The Saskatchewan Roughriders ground out a victory over the B.C. Lions on Saturday.
The Roughriders ran the football 32 times (a season high) for 199 yards (the team’s second-highest single-game total of the season) in a 35-16 triumph over the Lions at Mosaic Stadium.
Saskatchewan’s quarterbacks attempted just 17 passes and threw for 96 yards in the CFL contest; both of those numbers were season lows for the Roughriders.
“Anytime we were able to get a double team, anytime we got four hands and four legs on one guy, we were able to get some vertical movement — and that’ll create a seam …,” Roughriders centre Brendon LaBatte said when asked why the running game was so productive.
“It has been a work in progress, but it’s starting to finally come together at the right time.”
The Roughriders’ previous single-game highs this season for rushing plays (29) and rushing yards (218) were set July 19 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. But Saskatchewan also attempted 25 passes in that game to maintain some offensive balance.
That wasn’t the case Saturday.
Quarterback Zach Collaros threw eight passes (completing five for 52 yards) before departing early in the second quarter for precautionary reasons. Backup QB Brandon Bridge took over and threw nine passes (with four completions for 44 yards) the rest of the way.
The offence ran the ball 26 times while Bridge was in the game.
Cameron Marshall was the workhorse along the ground, rushing 19 times for a career-high 134 yards. He recorded 18 of those carries and 132 of those yards after Tre Mason left in the second quarter with a leg injury.
“(Mason) going down kind of changed the game plan a little bit,” Marshall said. “We had to capitalize on that regardless.”
Marshall was appearing in just his third game of the 2018 season. After failing his physical and being released on the eve of training camp due to a knee injury suffered last season, he joined the Roughriders’ practice roster on Aug. 13.
He played one game, spent the next seven on the injured list and then was activated for Saskatchewan’s contest Oct. 20 against the host Calgary Stampeders.
Marshall also replaced Mason in that game and produced 157 combined yards.
“It’s good to have fresh legs in situations like this, late in the season,” Marshall said. “Obviously I had some experience from last season, so I think that combination has been good for us.
“The O-line is doing a tremendous job. I’ve really got to give it up them. As you guys can see, they’re moving people off the ball pretty well and those yards are pretty easy to get at times.”
Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones didn’t have much to share about Mason’s status other than to say the injury “doesn’t look good right now.”
If Mason is out for a while, Saskatchewan can deploy Marshall and Marcus Thigpen in its first playoff game. Thigpen was scratched for the game in Calgary and was on the one-game injured list for Saturday’s contest.
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Roughriders defensive end Willie Jefferson felt like his team hadn’t been getting its due in recent weeks.
Jefferson said that Saskatchewan’s 31-0 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Oct. 13 caused many people to start questioning the Roughriders. In his mind, the 29-24 victory over Calgary coupled with Saturday’s win should silence the critics.
“A lot of people were doubting us,” Jefferson said. “We put the doubters to bed. They were talking about an early funeral, but it’s not time for us right now.”
Defensive back Ed Gainey offered a similar message, suggesting that the Roughriders have faced “a long, tough battle fighting against a lot of people who don’t want to see us succeed.”
Asked who those people are, Gainey replied: “There’s a lot of critics.”
“The Saskatchewan Roughriders, they’ve got that black cloud over their heads,” he added. “No matter what we do, somebody’s going to find a way to find something negative to say about us.”
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Alexandre Gagne is on top of the world.
Gagne enters the final week of the regular season with the CFL lead in special-teams tackles, having recorded his 23rd of the campaign Saturday. He’s on top of the heap thanks to a run of 11 straight games with at least one special-teams tackle.
It’s heady stuff for a player who was signed as an undrafted free agent prior to the 2017 season and who subsequently worked his way onto the roster.
“I’m not necessarily surprised,” Gagne said of leading the CFL — although the Roughriders’ bye in the final week of the regular season may cost him the title. “I knew what I could bring on a football field. It’s just fun because of my journey and how I got into the league by the back door — mini-camp, practice roster and now active in my second year.
“(Leading the league) is not necessarily something that’s important for me; it’s not a goal. It’s just a pat on the back and tells me to keep doing what I’ve been doing.”
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Lavar Edwards made his debut with the Roughriders on Saturday, just four days after joining the team’s practice roster.
The former NFL defensive lineman recorded a tackle, enjoyed the atmosphere and savoured a win in his first CFL game. But about that penalty for lining up offside …
“I knew coming into the game that that was going to be something that I’d need to keep my mind on,” said Edwards, whose only experience lining up a yard off the ball came during three practices preceding the game. “I actually thought I was onside, but clearly I wasn’t.
“As the game went on, I found that if I felt uncomfortable and too far off the line, then I was actually onside. I went with that and it got better from there.”
