the reins after 2025 Grey Cup MVP Trevor Harris briskly guided Saskatchewan to a touchdown on its first possession, threw a pick-six and later responded with a touchdown pass.

“It’s one play, one life,” the third-year Roughriders pivot said. “That’s what one of my old college coaches used to say.

“Once one play’s over, you move on to the next one. You play each play in the present moment and that’s all it is.”

Coan finished with 10 completions in 18 attempts for 100 yards, 12 of which resulted from a TD pass to newcomer Johnny Johnson III at 5:04 of the third quarter. Johnson III’s touchdown, which gave Saskatchewan its first lead of the game, was followed by a Hale convert that put the Roughriders ahead 21-17.

Winnipeg responded with a touchdown and a field goal before Saskatchewan closed out the game with a 10-point run of its own.

Over 60 minutes, the Roughriders enjoyed a decided advantage in first downs (29-13) and net offence (431-257).

The victorious team’s plays were called by Offensive Co-ordinator Marc Mueller — whose legendary grandfather, Ron Lancaster, threw the most interceptions in CFL history (396).

“We’ve seen the greatest quarterbacks in this league have to bounce back from an interception,” Roughriders head coach Corey Mace noted. “It’s part of football.

“I was really pleased with how both guys responded after those plays and put together drives that were crucial in order for us to win.

“We’re in a good spot, I think.”

That could also be said of the venue. The atmosphere at Griffiths Stadium was electric during the first Saskatoon-based CFL pre-season game since 1991.

“It was very similar to the Halifax games,” Mace said, referencing the CFL’s Touchdown Atlantic games that were played in Nova Scotia. “Although the crowd might be smaller in terms of numbers, it was still loud. It definitely felt like a home game.

“I’m just happy we could come out with a win for Rider Nation.”