Dan Plaster
It wasn’t the season opener the Saskatchewan Roughriders were looking for, and it started early with a deluge of penalties. The Bombers second drive of the game was aided by a trio of Rider infractions that led to an 8 play 76 yard touchdown romp finished with a Drew Willy six yard completion to Paris Cotton.
The Riders replied on their next series as a five play 74 yard drive was finished with a dazzling 36 yard catch and run by Taj Smith for his first touchdown of the season.
The Bombers dominated the time of possession in the first half with another long drive that chewed up much of the second quarter, topped off with a two yard touchdown plunge by Cameron Marshall for the 14-7 Bombers lead, which many thought the scoring was over at that point.
After a long Liam Hajrullahu kick-off single made it 15-7 for Winnipeg, the Riders replied, and quickly with a 53 yard bomb to Ryan Smith for his first CFL touchdown and that cut the Winnipeg lead to 15-14.
The fortunes of the Rider season changed with less than 45 seconds left in the half when an innocuous misstep put Darian Durant down and out for the game.
It was up to Kevin Glenn in the second half to lead the Riders to victory. His first drive was a gem, a two play, 65 yard drive that was highlighted by a sparkling 53 yard romp by Jerome Messam and after a two-point conversion catch by Chris Getzlaf, it was now a 22-15 Rider lead.
After a missed Chris Milo field goal stretched the Rider lead to eight, the Bombers went on a six play, 75 yard drive capped with Cameron Marshall’s second touchdown of the game and after a successful two-point conversion; it was tied at 23’s heading into the fourth quarter.
The Riders replied with another long drive that stalled deep in Winnipeg territory that Chris Milo was able to convert with a field goal and the lead was now 26-23.
As the sun began to set, the back and forth battle continued and it was yet another long Winnipeg drive that Nick Moore topped with his first touchdown catch of the year to put the Riders down four, 30-26.
Winnipeg was able to ground the clock out at the end of the fourth quarter and held on for their first win of the season.
It was also announced at the conclusion of the game that Darian Durant suffered a ruptured achilles tendon and will be out the remainder of the 2015 season.
The Riders are back at it next week at home as they host the Toronto Argos, it’s a 1:30 kick-off. Get your tickets at Riderville.com.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 7 8 8 7 30
Saskatchewan Roughriders 0 14 9 3 62
WPG Passing
Name Comp Att Yards TD Int
WILLY, D 22 25 325 3 0
SSK Passing
Name Comp Att Yards TD Int
DURANT, D 13 18 165 2 0
GLENN, K 13 18 120 0 1
WPG Rushing
Name No Yards Lg TD
COTTON, P 13 108 31 0
WILLY, D 4 16 6 0
MARSHALL, C 5 15 7 1
PONTBRIAND 2 4 5 0
MARVE, R 1 2 2 0
SSK Rushing
Name No Yards Lg TD
ALLEN, A 11 102 47 0
MESSAM, J 4 75 53 1
DEMSKI, N 1 32 32 0
SMITH, B 1 3 3 0
WPG Receiving
Name No Yards Lg TD
DENMARK, C 5 94 41 0
MOORE, N 6 94 25 1
COTTON, P 4 59 23 1
ADAMS, D 3 28 12 0
MARSHALL, C 2 24 14 1
VELTUNG, J 1 17 17 0
PONTBRIAND 1 9 9 0
SSK Receiving
Name No Yards Lg TD
SMITH, R 3 77 53 1
SMITH, T 2 44 36 1
RICHARDSON, J 6 42 13 0
MESSAM, J 3 36 24 0
GETZLAF, C 4 35 14 0
BAGG, R 4 26 8 0
MOORE, S 2 14 10 0
WILLIAMS, K 1 8 8 0
ALLEN, A 1 3 3 0
SSK Field Goals
Name FG XP Single Pts
MILO, C 1/ 2 2/ 2 1 6
WPG Punts
Name No Avg Yards Long
HAJRULLAHU, L 5 41.8 209 50
SSK Punts
Name No Avg Yards Long
EARLY, R 4 48 192 51
WPG Kick Returns
Name No Yards Avg TD Lg
VELTUNG, J 3 85 28.3 0 34
SSK Kick Returns
Name No Yards Avg TD Lg
DEMSKI, N 3 51 17.0 0 33
JACKSON, T 1 13 13.0 0 13
WPG Punt Returns
Name No Yards Avg TD Lg
VELTUNG, J 4 23 5.8 0 12
SSK Punt Returns
Name No Yards Avg TD Lg
SMITH, R 1 10 10.0 0 10
DEMSKI, N 2 5 2.5 0 3
