The Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers engaged in a defensive battle on Saturday, with the home side posting a 15-9 CFL pre-season victory at Princess Auto Stadium.
It was Step 1 for both teams as they aspire to represent the West Division in the 112th Grey Cup Game, to be played Nov. 16th in Winnipeg.
“Every day is a ladder,” Roughriders safety Jaxon Ford told CKRM’s Luc Mullinder. “We’re just building, building, building until we get to the top.”
Sergio Castillo scored all 15 Blue Bombers points, hitting five field goals. Saskatchewan got two three-pointers from Brett Lauther and one field goal from newcomer Brian Garrity.
The teams combined for 607 yards of net offence — 310 by Winnipeg and 297 by Saskatchewan.
“The entire playbook’s not open right now,” Head Coach Corey Mace told CKRM after the two-hour, 33-minute game. “We want to make sure we can run our basic stuff before we open it up.
“In pre-season, you don’t want to show too much of what you’ve been cooking. You call the basic stuff and see if they can execute at a high level.”
Lauther’s first field goal, at 2:06 of the second quarter, punctuated Saskatchewan’s last of three offensive series with returning starter Trevor Harris at quarterback. He was 3-for-8 for 38 yards.
Harris was succeeded by Jake Maier, who was in the game for five full series plus the final two plays (both handoffs) of the first half. Maier was 8-for-13 for 80 yards, with one interception that took place after a receiver slipped on his route.
Jack Coan took over behind centre for Saskatchewan with three minutes remaining in the third quarter. He operated the offence for three series, going 3-for-6 for 58 yards.
After Castillo’s fifth field goal — a 21-yarder with 31 seconds left in the game — Tommy Stevens took over at quarterback for the visitors.
Stevens moved the Roughriders’ offence 32 yards over the first three plays of the game’s final possession. He hit D’Sean Mimbs for gains of 13 and eight yards before scrambling for 11.
The latter play moved the football to the Blue Bombers’ 41-yard line with four seconds left. Stevens then threw an incompletion under pressure as time expired.
“It was good from an effort and physicality standpoint,” Mace said of the hard-fought contest. “It’s just small details of some young guys getting their first shot.”
The Roughriders and Blue Bombers are to meet again on Friday, 7 p.m., at Mosaic Stadium. The CFL’s cutdown deadline is the following day.
Saskatchewan will play host to the first game of the CFL regular season when the Ottawa REDBLACKS pay a visit on June 5th.
HIGHLIGHT REEL
• Ford, starting at safety with Nelson Lokombo nursing an injury, made two resounding tackles on receivers in the first half. He flattened Jaylen Hall for a loss of two and, on second-and-10, felled ex-Roughrider Jerreth Sterns after a five-yard gain.
• A.J. Ouellette hurdled a would-be Bombers tackler during a 21-yard run early in the second quarter. He had three carries for 26 yards.
• Thomas Bertrand-Hudon gained 18 and 10 yards on back-to-back running plays in the third quarter. The third-year Roughrider finished with a game-high 41 yards on six carries. “The offensive line did a great job and opened a lot of holes,” he told CKRM.
• Saskatchewan forced a turnover on the final play of the third quarter, when a strip-sack by Benoit Marion jarred the ball loose from Terry Wilson. Defensive tackle Alex Gubner pounced on the loose ball.
• Marion, Lake Korte-Moore and Marcus Sayles registered sacks for Saskatchewan. Winnipeg did not record a sack.
• Drae McCray’s first two kickoff returns as a Roughrider were for advances of 51 and 36 yards. He finished with three kickoff returns for 110 yards and five punt returns for 46 yards.
• Undrafted rookie Brayden Misseri was the Roughriders’ leading receiver, with three catches for 51 yards. Misseri and fullback Morgen Runge each had a 25-yard reception for Saskatchewan. Winnipeg’s two longest plays were also 25-yard completions.
• Aubrey Miller Jr. led the Roughriders in special teams tackles (three). Ex-Bomber Tyrique McGhee was the Roughriders’ leader in pass knockdowns (two).
