Rod Pedersen
The Saskatchewan Roughriders (9-7) were in Calgary Friday evening to face the Stampeders (13-2) in Week 18 of CFL play. It was the final game of their two game season series which Calgary led 1-0. Here is the game log from the broadcast booth:
– It was cloudy and nine degrees Celsius at the 7:30 pm kickoff with a west wind at 29 km/h gusting to 44.
– The Riders are their road “all-white” uniforms with white jerseys, pants and helmets. The Stamps were in their home reds with black pants and red helmets.
– The Rider scratches were DB Marshay Green and LB Tristan Black.
– The Riders won the coin toss and deferred. Calgary elected to take the football to open the game.
– Bo-Levi Mitchell was Calgary’s starting quarterback and their opening series began at their 37. Rider LB Diamond Ferri made the opening kickoff tackle in his 100th CFL game. Mitchell used an aerial attack to get down to the Rider 30 yard line before attempting a 37-yard Rene Parades field goal. It was wide right and went for a single so the Stamps led 1-0 at the 4:39 mark.
– The Riders took it at their 35 with Kerry Joseph behind centre. 2-and-out after two incompletions.
– Calgary’s second series began at their 44. On the series Rider DE Ricky Foley corralled his 12th sack of the season. They got to the Rider 54 before punting.
– The Riders’ second series began at their 15 with 6:41 to go in the opening period. Keith Toston took the first play 41 yards to the Stamps’ 54. It was the CFL debut for the running back. They ended the series with a 33-yard Chris Milo field goal. Joseph was 3/6 on the drive for 39 yards. 3-1 Riders with 3:18 to go in the quarter.
– Stamps ball at their 37 for their third series. This time they used a solid ground attack and punctuated the series with a 23-yard touchdown run by tailback Matt Walter who was filling in for Jon Cornish. It was the final play of the opening quarter.
AFTER ONE: STAMPEDERS 8 ROUGHRIDERS 3
– The Riders’ third series began at their 23 after a kick return by Steven Miller who was making his CFL debut. He dropped it initially, but returned it 12 yards. Then on first down Toston fumbled and recovered for a 3-yard loss. 2-and-out.
– Calgary took over at their 40 at the 1:41 mark for their fourth series. They managed one first down before Mitchell was sacked by Rider DB Macho Harris. They punted from their 52.
– Rider ball at their 34. Toston was not on the field. 20-yard pass to Chris Getzlaf and then 36-yards to Brett Swain down to the Calgary 24. And then 24 yards to Rob Bagg for the touchdown! Wow what a drive. 4-plays, 2:26 off the clock. K-J was 3/3 passing. 10-8 Riders with 7:56 to go in the half.
– Calgary got it at their 33. They were 2-and-out.
– Rider ball at their 35 after a Tristan Jackson punt return. Joseph took his first sack of the game on the series, from Shawn Lemon. They got to the Stamps 25 and ended the series with a 33-yard Chris Milo field goal. 13-8 Riders with 2:58 to go.
– Calgary took over at their 35 for their sixth series. 2-and-out.
– With 2:17 to go in the half the Riders got it at their 29. Toston got back on the field for the series. They got to their 51 before punting. Toston was 3/50 to this point. Joseph 9/18 for 167 but took a hard hit on the drive.
– With 1:03 to Calgary started from their 8. On the first play Rider LB Brian Peters caught a pick six and returned it 15 yards for the score! 20-8 Riders with 0:54 to go in the half. The Riders outscored Calgary 17-0 in the quarter. TURNOVERS: STAMPS 1 RIDERS 0
– Calgary got it again at their 47 after a 29-yard return by Sederrick Cunningham with 0:47 to go. A P-I call on Rider CB Rod Williams in the endzone gave the Stamps a 1st down on the Rider-1. Back-up QB Drew Tate plunged in for his 10th TD and the Rider lead was cut to five with 0:06 to go in the half.
AT THE BREAK: RIDERS 20 STAMPEDERS 15
– The Riders opened the second half receiving the football. They started at their 36 after a Steven Miller return. On the first play Joseph was sacked by Brandon Jordan for a 10-yard loss. 2-and-out.
– Calgary began from their 31. 2-and-out.
– At the 3:26 mark the Riders’ second series commenced from their 40. It was their best drive start of the game. They ended the series with a 40-yard post-corner touchdown toss from Joseph to Getzlaf. It was Chris’s first touchdown of the season. 27-15 Riders with 8:10 to go. It put K-J at 232 on the night.
– Calgary got it at their 36. 2-and-out.
– Rider ball at their 26 with 6:33 remaining in the third period. They got to their 42 before punting, and gave up another sack on the drive.
– Calgary ball at their 25 with 4:00 to go in the third. They managed one first down before punting and John Chick recorded his league-leading 15th sack on the series. They punted with 2:04 left.
– Riders took over from their 24 but were 2-and-out.
– Calgary ball at their 50 with 0:38 remaining. The series carried over into the fourth quarter.
AFTER THREE: RIDERS 27 STAMPS 15
-Stamps opened the fourth 1st and 10 at the Rider 49. They ended the series with an 11-yard Mitchell-to-Jock Sanders TD toss cutting the Riders’ lead to 27-21 with 12:08 remaining. The two point conversion was unsuccessful.
– Rider ball at their 7 with 11:34 left. Rider holding penalty on first down. 2-and-out and then they conceded a safety. 27-23 Riders with 9:45 remaining.
– Stamps got it at their 50 with around 9:00 to go. Again a nice drive moved them all the way down the field and tailback Matt Walter ended the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to give Calgary at 30-27 lead with 6:35 remaining.
– With 6:15 left the Riders started from their 26. On the second play Joseph was picked off by Jamar Wall who returned it 50 yards for the score. 37-27 Stamps with 5:10 to go. TURNOVERS: RIDERS 1 STAMPS 1
– Rider ball at their 33 with 4:48 remaining. Joseph was picked off again, this time by DB Brandon Smith who returned it to the Rider 18. TURNOVERS: RIDERS 2 STAMPS 1
– Calgary cashed in with an 18-yard Rene Parades field goal. 40-27 Stamps with 2:22 to go.
– Riders took it at their 35. Penalties in the second half to this point were Sask 7 – Calgary 0. Kerry got the Riders all the way down to the Calgary 17 but Jamar Wall picked Joseph off in the endzone with 0:50 to go. TURNOVERS: RIDERS 3 STAMPS 1
– Calgary got it at their 25. Matt Walters ripped off a first down run and then Bo-Levi Mitchell knelt down twice in the Victory Formation.
GAME OVER: STAMPEDERS 40 RIDERS 27
POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM RIDER COACH COREY CHAMBLIN
– I thought we all looked good. I was pleased with how we played early and believed through four quarters. We’ve been through some things the last number of weeks but I was pleased that we came to where we were as a team tonight.
– When you play against the CFL’s best team, you have to be ready. We had some youth but they have to learn we have to be picture perfect against a team like Calgary.
– We’re starting to see sparks which will turn into flames and hopefully by playoffs it’ll be a fire. I was pleased with the effort for four quarters and three clean quarters.
– The young guys get a chance to play and you have to learn from that sometimes. A lot of things went well. All three phases played well early. The Stamps just woke up and flexed their muscles near the end. We had a chance to win, we didn’t, but with a few additions we’ll be back in the championship.
– We can let one thing take our fire away and we didn’t. We took some strides in the right direction and I still believe we’ll be a championship team.
LB BRIAN PETERS
– We had a solid first half but we have be a team of two halves. We have to start fast and finish strong and we didn’t do that. We have to fight for 60 minutes.
– It’s the same attitude from the first half today. When we’re firing on all cylinders we’re a tough team to play. We’re getting back to that.
– The touchdown was pretty cool. He smoked me with it right in the chest so I’d better have caught it. It was great to make some plays to help the team.
– I feel good. If you’re not banged up at this point, you’re playing wrong. It’s just part of the game. I’m fine.
SB CHRIS GETZLAF
– I think we did a lot of positive things out there. We moved the ball and put up some points. We did a good job but not enough to win. But there were a lot of positives to build off.
– We were backed up a couple times and took the odd penalty which scratched a first down. When you move the ball backwards, it’s tough to get first downs. We set ourselves back a bit and the turnovers didn’t help.
– We’re preaching all the time, to not take penalties. We have to clean that up. If you do that, you won’t be successful.
– I think we built real good momentum these last couple of weeks, with positive signs. Everyone had fire in their eyes tonight and we did some good things. There’s a lot to build off of.
· The Riders host the Edmonton Eskimos in their final regular season game on Saturday, Nov 8 on TSN and 620 CKRM.
