REGINA — What a difference a week made for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
One week after getting trounced 37-13 by the Alouettes in Montreal, the Riders returned home to Mosaic Stadium and gained a measure of revenge with a 41-20 victory over the Quebec-based squad on Saturday.
The Riders struggled in the June 23 loss, playing their second road game in five days and travelling across the country with just one day of practice under their belts. Saturday’s game didn’t start much better as the Riders trailed 13-11 at the half.
Montreal head coach Khari Jones made an interesting decision to start the second half, a choice that ended up having a serious impact on the game. Jones decided to kick off to start the half and get the wind for the fourth quarter.
Riders quarterback Cody Fajardo interpreted that decision as a sign of disrespect.
“We felt a little disrespected as an offence because they chose to kick off to us again. We took it personally so we went out there and it kind of motivated us on offence. It got us rolling, we drove down the field, scored and kind of gave us the momentum back,” said Fajardo.
Saskatchewan scored touchdowns on their first three possessions of the third quarter to take a 32-13 lead. Jamal Morrow, on a 12-yard run, Fajardo, on a one-yard quarterback sneak, and Kian Schaeffer-Baker, on a 44-yard reception, scored the Saskatchewan majors.
A two-point convert attempt failed after Morrow’s touchdown but he was successful with a two-point convert after Fajardo’s touchdown. The Riders kicked a PAT following Schaffer-Baker’s touchdown.
The Riders have been dealing with injury problems on offence. They lost centre Dan Clark and receiver Shaq Evans earlier in the season and a number of players were nicked up in Saturday’s game, including receiver Duke Williams.
Left with a large number of new starters, the Saskatchewan coaching staff decided to stick to the basics in the second half.
“We got really simple on offence. And I think if you look at our team and our offence especially, I don’t think there’s maybe three guys on the offence right now that have had two full seasons as starters,” said Fajardo.
” … Being simple and just playing fast sometimes helps and Coach Maas did a great job of simplifying our game plan,” said Fajardo. “We went out there and we executed really well.”
Riders head coach Craig Dickenson used the halftime break to deliver a clear message to his team.
“One thing we talked about at halftime was to play the way we’re capable of and see what the score is at the end. … I challenged them specifically at halftime — ‘Show me your character the second half and win, lose or draw, play as hard as you can and leave it all out there.’ They came out and really did a good job,” said Dickenson.
Morrow had an impressive game, gaining 103 yards on 16 carries. It was Morrow’s second 100-yard game of the season after he posted 126 yards rushing on 17 carries in a 26-16 victory over the Edmonton Elks on June 18.
Cornerback Nick Marshall sealed the victory for the Riders with a 90-yard interception return for a touchdown with four minutes left in the fourth quarter. Fajardo connected with Morrow on a two-point convert to increase Saskatchewan’s lead to 41-20.
The Riders also got an eight-yard touchdown reception from Mitchell Picton in the first quarter. Kicker Brett Lauther added a 57-yard field goal, an effort that tied his career best. Punter Kaare Vedvik had a 41-yard single.
The Riders had six sacks on the day with Anthony Lanier leading the charge with three. Pete Robertson, with two, and AC Leonard, with one, also had sacks for the Riders. Robertson leads the CFL with seven sacks.
Chandler Worthy, who took the opening kickoff of the June 23 game 88 yards for a touchdown, returned a kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter of Saturday’s game.
Walter Fletcher, who took over at running back after Montreal starter Jeshrun Antwi was injured early in the second half, scored on a three-yard run midway through the third quarter. David Cote had two field goals for Montreal, connecting from 18 and 38 yards.
It was a penalty-filled game with Saskatchewan taking 16 penalties for 155 yards, while Montreal had 12 penalties for 105 yards. Montreal defensive lineman Michael Wakefield was ejected from the game midway through the third quarter after taking his second misconduct penalty of the game.
When asked if there was a lot of animosity on the field on Saturday, Riders offensive lineman Logan Ferland delivered a sharp reply.
“Absolutely. I mean, we had some payback, we were getting chirped quite a bit last game so it felt really good to get them back,” said Ferland.
The 3-1 Riders return to action on July 8 when they host the Ottawa Redblacks. The 1-3 Alouettes head into their bye week before hosting the Elks on July 14.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 2, 2022
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
