On the strength of 21 points in the third quarter, the Saskatchewan Roughriders were able to beat the Alouettes 41-20.
Jamal Morrow and Kian Schaffer-Baker were the catalysts for the Riders third quarter surge. Morrow ended the game with 103 yards rushing and a touchdown, while Schaffer-Baker’s had seven catches for 90 yards and a touchdown.
After the Riders punted the ball on the opening drive, the Alouettes took their opening possession down inside of the five yard line. The drive was aided by a roughing the passer penalty from Anthony Lanier. The Riders defensive tackle was able to redeem himself shortly afterwards with a third down sack that forced a field goal as the Alouettes grabbed a 3-0 lead.
Tevin Jones made his first catch as a Rider with a 40 yard catch and run to the Montreal 22 yard line on the Riders second possession. Mitchell Picton would cap off the drive off with his second touchdown reception of the season for eight yards to give the Riders a 7-3 lead.
Chandler Worthy made his impact felt with a 84 yard touchdown on the ensuing kickoff.
Pete Robertson continued his strong start of the season he registered his 6th sack of the season early in the second quarter. The following play, the Texas Tech product recovered a fumble forced by Lanier’s second sack of the afternoon to give the Riders excellent field position at the Alouette 40 yard line.
Cody Fajardo and the Riders offence were unable to capitalize on the field position and had to settle for a single point following a Brett Lauther missed field goal from 48 yards.
The Riders lost their top offensive weapon late in the second quarter as Duke Williams went down with an injury after a failed reception attempt. Brett Lauther bailed out a Riders offence that was unable to take advantage of a roughing the passer call against Marc-Antoine Dequoy penalty, as the Riders placekicker connected on a 57 yard field goal to make the score 13-11 after the first half.
Saskatchewan’s offence used the locker room adjustments to their advantage in the second half With excellent field position to start, the Riders were able to move the ball with two receptions by Kian Schaffer-Baker for 27 yards. Jamal Morrow scored his second rushing touchdown of the season to give the Riders a 17-13 lead.
The green and white were able to take advantage of Montreal’s discipline issues in the third quarter as Montreal’s Michael Wakefield took a pair of misconduct penalties that led to his ejection. A Fajardo one yard sneak into the endzone would extend the Riders lead to 25-13.
Schaffer-Baker continued with his strong second half performance as he took a short pass from Fajardo for 44 yards to the endzone as Saskatchewan led 32-13 after the third quarter.
William Fletcher scored from three yards out to cut the Rider’s lead to 32-20.
Nick Marshall would end Montreal’s attempt at a comeback with an interception return for 90 yards to the endzone, along with a two point conversion as the Riders would go to win 41-20.
Defensively the Riders pass rush was able to step up with another solid outing with six sacks. Lanier ended the game with three sacks while Robertson had two sacks of his own.
The green and white defence also recorded a pair of interceptions.
Saskatchewan improved their record to 3-1 on the season and will face Ottawa at Mosaic Stadium on Friday.
After the game Fajardo said the offence felt a little disrespected after Montreal elected to kick the ball to the Riders for the second straight half. “We took it personal, we went out there, it kind of motivated us on offence.” The Riders QB noted the motivation was a key part for the offence scoring on the opening drive in the second half.
A solid running attack was something that benefited the Riders according to Fajardo. “When you don’t feel as comfortable in the pass protection, when you can run the ball like the way we did tonight, it really opens up the passing game.”
Offensive guard Logan Ferland said the running game is the element that kick starts the offensive line. “It’s invigorating” said the local product. He added “It slows down the passing game for us and slows down the pass rush, a lot of people don’t understand how much the running game helps the passing game.
With another solid outing carrying the ball at running back, Morrow says a lot of it comes with the extra work he put in the training during the offseason. “I’ve always ran with power, you don’t really get to see that on the return game, but it was a definite emphasis in my offseason.”
Defensively, the green and white were led by Robertson who is on top of the CFL sack race with seven so far on this season. Lanier also stepped up with a big game with three sacks, Robertson was not surprised by the strong game from his teammate. “That man is a great player. He play hard, he comes in with his barking, the dog, but he is a heck of a player.”
Head Coach Craig Dickenson said the halftime message was pretty straightforward. “Lets play the way we’re capable of and we’ll what the score is in the end.”
Dickenson added that he challenged his team heading into the second half. “Show me your character this second half” is what the Riders Head Coach said, adding “win, lose or draw, leave it all out there and they came and did a really good job”
On the injury front, Fajardo was feeling sore, noting if he didn’t have his brace on, there was a chance he wouldn’t have been able to finish the game. The Riders QB said he should be good to go on Friday but noted he will likely be wearing the knee brace for an additional couple of weeks.
There is concern about Fajardo’s injury noted by Dickenson but he also said that the QB should be alright.
Brett Lauther was injured during a kickoff late in the fourth quarter. Dickenson said that Lauther was feeling the effects of the injury but believes the kicker will be ready for Week 5.
Duke Williams was slowed with an injury in the second quarter, he did return to the Riders lineup later in the game. Dickenson noted Williams was feeling sore afterwards but he should be good to go next week.
Derrick Moncrief had an interception but also was in and out of the lineup throughout the game, the Riders Head Coach said the linebacker was feeling banged up, but should be okay for Friday’s game.
The Riders will be home once again on Friday when they welcome the Ottawa Redblacks to Mosaic Stadium on Friday.
