Rod Pedersen
The 4-0 Saskatchewan Roughriders faced the 1-3 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Sunday evening at Alumni Stadium in Guelph, Ontario. It was the back-end of a home-and-home set which saw the Riders win the opener 37-0 last Sunday in Regina. Here’s the game log from the broadcast booth:
– It was overcast and 19 degrees Celsius at the 7:30 pm kickoff with a south, southeast wind at 13 km/h.
– The Riders wore their “all-white” uniforms with white jerseys, pants and helmets. The Ticats wore black jerseys, pants and helmets.
– The Rider scratches were DB Carlos Thomas, WR Jordan Sisco, DB Terrell Maze and REC Eron Riley.
– The Ticats won the coin toss and elected to take the football to open the game. They started their opening drive at their 25. They moved it down to the Rider 13-yard line before kicker Luca Congi booted a 15-yard field goal for an early 3-0 lead, just 3:10 into the game.
– Riders’ first drive started at their 13-yard line with Drew Willy at quarterback. They were 2-and-out.
– Ticats made it 10-0 on a Henry Burris-to-Lindsey Lamar 17-yard touchdown pass with 8:10 to go in the first quarter.
– Riders managed one first down on their second drive, starting at their 38, but ending up punting.
– First Rider sack of the game came from Tearrius George on Henry Burris on Hamilton’s third series.
– On Saskatchewan’s third possession kicker Chris Milo hit a 17-yard field goal attempt to get the Riders on the board. 10-3 Ticats with 1:48 to go in the first period.
AFTER ONE: TICATS 10 RIDERS 3
– At 1:23 of the second quarter Ticats punter Josh Bartel intentionally conceded a safety to give the Riders two-free points. 10-5 Ticats.
– Geroy Simon caught his first touchdown pass as a Rider, a 30-yarder from Drew Willy, to give the Riders a 12-10 lead with 11:15 to go in the half. It was a 4-play, 64 yard drive, and Willy’s first touchdown pass of the year.
– Ticats retook the lead on a 38-yard touchdown pass from Henry Burris to make it 17-12 Hamilton with 7:15 to go in the half. The drive started at their 17.
– Next series the Riders marched downfield and Drew Willy found Chris Getzlaf for an 18-yard touchdown pass and the Riders regained the lead. 19-17 Riders with 4:21 to go in the half.
– Riders’ second sack came on the next Hamilton series with John Chick taking down Burris for his first sack of the year.
– Next series Drew Willy launched a 24-yard touchdown pass to Weston Dressler to spread it around. 26-17 Riders with 2:08 to go in the half.
– Riders’ third sack on Burris came from MLB Renauld Williams with 38 seconds left in the half. It was his team-leading sixth.
AT THE BREAK: RIDERS 26 TICATS 17
– Riders got the ball to open the second half and started at their 37-yard line. They were 2-and-out.
– Ticats’ first series started at their 37. The first turnover of the game came on 2-and-10 when Burris fumbled and Saskatchewan recovered at the Ticats 32. LB Craig Butler recovered. The Riders cashed in with a 17-yard field goal from Chris Milo. 29-17 Riders with 11:23 to go in the third.
– Second turnover of the game was a Burris fumble at the Ticat 24. DE Hilee Taylor forced it. Riders turned it into a 12-yard Chris Milo field goal for a 32-17 Rider lead with 2:20 to go in the third frame.
AFTER THREE: RIDERS 29 TICATS 17
– The first play of the fourth quarter was a 35-yard Luca Congi field goal for the Ticats making it 32-20 Riders.
– Third turnover of the game came on a downs when Henry Burris couldn’t crack the Rider goal line on 3rd-and-goal from the one. Saskatchewan turned around and drove it to the Hamilton 47 before punting. It took over 4:00 off the clock.
– With 2:56 the Ticats got it back, starting at their 15-yard line. On the drive Tearrius George recorded his second sack of the game on Burris. It was the Riders’ fourth. Hamilton got to the Rider 25 before turning it over on downs. Turnovers 4-0 in the Riders’ favour.
– With 0:52 to go the Ticats got it back at their 17-yard line needing a miracle. They turned it over on downs again, as Burris was sacked by Hilee Taylor on 3rd-and-10.
– The Riders came on to grind out the clock with three consecutive kneel downs by Drew Willy.
GAME OVER: ROUGHRIDERS 32 TIGERCATS 20
POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM RIDER HEAD COACH COREY CHAMBLIN:
– It’s good to be 5-0 at any point in the season. It really went down to game time for Drew Willy to start. The biggest thing, even at the QB position, we have 42 men who do their jobs and do it well. If they do, we’ll continue to win.
– 5-0 is good and I’m very proud of these guys. I’ll take three days to enjoy this win, and then look to the next one.
– I heard the fans chanting “5-0”. We have some of the best fans not only in the league, but possibly in the world. We have great fans.
DREW WILLY
– I didn’t know I’d start until an hour and a half before the game, once Darian tested it out on the field. He said it felt “iffy” and said I go the start. It was fun to get the win and we won in all three phases.
– It feels awesome (for his teammates to chant his name). We have a real close-knit team. Well enjoy this, the week off, and then get ready for Calgary. That’s gonna be a big one.
– As a quarterback sometimes you get in a zone. I was getting good protection, the receivers ran good routes and it went from there. The defense shut them down in the second half so that was a nice feeling.
– I’ve known Sheets since we trained for the NFL combine. We have lots of stories and are great friends. He’s a great player to hand the ball off to.
**The Riders now head into a bye week and don’t play again until Friday, August 9 at Calgary in a first-place showdown.
