Mitchell Blair
Like many of his teammates, Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive lineman Tearrius George could only sit back and relish what his team did to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Sunday night at Mosaic Stadium. With all three facets of the game working, the Riders improved their record to 4-0 by silencing Hamilton to a tune of 37-0 while holding them to under 200 yards of total offense.
“Indescribable,” George commented. “You prepare for something like that all week, and not to be cocky or anything, but you go into every game not wanting the other team to score. When you actually do it though, you just say “WOW, we just did that.”
Right from the opening kickoff, things went the way of the green-and-white as Hamilton kick returner Lindsey Lamar let the ball squeeze between his legs resulting in the Tiger-Cats scrimmaging from inside their own 10 to start the game off. It didn’t get any better for the Ti-Cats, but it certainly did for the Riders.
Quarterback Darian Durant threw four touchdown passes on the day—two of them going to Rob Bagg. For the speedy Canadian receiver, it was more proof that he is back from two season-ending knee injuries that have hampered his career.
“I feel as if I’ve been getting better every week,” Bagg explained. “If teams think I’ve lost a step then keep coming up on me, because we are going to keep going deep.”
While Bagg caught two touchdown passes, another went to offensive lineman Dan Clark who hauled in an 8 yard pass on the final play of the 3rd quarter. The Regina Thunder graduate only had one thought once the play was called in the huddle.
“Don’t fall,” Clark said. “Don’t drop the ball. It was a dream come true to catch that ball.” It was also special for another reason.
“As good a feeling as it was to score a touchdown, it was a better feeling to give that ball to my dad,” Clark stated. “We always talked about me and if I ever scored a touchdown how the ball would go straight to him. It was a great experience.”
As for Durant, he continues to guide the offense with great ease. Despite a foot that was less than 100 percent, the North Carolina grad was able to do what he wanted to do with great precision as the football team dominated another opponent with the win being a double-digit one. The quarterback says it’s not hard to see why they are having the success that they are when you look around the dressing room.
“We’re a veteran team, we’re a good team and we have weapons all over the place,” Durant explained.” It’s all about us coming to work each week feeling hungry. We’re a hungry team and if we can keep feeding that hunger with victories, we will be a very good football team. It’s as simple as that. “
Head Coach Corey Chamblin had no reason not to be impressed with his troops saying there is very little that he will be able to find wrong with this one, but there was one part of the game that had him smiling from ear-to-ear when it was over.
“What we talked about on defense is being a championship defense,” Chamblin insisted. “We want to make sure that teams don’t score no matter when. We have had some poor fourth quarters and we wanted to really shut them down in the fourth no matter the score. We focused in on that today and we succeeded. I was really happy to see that.”
While the team is happy to go home having a one-sided victory, they also know that they have to play the same football team in six days time. Chamblin says you don’t have to worry about his troops being complacent in the days leading up to that contest saying he doesn’t have to tell them to stay sharp because they know it themselves.
“The first thing they said in the dressing room was that next week is another game and that what happened today will be a thing of the past when they come back to work. They are a blue collar team with a white collar mentality. “Chamblin said. “I’m pleased that any time we touch the practice field; we are there to go to work. I will vouch for them when it comes to that.”
The two teams will butt helmets again next Saturday night in Guelph with kickoff going at 5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time.
GAME NOTES
- Kory Sheets continues an early season assault on opposition defenses as he had his 4th straight 100 yard game and now has the best four game start in the history of the CFL at 572 yards.
- You don’t have to go back far for the Riders last shutout. That occurred last Labour Day at Mosaic when they pounded Winnipeg 52-0.
- Rob Bagg has had two multi-touchdown games in his career. Both have come against Hamilton
- Chris Milo had two field goals on the afternoon to make him 9 for 9 this season
