Dan Plaster
Two teams on two different paths met on a cool Halloween afternoon at McMahon Stadium in Calgary. The Stampeders are in a dog fight for first spot in the CFL’s West division while the Riders were looking to play spoiler.
It was all Calgary right after the opening whistle taking the opening kick-off into Rider territory and then converting with an Eric Rogers touchdown catch from Bo-Levi Mitchell and after a successful two-point conversion, the Stampeders had an early 8-0 lead.
After the Riders Tyler Crapigna nailed a 43 yard field goal, the Stampeders drove the ball into the end zone again, and again it was Mitchell to Rogers. They then hit their second two-point conversion and were up 16-3.
Calgary added another touchdown (Mitchell to Joe West) and a field goal to go up 26-3 before the Riders finally hit the end zone. Anthony Allen took the 3rd and short hand off nine yards into the end zone for the score, but the Riders still trailed 29-10 at the half.
The second half started with Keith Price leading the Riders deep into Calgary territory, but a 3rd down gamble didn’t pay off and forced the turnover.
The first points the second half came late in the third quarter when Bryant Moniz plunged in from a yard out and the 36-10 lead.
The Stampeders added a pair of field goals, while Tyler Crapigna added another in the fourth quarter to push the score to 42-13. Price finally got into the groove and connected with Weston Dressler on a 59 yard pitch and catch with the drive ending with Price hitting Naaman Roosevelt for the TD. Price was then picked on the two-point conversion to make the final 42-19.
Weston Dressler picked up 129 yards receiving and is 72 yards away from eclipsing the 1000 yard mark for the sixth time in his CFL career.
Jeff Knox Jr. picked up six defensive tackles and a special teams tackle and set a Rider record for defensive tackles in a season with 107. He is now 12 tackles away from setting the Rider record for total tackles in a season.
The Riders will finish off the season next week in Montreal.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Saskatchewan Roughriders 3 7 0 9 19
Calgary Stampeders 16 13 7 6 42
Rider Leaders:
Passing
Keith Price 15/26 183yds 1TD 1Int
Receiving
Weston Dressler 6/129
Rushing
Anthony Allen 8/49 1TD
Defence
Jeff Knox Jr 6Def Tackles 1STT
