VANCOUVER — The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ desire to get off to a quick start against the B.C. Lions backfired Saturday.
Instead, it was the Lions who got points on five of their six first-half possessions en route to an 18-0 lead at the break. That helped B.C. cruise to a 30-15 CFL victory over the Roughriders at BC Place.
The loss dropped Saskatchewan’s record to 2-4-0. B.C. improved to 5-2-0.
“It was very reminiscent of the Calgary game,” said Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones, whose team lost 27-10 to the host Stampeders on July 22.
“We played a very good team in their building. You can’t get behind because then they pin their ears back and are able to come get (your quarterback) … We’ve just got to do a better job early in the game. That’s three weeks in a row where we’ve dropped behind early and have to come back and you can’t continually do that.”
The Roughriders did the same thing against the Toronto Argonauts on July 29, falling behind 10-0 before rallying. Saskatchewan won that game 38-27 at Mosaic Stadium.
There was no comeback Saturday. The Lions built their lead to 30-0 before backup quarterback Brandon Bridge led the Roughriders to two touchdowns in the final three minutes of regulation time.
The loss was Saskatchewan’s seventh straight in regular-season games against the Lions. The Roughriders’ most-recent regular-season victory against B.C. occurred Aug. 24, 2014, when they prevailed 20-16 at BC Place.
The defeat Saturday also left Saskatchewan with a 3-26 record in its last 29 regular-season games against West Division teams — and the Roughriders play their next four against division rivals as well.
Saskatchewan plays host to B.C. on Aug. 13 and then, after a bye week, visits the Edmonton Eskimos on Aug. 25, entertains the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sept. 3 and travels to Winnipeg on Sept. 9.
“It’s something we’ve talked about and we’re going to meet it head on,” Jones said of the struggles against the West. “We’re not going to sit there and hide from it.
“We’ve played two western teams that are perennial playoff contenders and we’ve got to play better football against those type of opponents.”
The Lions got on the board first Saturday on a 32-yard field goal by Ty Long at 3:42 of the first quarter. B.C. moved 54 yards in six plays before the Roughriders’ defence stiffened and forced the three-pointer.
The defence held again on the Lions’ second possession and forced a 47-yard field goal by Long that gave B.C. a 6-0 lead.
The Lions stretched their lead on the first play of the second quarter, when Travis Lulay threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Bryan Burnham. The Lions receiver was wide open after Roughriders linebacker Crezdon Butler ran into the goal post.
Lulay ran in for the two-point convert and B.C. led 14-0.
The Roughriders answered with a solid drive, but Kevin Glenn was intercepted at the B.C. 13-yard line by Anthony Thompson. Saskatchewan’s defence stiffened after the Lions drove to the Roughriders’ 44, from where Long kicked a 64-yard punt single that made it 15-0.
The Lions scored on their next possession as well — Long connected from 44 yards out at 12:26 — but the Roughriders once again avoided further damage. Willie Jefferson sacked Lulay on a second-and-15 from the Saskatchewan 30, forcing Long’s third attempt of the game.
After another promising Roughriders drive fizzled out at midfield, the Lions took a knee to kill the clock in the first half. It was the first time in B.C.’s six first-half possessions that it didn’t register a point.
Long recorded a 36-yard single on a missed field-goal at 8:17 of the third quarter, giving the Lions a 19-0 lead. The march started on B.C.’s six-yard line and covered 69 yards in 10 plays, but again didn’t reach the end zone.
The same routine played out on the Lions’ next drive. B.C. moved from its eight-yard line to the Roughriders’ 17, but had to settle for a 24-yard field goal from Long. The third quarter ended with the Lions leading 22-0.
The Lions made it 29-0 at 6:03 of the fourth quarter when Long converted Shaq Murray-Lawrence’s two-yard scoring run. That drive followed a sequence in which the teams turned over the ball three times in three plays — a Bakari Grant fumble followed by a Jeremiah Johnson fumble followed by a Glenn interception.
After a Long punt single, Bridge replaced Glenn. Bridge heaved a 46-yard pass to Duron Carter, who made a spectacular one-handed catch for the touchdown. Quinn van Gylswyk added the convert to make it 30-7 with 2:59 left in the fourth quarter.
The Roughriders completed the scoring at 13:39 when Bridge connected with Naaman Roosevelt for a 45-yard pass-and-run TD and Kienan LaFrance ran for the two-point convert. Bridge finished with six completions in six attempts for 114 yards.
Glenn was 19-for-27 passing for 186 yards with two interceptions. His 26-yard completion to Cameron Marshall on Saskatchewan’s first possession of the second half moved Glenn past Roughriders legend Ron Lancaster into sixth place on the CFL’s all-time passing list.
Glenn now has 50,613 passing yards in his 17-year career. Lancaster passed for 50,535 yards over his 19-year playing career with the Roughriders and Ottawa Rough Riders.
Carter had five catches for 83 yards and Roosevelt made three receptions for 65 yards.
Lulay was 19-for-28 passing for 338 yards, 131 of which came from Burnham (on five receptions). Chris Williams made three receptions for 75 yards for the Lions, who had 202 yards rushing and 535 yards of net offence.
Sam Eguavoen had six tackles for the Roughriders, who got five tackles apiece from Butler and Ed Gainey. Jefferson and Tobi Antigha each had three quarterback pressures for Saskatchewan.
