VANCOUVER — Brandon Bridge apparently likes playing at BC Place.
For the second straight CFL regular-season game in Vancouver, the Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback came off the bench to put up some good numbers against the B.C. Lions.
During the Roughriders’ 30-15 loss Saturday, Bridge completed all six of his pass attempts for 114 yards and two touchdowns in about four minutes of action. On Nov. 5, he was 10-for-11 passing for 120 yards and rushed for a touchdown in mop-up duty in Saskatchewan’s 41-18 loss in Vancouver.
“This is a job, so every time you get on the field, you’re building your resumé,” said Bridge, a 25-year-old product of Toronto who’s in his second season with the Roughriders. “Every time you get out there, you want to put out some good film by executing and trying to make plays.”
Bridge began his CFL career in 2015 with the Montreal Alouettes, who selected him in the fourth round (31st overall) of the 2015 draft out of South Alabama.
He played 11 games with Montreal in 2015 (with one start) and four in 2016 before being released. He signed with the Roughriders in August of 2016 and played 12 games with them, seeing spot duty.
He hadn’t seen much action through Saskatchewan’s first five regular-season games in 2017 until Saturday.
Bridge replaced Kevin Glenn with the Roughriders trailing 30-0 and capped his first drive with a 46-yard scoring pass to Duron Carter. On Saskatchewan’s next possession, Bridge hit Naaman Roosevelt for a 45-yard pass-and-run TD.
“Bridge did a nice job,” said Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones. “I’ve been in that situation 100 times myself (as a defensive coach) where you’re not going to sit there and just blitz a guy. You’re not calling your normal game.
“I’m sure (Lions defensive co-ordinator) Mark Washington, if he had his way, would probably have run a little bit more of the normal stuff against (Bridge) and maybe even left his starters out there because they gave up two quick scores to a backup quarterback.”
Bridge agreed with Jones’ assessment, which seemed to suggest that there won’t be a change at quarterback when the Roughriders entertain the Lions next Sunday.
“In the first half, they were way more aggressive,” Bridge said of the Lions. “They were giving up the easy throws, which I was taking. It’s not that I was doing anything spectacular. I was just taking advantage of their off coverage.”
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Before departing, Glenn completed 19 of 27 pass attempts for 186 yards with two interceptions.
With a 26-yard completion to Cameron Marshall on Saskatchewan’s first possession of the second half, Glenn moved 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.
“It’s cool,” said Glenn, who became just the seventh quarterback to exceed 50,000 career passing yards during Saskatchewan’s 27-10 loss to the Calgary Stampeders on July 22. “It’s tough that you pass another milestone as an individual but you lose. I want to win games as well as have the individual accolades.
“But it’s awesome. It’s something that, as an individual, you set out to do. You set out to try to accomplish those types of individual goals and I’ve done it, so I’m proud of myself.”
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The Roughriders gave up 535 yards of net offence to the Lions — including 202 yards rushing — but B.C. managed only two touchdowns. Kicker Ty Long did most of the damage for B.C., kicking four field goals.
That wasn’t good enough for Saskatchewan safety Mike Edem.
“We can’t bend,” he said. “We held in the red zone, but we’ve got to be able to hold when we have them in their end.
“We’ve got to tighten up and pay attention to details. They’re a helluva team. They were able to get big plays to get into the red zone, but we’ve got to prevent them from getting in the red zone. Those three points, after a while, they start adding up and it’s costly.”
The Lions got field goals after starting drives at their two-, eight-, 31- and 32-yard lines and singles after beginning possessions at their six-, 13- and 38-yard lines. B.C.’s touchdown drives started at their 25-yard line and the midfield stripe.
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Centre Dan Clark and defensive tackle Zach Minter were among the Roughriders who suffered injuries during Saturday’s game.
Clark hurt his left elbow in the second quarter and went into the Saskatchewan locker room for treatment. He returned to the field after halftime, but reinjured the joint later in the game.
Guard Brendon LaBatte moved to centre in Clark’s absence, with rookie Dariusz Bladek taking over at guard.
Asked after the game if he’d be ready for next Sunday’s rematch at Mosaic Stadium, Clark wouldn’t bite. Instead, he replied: “We want to be better as a group and continue on.”
Minter sustained an injury to the back of his lower right leg in the second quarter. He returned to the Roughriders’ sideline in the second half wearing street clothes and a walking boot.
Jones said all of Saskatchewan’s injured players were to be reassessed Sunday.
