REGINA – What a difference it made a week for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
A week after being defeated 37-13 by the Alouettes in Montreal, the Riders returned home to Mosaic Stadium and won some revenge with a 41-20 victory over the Quebec team on Saturday.
The Riders fought in the June 13 loss, playing their second road game in five days and traveling across the country with just one day of training. Saturday’s game didn’t start much better, as the Riders fell 13-11 in the half.
Montreal coach Khari Jones made an interesting decision to start the second half, an election that ended up having a serious impact on the game. Jones decided to start to start the half and catch the wind for the fourth quarter.
Riders quarterback Cody Fajardo interpreted that decision as a sign of disrespect.
“We felt a little despised as an offense because they decided to throw us back. We took it personally, so we went out and it motivated us to attack. It made us roll, we drove through the field, we scored. and gave us the impetus, ”Fajardo said.
Saskatchewan scored touchdowns in their first three possessions in the third quarter to take a 32-13 lead. Jamal Morrow, with a 12-yard run, Fajardo, with a one-yard quarterback, and Kian Schaeffer-Baker, with a 44-yard reception, scored the Saskatchewan majors.
A two-point conversion attempt failed after Morrow’s touchdown, but was successful with a two-point convert after Fajardo’s touchdown. The Riders threw a PAT after the Schaffer-Baker touchdown.
The Riders have been dealing with injury problems on offense. They lost center Dan Clark and receiver Shaq Evans earlier in the season and several players were ruined in Saturday’s game, including receiver Duke Williams.
Left with a large number of new starters, the Saskatchewan coaching staff decided to stick to the basics in the second half.
“We’ve made it very easy on offense. And I think if you look at our team and especially our offense, I don’t think there are three guys on offense right now who’ve done two full seasons as starters,” Fajardo said.
“… Being simple and playing fast sometimes helps and coach Maas did a great job of simplifying our game plan,” Fajardo said. “We got out there and we performed really well.”
Riders head coach Craig Dickenson took advantage of the break to send a clear message to his team.
“One thing we talked about at the break was to play as we can and see what the score is at the end. … I challenged them specifically in the half: “Show me your character in the second half and win, lose or draw, play as hard as you can and let it all go.” They came out and did a good job, ”Dickenson said.
Morrow had an impressive game, winning 103 yards on 16 carries. It was the second 100-yard game of the Morrow season after recording 126 yards running in 17 carries in a 26-16 victory over the Edmonton Elks on June 18.
Corner Nick Marshall sealed the Riders ’victory with a 90-yard interception for a four-minute touchdown by the end of the fourth quarter. Fajardo connected with Morrow with a two-point transformation to increase Saskatchewan’s lead to 41-20.
The Riders also received an eight-yard touchdown reception from Mitchell Picton in the first quarter. Kicker Brett Lauther added a 57-yard field goal, an effort that tied his career better. Pointer Kaare Vedvik had a 41-yard single.
The Riders had six catches a day with Anthony Lanier leading the charge with three. Pete Robertson, with two, and AC Leonard, with one, also had sacks for the Riders. Robertson leads the CFL with seven sacks.
Chandler Worthy, who made the first quarter of June 23 with 88 yards for a touchdown, returned an 84-yard throw for a touchdown in the first quarter of Saturday’s game.
Walter Fletcher, who took over the runner after Montreal starter Jeshrun Antwi was injured early in the second half, scored in a three-yard run midway through the third quarter. David Cote had two field goals for Montreal, connecting from 18 and 38 yards.
It was a game full of penalties with Saskatchewan making 16 penalties for 155 yards, while Montreal had 12 penalties for 105 yards. Montreal defensive end Michael Wakefield was sent off in the middle of the third quarter after receiving his second penalty for misconduct.
When asked if there was much animosity on the field on Saturday, Riders offensive line player Logan Ferland answered clearly.
“Absolutely. I mean, we had a bit of a recovery, they tweeted us quite a bit the last game, so it felt really good to get them back,” Ferland said.
The 3-1 Riders return to action on July 8 when they host the Ottawa Redblacks. The Alouettes 1-3 begin the week of dismissal before hosting the Elks on July 14th.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 2, 2022