The Saskatchewan Roughriders feasted on Edmonton Elks miscues en route to registering a 28-27 CFL pre-season victory at Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday.
Saskatchewan turned Edmonton turnovers into 24 points — three of which resulted from a 23-yard Brett Lauther field goal that put the visitors ahead to stay with 23 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Enough time remained for Edmonton to march to Saskatchewan’s 50-yard line. On the final play, Elks rookie Vincent Blanchard was wide on a 57-yard field-goal attempt. Jerreth Sterns conceded a single to conclude the game.
“When we needed plays, we got them,” Roughriders Head Coach Corey Mace told CKRM after the game.
Saskatchewan finished with a 2-0 pre-season record for the second consecutive year.
Edmonton led 6-0 thanks to back-to-back first-quarter field goals by Boris Bede, who connected from 41 and 40 yards.
The Roughriders got on the board when Kosi Onyeka recovered a fumble by Elks punt returner Javon Leake and scored a touchdown from two yards away with 49 seconds left in the first quarter. Lauther added the convert.
“Luckily for us, he fumbled it and I was able to hop on it and score a touchdown,” Onyeka said. “That’s just every-day work coming into play.”
The Elks regained the lead at 3:32 of the second quarter when Dean Faithfull kicked a 20-yard field goal.
The Roughriders turned another Elks giveaway into a touchdown late in the second quarter.
After Elks quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson fumbled on his 17-yard line, Saskatchewan reached the end zone in four plays.
The payoff was a four-yard touchdown pass from Mason Fine to Dohnte Meyers, who made a contested catch for six points with three minutes left in the first half. Lauther’s convert gave Saskatchewan a 14-9 lead.
“I don’t think I’ve thrown a back-shoulder ball all camp,” Fine noted when asked about the Meyers TD. “That’s just players being on the same page and making it happen when you need it to happen. You want to be successful and execute that (play) at those times.”
Edmonton made it 14-10 when Faithfull was wide on a 39-yard field-goal attempt and settled for a single at 12:50 of the second frame.
Another turnover cost the Elks when Bethel-Thompson’s pass was intercepted by Antoine Brooks Jr. and returned 46 yards for a touchdown at 13:58. Lauther added the extra point to give the visitors a 21-10 advantage.
The Elks countered with a 40-yard field goal by Faithfull on the final play of the first half.
Another field goal by Faithfull, from 49 yards, reduced the Roughriders’ lead to 21-16 at 3:53 of the third quarter.
Edmonton went ahead on the last play of the third quarter when Woodrow Trey Lowe III scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak. Faithfull’s convert gave the Elks a 23-21 lead.
Lowe’s grandfather, former San Diego Chargers linebacker Woodrow Lowe, is the brother of Roughriders linebacking legend Eddie Lowe.
Shea Patterson entered the game to begin the fourth quarter and fired completions of 18 yards (to Meyers) and 34 yards (Joe Robustelli) to set up Lauther’s 47-yard field goal. He gave the Roughriders a 24-23 advantage at 3:41 of the final frame.
A Lauther single made it 25-23 at 9:45.
At 12:48, Blanchard kicked a 47-yard field goal to give Edmonton a one-point lead (26-25).
With 1:40 left, Adam Auclair recovered Edmonton’s second fumbled punt return of the day and gave Saskatchewan possession on the Elks’ 32-yard line.
With Patterson at the controls of the offence, the Roughriders moved into range for a chip-shot field goal that ultimately provided the margin of victory.
Patterson finished with five completions in eight attempts for a team-high 80 yards. Fine, who entered Saturday’s game in a battle for the No. 2 position behind starter Trevor Harris, was 9-for-11 for 75 yards and one TD.
“I think this has been one of my best training camps since I’ve been up here,” said Fine, a fourth-year Roughrider. “Obviously, I had to go out there and show that in game scenarios.
“You’ve just got to keep getting better. This is a great quarterback room. All I can do is my job and control what I can control. Everyone else plays their game. I’ve got to play my game and then it’s all up to the coaches to make their evaluations.”
Jack Coan (1-for-3) and Antonio Pipkin (0-for-1) also saw action behind centre for Saskatchewan.
Clint Ratkovich (five carries) and Frankie Hickson (nine) tied for the Roughriders’ lead in rushing yardage, with 27.
Geronimo Allison led Saskatchewan in catches (four) and receiving yards (40).
Brooks Jr. had seven defensive tackles and two special-teams stops, along with the pick-six.
Onyeka had two of the Roughriders’ four fumble recoveries. Auclair and Caleb Sanders had the others.
Tack on the Brooks Jr. interception and the Roughriders won the turnover battle, 5-1. The Roughriders were unsuccessful on a third-and-one gamble early in the first quarter.
“Every play is an opportunity to get the ball,” Mace said. “I’m really pleased that the guys were able to do that.”
The Roughriders are now idle until they open the regular season June 8 in Edmonton.
Coors Light Training Camp is to resume on Monday at Mosaic Stadium. The final cutdown deadline is June 1.
“There are still a lot of practices left and we’ve still got guys who we want to get some eyes on,” Mace said. “There are guys coming back from injuries as well, so I think we’ll be a little bit patient in making a couple of roster moves.
“(The practices) are still a part of the evaluation, but there’s obviously a heavy weight to these (pre-season) games.”
Saskatchewan had opened the pre-season on Monday with a 25-12 victory over the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Saturday’s victory gave the Roughriders a 2-0 pre-season record for the second year in a row.
