As the Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the Hamilton Tigercats in CFL action in Regina, SK, August 16, 2025. Photo Electric Umbrella/Liam Richards
Dohnte Meyers lit the fire.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders were trailing 6-1 when Trevor Harris found Meyers for a 58-yard touchdown bomb at 4:15 of Saturday’s second quarter at a packed Mosaic Stadium.
Saskatchewan went on to improve its CFL-best record to 8-1 by defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 29-9.
“As far as the momentum in the game, that was huge for us,” Head Coach Corey Mace said.
“Man, that connection between those guys … they’ve been on it all year.”
Harris and Meyers have collaborated on four passes of 50-plus yards over the first nine games of the season.
The only Roughrider to pile up four receptions of at least 50 yards more quickly was Jeff Fairholm in 1993. He got there in seven games en route to finishing the season with a franchise-record eight gains of at least 50.
Harris and Meyers have struck for a 58-yarder in each of the past two games.
Most recently, Meyers got wiiiiiiiide open and the uncannily accurate Harris hit him in stride, as designed by the offensive co-ordinator.
“I saw Marc Mueller dial up the call,” Harris said. “We’ve run quite a bit of stuff out of that set.
“(The defensive back) jumped the underneath route, so we took the double move and that was that. As soon as I saw him, I thought, ‘Just don’t overthrow this.’ ”
No such worries.
“Once I saw the ball in the air, I knew I had to come down with it and get Rider Nation ready to celebrate a touchdown and celebrate with my teammates,” said Meyers, whose fifth touchdown reception of the year was witnessed by a capacity crowd of 33,350.
Meyers’ major, which began and ended a 58-yard, 11-second touchdown drive, sparked a streak of 13 consecutive completions by Harris — a stretch that included all three of his touchdown passes.
Leading up to a 26-yard scoring strike to Tommy Nield, Hamilton was penalized 31 yards for pass interference after Harris went deep down the right sideline for Joe Robustelli.
The initial call on the field was an incompletion. Mace opted to throw the challenge flag and, after some deliberation in the CFL’s Replay Centre, a penalty was applied.
“I thought it was crucial,” Mace said. “I’m not going to sit here and take credit for anything, ever.
“I need confirmation. ‘What are we seeing?’
“Watching (on the MaxTron) and getting the replay — it’s nice to be at home sometimes — it made it a little bit easier for us to make that decision. It worked in our favour.”
A.J. Ouellette proceeded to move the chains with a 17-yard run. With Ouellette taking a breather, Mario Anderson Jr. rushed for three yards. Harris then spotted Nield in the end zone for his second major in two starts as a Roughrider.
Brett Lauther’s convert gave Saskatchewan a 15-6 lead with 1:05 remaining in the second quarter.
“It was a big swing for us there,” Mace said. “It was awesome that we were able to capitalize off of (the successful challenge).
“Shout-out to the rest of the staff for being a good aid on that.”
It was all a prelude to the Roughriders’ most impressive sequence of the day.
Trailing 20-6, Hamilton recovered a fumble on Saskatchewan’s 12-yard line at 6:15 of the third quarter.
Two plays later, Rolan Milligan Jr. celebrated his 31st birthday in fine style by intercepting Bo Levi Mitchell on the goal line and returning the pick to the Roughriders’ 20-yard line. Hamilton had been in a second-and-20 predicament after being flagged for holding on first down.
After the turnover, Saskatchewan travelled 90 yards over 11 plays while marching into the wind, extinguishing more than half of the third quarter — 7:52, to be exact.
It was the Roughriders’ ninth-longest march, time-wise, since 2008.
The capper was a 15-yard touchdown pass from Harris to Robustelli.
It all began with the Roughriders’ second pick of the day.
“I was in a deep zone, just kind of reading off of Bo to see where he was looking,” Milligan Jr. said.
“I felt the route in front of me, just out of my peripheral vision. Once I saw the ball, I saw it kind of sail a little bit higher, so I just went to make a play on it.”
Milligan Jr. had also made a huge play in the teams’ previous meeting, returning an interception 64 yards for his first career TD to help Saskatchewan win 28-23 in Hamilton on June 14.
Once again on Saturday, he demonstrated the form that made him the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 2024.
“It was a two-possession game at that time and they had the ball at the 12-yard line,” Harris recalled. “This has been the Number 1 offence in the league across this year. Right there, if they score a touchdown, it’s a brand-new game. It’s a one-possession game.”
Saskatchewan methodically moved the ball for gains of (in order) eight, eight, two, seven, three, 13, two, nine, 18, five and, finally, 15.
“It was huge,” Robustelli said. “In the CFL, at any given moment, any team can come back. That last quarter feels like it takes forever so the further away you can get from teams, the better.
“Shout-out to Ro. Happy birthday to him. He had a great game. That pick was huge.”
The same can be said of two runs by a quarterback.
Short-yardage specialist Tommy Stevens barged for three yards on a third-and-one gamble. Three plays later, Harris scrambled for nine on second-and-eight.
“I think it was the biggest drive of the year for us, in terms of statement-wise and situationally,” said Harris, who has 16 yards on three carries this season.
“It just shows that we have growth. It doesn’t show that we’ve arrived. We have not arrived.
“We have plenty to clean up and we can do plenty better. That’s what we plan on doing.”
