The Saskatchewan Roughriders (11-5) were in Calgary Saturday to take on the Stampeders (13-3) in a massive CFL West Division showdown. The Riders needed a win to keep their hopes of a first-place finish alive while the Stampeders would clinch first with a win. It was the rubber-match of their three-game season series. Here’s the game log from the broadcast booth:
– The Stamps were favoured by four points going in and the over/under was 54.5 points.
– It was sunny and 19 degrees Celsius at the 5:10 pm kickoff at McMahon Stadium with a northwest wind at 17 km/h, gusting to 37 km/h.
– The scratches from the Riders’ 46-man roster were LB Ejiro Kuale, LB Tristan Black, DT Jermaine McElveen and DB Prince Miller.
– The Riders wore their “all-white” uniforms with white jerseys, pants and helmets. The Stampeders were adorned in their home reds with red helmets and black pants.
– Rider QB Darian Durant called tails and won the toss. They elected to defer until the second half.
– Calgary got the ball and the wind to open the game, starting at their 34 with Kevin Glenn behind centre. On second down Stamps running back Jon Cornish fumbled and the Riders’ Alex Hall jumped on it at the Stamps 42. Turnovers: 1-0 in Saskatchewan’s favour.
– The Riders got one first down on the series, a 20-yard reception by Chris Getzlaf which put him over 1000 yards on the season, and ended the drive with a 23-yard Chris Milo field goal. 3-0 Riders at the 3:32 mark. Three early points off turnovers.
– Calgary’s second series began at it’s 33. Two major fouls on the Riders (Anderson and Chick) moved the Stamps to the Rider 33. Another Cornish fumble was recovered by Rider LB Diamond Ferri at the Rider 35. Turnovers: 2-0 in Saskatchewan’s favour.
– Riders were 2-and-out on their second series.
– Calgary’s third possession began at their 33. They moved it down to the Rider 9-yard line enabling kicker Rene Parades to stroke a 16-yard field goal to tie the game 3-3 with 3:12 left in the first period. Rider DT Tearrius George took a roughing-the-passer flag in the series.
– Riders took it at their 35 for their third possession. They were 2-and-out for a second time.
– Calgary took over for their fourth series at their 26. 2-and-out after a Cornish run and Craig Butler knockdown.
– Riders’ fourth series began at their 29. The drive carried over into the second quarter.
AFTER ONE: RIDERS 3 STAMPS 3
– They were 2-and-out and a 15-yard clipping penalty on centre Dominic Picard brought up 3rd-and-30 from their 14. However a towering punt by Ricky Schmitt hemmed the Stamps back at their 45 for their fifth series.
– The Stamps moved it all the way downfield, including a Glenn-to-Jeff Fuller 23-yard hook-up, and ended the series with a 12-yard Glenn-to-Anthony Parker touchdown pass for a 10-3 lead at the 3:49 mark.
– Riders’ fifth series commenced at their 37. A 22-yard Getzlaf pick-up got them to the Calgary 51 before punting.
– Stamps took over at their 14 but a second down fumble by Kevin Glenn was recovered by T-George at the five! Turnovers: 3-0 in the Riders’ favour. They had to settle for a field goal attempt as Durant was sacked by Cordarro Law at the 13. Milo was good from 19-yards out cutting Calgary’s lead to 10-6 with 7:29 left in the half. Six Rider points off turnovers.
– Stamps ball at their 35. Their seventh series went for a 2-and-out.
– Riders took over at their 50 with 5:58 go go. They got to the Calgary 46 before another big sack on Durant at the 55 which forced a punt. Riders had six yards rushing to this point in the game.
– Calgary ball at their 16 with 4:37 to go. They managed one first down before punting.
– Rider ball at the Calgary 54 with 2:20 to go after a Jock Sanders punt return. They had to settle for a 33-yard Chris Milo field goal attempt. He was good, making him 3/3 on the day, cutting Calgary’s lead to 10-9 with 1:17 left.
– Stamps took over at their 35 but on first down Kevin Glenn fumbled and T-George returned it to the Calgary 12. Turnovers: 4-0 in the Riders’ favour. They cashed in with a one-yard Durant TD run. It was a double playfake and then he took it around the right end. A two-point convert attempt was unsuccessful making it 15-10 Saskatchewan with 0:36 to go in the second quarter.
– With 0:28 to go Kevin Glenn and the Calgary offense got it at their own 33. They ran three plays and ran out the clock.
AT THE BREAK: RIDERS 15 STAMPEDERS 10
– The Stampeders kicked off to open the second half and Rider returner Jock Sanders fumbled. Calgary recovered at the Saskatchewan 31. Turnovers: 4-1 in the Riders’ favour. Drew Tate came in at QB for the Stamps but he couldn’t move the ball. They had to settle for a 34-yard Rene Parades field goal. 15-13 Riders at the 1:24 mark.
– The Riders’ first series began at their 35 following the field goal. They got to their own 51 via a P-I call before punting. SB Chris Getzlaf went down for an extended time due to injury in the series.
– Calgary’s second series began at their 10. A 45-yard pick-up by Marquay McDaniel on the series got them down to the Rider 1-yard line. On the next play Tate rushed in for the score. They went for a two-point convert but Tate fumbled the shotgun snap and the Riders’ Weldon Brown recovered. 19-15 Stampeders with 7:17 left in the third period.
– Saskatchewan’s second series began at it’s 48 with no Getzlaf. He was done for the night with a knee injury. Durant moved it to the Calgary 23 before being swarmed for another sack. That set up a 36-yard Chris Milo field goal cutting Calgary’s lead to 19-18 with 1:57 left in the third.
– Stamps got it at their 35. They got to the Rider 52 as the clock hit 0:00.
AFTER THREE: STAMPEDERS 19 RIDERS 18
– The second play of the fourth quarter was a Rob Maver punt.
– Riders got it at their 21 a minute into the fourth quarter. The first play was Michah Johnson sack on Darian. 2-and-out.
– Calgary ball at their 37 with 12:42 to go. Tate moved it downfield for a 42-yard Parades field goal making it 22-18 with 10:25 left in the game.
– Rider ball at their 35. First down, Sheets was stuffed for no gain. Second down, Durant ran for 9 followed by a punt.
– Stamps got it at their 27 with 8:58 to go and a four-point lead. 2-and-out.
– A Rob Maver moonshot punt had the Riders taking over at their 32 with 7:40. No problem moving it downfield, and it was aided by a facemask penalty by Juwan Simpson on Kory Sheets. With 5:05 left Durant launched a 29-yard TD pass to Taj Smith for a 25-22 lead.
– The attendance: 33, 671.
– With 4:40 go, Tate and the Calgary offense took over at their 30. A P-I call and O-C penalty on the Rider bench moved the Stamps to the Rider 54. A 36-yard reception in the series by rookie WR Jeff Fuller set ’em up at the Rider 4. Next play Cornish carries it four yards for the score. 29-25 Stamps with 1:48 left.
– Darian Durant started a potentially game-winning drive at their 29 with 1:41 to go. First down, sack. Loss of three. Second down, incomplete pass intended for Rob Bagg. Third-and-13, Durant’s picked off by Calgary CB Chris Randle with 1:05 to go. Turnovers: 4-2 in the Riders’ favour, but this one came at a critical time.
– Drew Tate, Jon Cornish and the Stampeders ground out the clock and walked off with the victory.
GAME OVER: STAMPEDERS 29 ROUGHRIDERS 25
POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM COACH COREY CHAMBLIN:
– Tate came out and it was a good change of pace for them. That made two runners in their backfield. They kind of split us and you have to play honest then. We were heavy zone in the first half and they made adjustments in the second half to it. We were still good. The thing that put them in it was that penalty in the end. From where we were standing we didn’t think it was a flag but the officials make the judgment. You just have to live with it.
– I told the guys it’s tough and it’s gotta be fair both ways. Am I pissed? Yah. But the end of the day we have to make plays and overcome things.
– It’s tough to make those turnovers and have it end that way. They peeled back their ears and went after Darian. We have to do the same.
– There was only 11 carries so Kory Sheets didn’t get the carries in this game. One or two calls and we’re not having this conversation. This is giving us experience in big games and we’ll go from there.
– We’ll focus on Edmonton and move on to the next one. We should be good to go. We gotta show up and play some good ball there.
* The Riders host the Edmonton Eskimos Saturday at 3:00 in their final game of the regular season on TSN and the CKRM Rider Radio Network. They will host the B.C. Lions in the 2013 CFL Western Semifinal.
