Rod Pedersen
The 8-1 Saskatchewan Roughriders visited the 1-8 Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Sunday’s Banjo Bowl at Investors Group Field. The Riders were looking to sweep the back-to-back series for a third-consecutive year after a 48-25 victory in Labour Day Classic XLVII. Here’s the game log from the broadcast booth:
– It was 22 degrees Celsius and partly cloudy with a southeast wind at 9 km/h at the 2:00 pmkickoff.
– The Riders wore their all-white uniforms with white jerseys, white pants and white helmets. The Bombers were in their home blues with gold pants and gold helmets.
– The Rider scratches from the 46-man roster were KR Jock Sanders, WR Jordan Sisco, DB Dwight Anderson and RB Chris Garrett.
– The Riders won the coin toss and elected to defer until the second half. The Bombers got the ball to open the game with their opening drive beginning at their 35-yard line. On their second play Rider linebacker Weldon Brown picked off Bomber QB Justin Goltz who returned it to the Winnipeg 38.
– Riders got to the Winnipeg one but were stopped twice with backup QB Drew Willy in for Darian Durant in short yardage. Then on 3rd-and-1, they took a procedure penalty forcing them to settle for a 13-yard Chris Milo field goal. 3-0 Riders, 6:20 into the game.
– On the ensuing kickoff Bomber returner Will Ford returned the Ricky Schmitt kick 98-yards for a touchdown at the 6:34 mark.
– The Riders’ second series began at their 33. They moved it all the way downfield before Bomber DB picked off Durant at the Winnipeg 1-yard line. It was just Durant’s second pick of the season, and tied the turnover battle up 1-1.
– The Bombers were 2-and-out on the ensuing drive, forcing a punt. Tristan Jackson returned it to the Winnipeg 40 for Saskatchewan’s third series.
– The drive carried over into the second quarter.
AFTER ONE: BOMBERS 7 RIDERS 3
– On the first play of the second quarter Rider kicker Chris Milo hit a 15-yard field goal making it 7-6 Winnipeg.
– Winnipeg didn’t have a first down in the opening quarter. They took it at their 35 after the field goal. They were 3-and-out.
– Riders’ first series of the second quarter began at their 52. They were 2-and-out.
– Winnipeg returner Demond Washington fumbled the Ricky Schmitt punt and Rider LB Tristan Black knocked it out of bounds at the Winnipeg 22. Rider ball!
– Again the offense stalled near the end zone and they had to settle for a 30-yard Chris Milo field goal which gave Saskatchewan the lead, 9-7, with 10:44 to go in the half.
– Riders got their first sack of the game with 9:46 to go in the second quarter when Tearrius George took down Goltz forcing a 2-and-out.
– Bombers got their first sack of the game with 5:18 to go in the half when Alex Hall took down Darian Durant.
– Rider returner Tristan Jackson fumbled a punt and the Bombers recovered at the Saskatchewan 25. Turnovers 2-2. Winnipeg made the Riders pay with a 38-yard Sandro DeAngelis field goal, giving them a 10-7 lead with 2:33 to go in the half.
– With 0:43 to play in the half Milo lined up his longest field goal attempt of the season, from 50 yards, and Saskatchewan went up 12-10.
AT THE BREAK: RIDERS 12 BOMBERS 10
– Riders got the ball to open the second half, starting at their 33. They went 2-and-out.
– Bombers’ first series began at their 43. They never had a first down in the first half. They got their first on a long Justin Goltz run to the Rider 36. A Carlos Thomas interception of Goltz was negated by a Ricky Foley roughing-the-passer penalty in the series. The drive continued and Goltz capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run giving Winnipeg a 17-12 lead with 9:54 to go in the third.
– Riders’ second series began at the Winnipeg 50 after a 50-yard kickoff return by Tristan Jackson. They got to the Winnipeg 37 but another sack given up took Saskatchewan out of field goal range, forcing a Ricky Schmitt punt. Ian Wild got the sack. It went for a 64-yard punt, cutting Winnipeg’s lead to 17-13 with 7:38 left in the third.
– Bombers were 2-and-out on their second series.
– Riders were 2-and-out on their next possession.
– Winnipeg took over at their 19 with 5:26 to go in the third. They were 2-and-out.
– The Riders committed their third turnover of the game on a Darian Durant fumble at the Winnipeg 48. Bomber DB Demond Washington recovered it. The drive carried over into the fourth quarter.
AFTER THREE: BOMBERS 17 RIDERS 13
– 2:53 into the fourth quarter Winnipeg’s Goltz scored on a 2-yard touchdown run and the Bombers opened up a 24-13 lead.
– Saskatchewan’s first series of the fourth quarter began at the Winnipeg 53 with 12:45. Bombers took a major foul on the cover team. Didn’t matter. Riders were 2-and-out.
– Winnipeg got it back with 11:32 left, starting at their 18. They went 2-and-out and Gotlz took a sack from Jermaine McElveen.
– Riders got it back at their 44 with 10:10 to go. They would have had it in Bomber territory, but the Riders flagged on the punt return unit. Durant was sacked on 2nd down and the Riders were 2-and-out.
– With 7:18 to go Sandro Deangelis missed a 40-yard field goal for Winnipeg, and the Riders’ Weston Dressler conceded the single point. 25-13 Bombers.
– Saskatchewan took over at their 35. They got to the Bomber 41 after a pair of Kory Sheets touches but Durant took a sack at the Winnipeg 51, forcing a punt.
– With 5:09 to go Winnipeg got it at their 13. They were 2-and-out and the second down was capitalized by a Ricky Foley sack of Goltz.
– Riders took over at the Bomber 40 with 3:37 to go. They got to the Winnipeg 40 before turning it over on downs.
– Winnipeg was 2-and-out on their next series and the Riders got it back at their 51 with 2:02 to go. Durant was sacked again and again. They turned it over on downs once again.
– Bombers took over at the Rider 53 with 1:16 to go. Rider LB Craig Butler forced a Justin Goltz fumble and Ricky Foley returned it to the Bomber 26. First play was an incomplete pass, second play was another sack on Durant. A major foul on Dominic Picard moved Saskatchewan back to the Winnipeg 50. Riders turned it over on downs for a third time.
– With 0:24 left Goltz came out to grind down the clock to 0:00.
GAME OVER: BLUE BOMBERS 25 ROUGHRIDERS 13
POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM RIDER COACH COREY CHAMBLIN
– They definitely had a crowd throughout. They were in it. They played like they had nothing to lose. On the flip side we didn’t have our best game. They had theirs, we didn’t have ours.
– Definitely not happy with the sacks. But we have a very good team and football staff. We’ll learn from this and regroup and move on.
– They did a few things different but it always come down to block and tackling. They did a better job of it today.
– That’s the lessons to be learned. We gotta do the base things right; we can’t turnover the ball and we can’t give up those long ones. Today we didn’t do those things in the right matter.
– It is football and those guys are pro football players. We’re not gonna blow everyone out. Weston Dressler is a star but they have star defensive backs.
– We don’t want anymore losses. We need to go 1-0 each week.
** The Roughriders return home to the host the Toronto Argonauts Saturday at 7:30 pm on TSN and the CKRM Rider Radio Network.
– Riders got the ball to open the second half, starting at their 33. They went 2-and-out.
