Given his connection to Regina and the Saskatchewan Roughriders, it was only fitting that rookie Jaxon Ford made the play that gave the Riders a 32-30 overtime victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sunday.
Ford, who grew up in Regina, is a rookie safety with the Riders, a team that his grandfather Alan Ford played for and served as general manager. With a sellout crowd of 33,350 at Mosaic Stadium for the Labour Day Classic, Jaxon Ford picked the perfect time to come up with the biggest play of his young CFL career.
After the Riders scored a touchdown and two-point convert on the first possession of overtime, the Bombers responded with a touchdown of their own. Ford’s heroics came on the ensuing two-point conversion when he deflected a pass from Winnipeg quarterback Zach Collaros to give Saskatchewan the victory.
It was supposed to be a blitz by (Derrick) Moncrief but we flipped it and I ran off the edge the best I could to make a play,” said Ford, who was playing because starting safety Jayden Dalke left the game with an injury.
“It was a rush of energy. I tipped the ball and turned around to see it on the ground and it was a rush of energy.”
Saskatchewan Roughriders kicker Brett Lauther (12) celebrates with teammate Jaxon Ford (17) after recovering an onside kick against Winnipeg Blue Bombers during the first half of CFL Labour Day Classic football action in Regina, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023. (Heywood Yu/The Canadian Press)
Riders head coach Craig Dickenson has faith in Ford, who the Riders picked in the second round (11th overall) of the 2023 CFL draft.
“He’s a good player and every time we put him out there, he’s done what he’s needed to do. We know if Dalke is down, we feel he can go in and start and play a game for us,” said Dickenson.
The Riders forced overtime when Brett Lauther kicked his fifth field goal of the game, an 18-yarder, with 31 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Riders opened overtime with backup quarterback Antonio Pipkin scoring his second touchdown of the game on a one-yard sneak. Jake Dolegala followed up with a completion to Shawn Bane Jr. on the ensuing two-point convert to give the Riders a 32-24 lead.
Dolegala made a pinpoint throw on the play as it appeared that Bane Jr. was well covered.
“I thought I made the right read. It was Bane just running away from the linebacker and he was under cutting it. It had to be the perfect ball and the perfect catch, and it was,” said Dolegala, who finished the game 22 of 39 passing for 326 yards.
“The window was pretty small. If you guys could see it from my angle, I shouldn’t have thrown it.”
Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Jake Dolegala (9) throws against Winnipeg Blue Bombers during the first half of CFL Labour Day Classic football action in Regina, Sunday. (Heywood Yu/The Canadian Press)
Winnipeg overcame a 13-7 halftime deficit on Brady Oliveira’s second rushing major of the game, coming with 3:50 left in the fourth quarter, giving Winnipeg a 24-20 lead.
On the preceding play, the Riders appeared to have held the Bombers to a game-tying field goal when Collaros threw an incompletion on second-and-goal from the Saskatchewan five-yard line. However, Riders defensive lineman Pete Robertson took a 15-yard roughing penalty at the end of the play when he head-butted Collaros.
One of the oddest (and most unnecessary) penalties I’ve ever seen in a football game.<br><br>Saskatchewan’s Pete Robertson celebrates a drive-killing incompletion with the… headbutt on Zach Collaros. <br><br>Robertson wasn’t ejected, somehow. <br><br>cc <a href=”https://twitter.com/SickosCommittee?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@SickosCommittee</a> <a href=”https://t.co/IW3sOtR9y6″>pic.twitter.com/IW3sOtR9y6</a>
On the ensuing play, Oliveira took the ball untouched into the end zone. Oliveira also scored on a three-yard run late in the third quarter.
Dickenson was discouraged by Robertson’s lack of discipline.
“I didn’t see it so I can’t comment, but I’m disappointed we got a penalty after we stopped them on second down. That was an emotional game. The penalty that Pete got, from what I was told from upstairs, was that Pete earned that one. I don’t know if he’ll get fined or not, but I didn’t see it,” said Dickenson.
“I have to learn to control myself a little bit. It’s just a game. You can’t do extra with the quarterback, especially a guy like Zach,” said Robertson after the game.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros was head-butted by Roughriders defensive lineman Pete Robertson in the team’s loss to Saskatchewan Sunday. (Heywood Yu/The Canadian Press)
The Riders, who are third in the CFL’s West Division, improved to 6-5 with the victory, while the Bombers, who occupy top spot in the West Division, slipped to 9-3. Winnipeg could have clinched a playoff berth with a victory.
The teams struggled offensively in the first quarter but quarterbacks Dolegala and Collaros found their respective strides in the second quarter.
Midway through the quarter Dolegala led the Riders on an eight-play, 102-yard drive that culminated with backup Pipkin scoring on a one-yard run.
The drive, which gave the Riders a 10-0 lead, included a 64-yard reception by Tevin Jones and a 37-yard catch by Mitchell Picton.
Collaros, who began the game 0-for-4 passing with an interception, helped the Bombers respond following Pipkin’s touchdown.
Starting from the Winnipeg 10-yard line, Collaros hit three consecutive passes — 20 yards to Dalton Schoen, 46 yards to Nik Demski and 34 yards to Drew Wolitarsky to give the Bombers their first major of the day.
Wolitarsky’s diving catch in the end zone pulled the Bombers to within 10-7 with 3:34 left in the second quarter.
Collaros, despite completing just 13 of 26 passes, threw for 279 yards. Oliveira finished with 88 yards on 17 carries while Demski had 118 yards on five receptions. Linebacker Adam Bighill had two sacks for the Bombers.
A plume of wildfire smoke hovered over Mosaic Stadium on Sunday morning. (Radio-Canada)
Earlier in the day, the Riders, Bombers, CFL and CFLPA were monitoring the air quality with in-stadium instruments to ensure safe conditions for players, coaches, staff and fans.
Smoke from ongoing wildfires in British Columbia’s Interior had drifted east, impacting the air quality in Saskatchewan. The Riders released a statement 40 minutes before kickoff that with the help of strong south winds, levels decreased steadily throughout the afternoon and were below the acceptable level for the game to go forward.
The Roughriders and Blue Bombers will play each other Saturday in the Manitoba capital.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
