Turnabout was fair play Sunday.
On July 28, the Calgary Stampeders jumped into a 24-0 first-quarter lead on the Saskatchewan Roughriders and cruised to a 34-22 CFL victory at Mosaic Stadium.
On Sunday, the Roughriders jumped into a 14-0 first-quarter lead on the Stampeders, built the advantage to 31-6 in the third quarter and went on to a 40-27 victory at Mosaic Stadium.
“We didn’t get down 24-0 at the end of the first; that helps,” Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones said when asked to find a difference between the two games. “We hung on to the football, executed offensively, kept some drives going and burned some clock. Defensively, we took advantage of our opportunities.”
In the teams’ previous meeting, the Stampeders scored two touchdowns after recovering Saskatchewan fumbles and got a punt-return TD en route to their big first-quarter lead. The Roughriders cut the deficit to 24-19 in the third quarter, but couldn’t get any closer.
On Sunday, Saskatchewan (4-4-0) executed on offence, defence and special teams to build its early advantage. The Stampeders tried to rally but managed only to get within 10 at 37-27 in the fourth quarter.
As a result, Calgary (7-1-0) tasted defeat for the first time this season.
“Two days ago when we broke practice down, Coach Jones made a point that Calgary can be beat,” Saskatchewan defensive back Ed Gainey said. “I wanted to add to that and let the team know that if we put forth our best effort, we’re going to come out on top every time.
“We knew we could beat them. That was the mindset coming out: Just go ahead and beat them because they’re the outlier right now in the division and kind of shake things up in the West a little bit.”
The Stampeders lead the division with 14 points, two more than the Edmonton Eskimos (6-3-0), four more than the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (5-4-0), six more than the Roughriders and eight more than the B.C. Lions (3-5-0). Saskatchewan visits the Lions on Saturday.
The Roughriders go into that contest with the momentum derived from beating one of the CFL’s elite teams.
Asked if Sunday’s victory made a statement, quarterback Zach Collaros replied: “Maybe for you guys to write stories.”
“We know what we have in our locker room,” he added. “We believe in each other and believe in the system that we have here under Coach Jones. We know what we’re capable of.
“It’s another win for us and we have to continue down that path to get to where we want to go.”
The Roughriders took Sunday’s opening kickoff and drove 74 yards in seven plays, six of which were Collaros completions. The march ended at the Calgary five-yard line and Brett Lauther kicked a 13-yard field goal at 4:27.
Saskatchewan’s second possession ended in a 43-yard field goal by Lauther at 9:45, but the drive likely should have culminated in a touchdown.
A Collaros pump fake fooled the Calgary defence, but the QB overthrew a wide-open Shaq Evans from the 35-yard line. After another incompletion, Lauther hit the three-pointer.
Calgary gambled facing a third-and-three on the final play of the quarter, but Roughriders cornerback Nick Marshall turned the tables.
Marshall stepped in front of DaVaris Daniels, snared the Bo Levi Mitchell pass and returned the interception 67 yards for a touchdown.
It was Marshall’s second interception of the season and his second pick-six; he went 66 yards with his first career pick against the Toronto Argonauts on June 15. He thus became the first Saskatchewan defender with two pick-sixes in a season since Chris McKenzie in 2011.
On Sunday, Collaros found Naaman Roosevelt for a two-point convert and the Roughriders led 14-0 after the first quarter.
Marshall was the victim on Calgary’s next possession, however, as Daniels got behind the corner and caught a 45-yard scoring pass from Bo Levi Mitchell. Rene Paredes missed the convert, so Saskatchewan led 14-6 at 3:21 of the second quarter.
Special teams scored the Roughriders’ next major, when Sam Eguavoen blocked a punt and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown. Lauther kicked the convert and Saskatchewan led 21-6 at 6:12 of the second quarter.
Lauther completed the first-half scoring with a 43-yard field goal at 9:42.
Marshall scored the first offensive touchdown of his career at 3:17 of the third quarter, running in from three yards out of the Wildcat formation. Lauther’s convert made it 31-6.
The Stampeders cut the lead to 31-12 as Mitchell found Kamar Jorden with a 32-yard TD pass. The two-point convert try failed.
Calgary scored again at 13:06 of the third, when Mitchell connected with Juwan Brescacin for a 29-yard TD pass on a third-and-five gamble. Mitchell then hit Jorden for the two-point convert to make it 31-20.
Lauther hoofed a 22-yard field goal at 4:35 of the fourth quarter and a 28-yarder at 9:31 to give the Roughriders a 17-point cushion. But Mitchell threw his fourth TD pass of the game, a 17-yarder to Daniels, at 12:33 of the fourth and Paredes kicked the convert to make it 37-27.
Lauther’s 37-yard field goal at 14:47 of the fourth wrapped up the scoring.
Collaros had 25 completions in 34 pass attempts for 270 yards — a season-high yardage total for a Roughriders QB. His favourite target was Jordan Williams-Lambert, who had 10 catches for 152 yards.
Mitchell was 22-for-36 passing for 275 yards, but the Roughriders sacked him five times and recorded five takeaways.
“(It was a) total team effort,” Collaros said. “The defence was amazing, special teams scored a touchdown for us and we had good field position all night long. Offensively, we were able to sustain some drives.
“Moving forward, we have to score touchdowns, but beating an undefeated team — the team coming into this game as the best team in the league — we’ll take it any way we can.”
