MONTREAL — The Saskatchewan Roughriders left little to doubt as to who the best team in the Canadian Football League is at this juncture of the season after their performance on Saturday night in Montreal.
The Riders put together their most complete game of the campaign and dominated on both sides of the ball against the Alouettes, going on to a 34-6 victory to improve to 7-1 and hold down first place overall in the CFL.
The contest was billed as a showdown between the two best teams in the league, but Saskatchewan made it look like they were in a class of their own from start to finish.
And that was a thing for the Green and White heading into the game — putting together a showing where not only did they start well, but also ended things on a positive note. They most definitely did that, rolling to an 18-3 lead in the first half and then continuing to push after the break, tacking on another 16 points while holding Montreal to a single field goal.
“This whole week for us, everything was about being able to finish,” head coach Corey Mace said on the Rider Broadcast Network post-game show. “The last couple weeks, even though we got away with a W, we wanted to have convincing wins. So the progression has been be us every play, play with conviction, and the last piece was to finish, and I thought we did all three.”
The Riders wasted no time getting things going, marching the field on their opening drive to the tune of 10 plays for 56 yards and took seven minutes and 47 seconds off the clock. That clinical drive by quarterback Trevor Harris ended with Tommy Stevens blasting through from one yard out.
Saskatchewan then made it 14-0 on Tommy Nield’s first touchdown as a Rider in the second quarter, and a Brett Lauther field goal made it 18-3 at the break.
While the Riders were putting up points, their defence was utterly smothering. Constant pressure on McLeod Bethel-Thompson forced rushed throws and mistakes, and Montreal had only 80 yards of offence in the first half.
Nothing changed after the break — if anything, the Riders ‘D’ became even more stifling — and the Als finished with only 169 yards of total offence on the night.
“When you got four dogs, really the whole D-line, that can go and get out to the quarterback, it makes a lot of things simple as far as the play call and playing defence,” Riders’ defensive end Malik Carney, who finished with five tackles, said. “That’s what we were able to do, being relentless in our rush, preaching physicality, and doing what we do best, pass rush.”
The last two games have been prime examples, as even though the Riders didn’t have eight sacks like their previous game against Edmonton, they certainly kept Bethel-Thompson uncomfortable. A big part of that is getting more and more familiar with one another as a unit.
“I felt like since training camp, we definitely were learning each other,” Carney continued. “Every day that we spent together, we were able to build and learn each other more and learn how each other rush, rushing off each other and rushing together. I feel like at this point right now, we still got some things to clean up, but we’re coming together.”
With Montreal unable to do anything on offence, Harris and crew kept up their end of the bargain by continuing to press in the second half. KeeSean Johnson had a nifty leaping catch for a touchdown in the third quarter, and Lauther hit three more field goals, including two in the fourth quarter, to cap the Riders scoring on the night. That, combined with the ‘D’ doing their thing, led to one of the best overall finishes Saskatchewan has had this season.
“Everyone rallied around that message,” Nield said when asked how the team was able to put together such a complete game. “You kept hearing it on the sideline: ‘Let’s finish, let’s finish, let’s finish.’ We’re up in the fourth quarter, it doesn’t matter, let’s finish this game and play every snap like it’s your last one. It doesn’t matter if we’re up by 20 or down by 20, that’s how we play.”
Harris finished 19-of-27 passing for 289 yards, and Dohnte Meyers was his favourite downfield target, making a handful of catches for big gains and finished with five for 136 yards. A.J. Ouellette led the ground game with 15 carries for 74 yards, Mario Anderson made his Riders debut as a runner and had a 26-yard run, finishing with five carries for 48 yards.
Saskatchewan heads into their second bye week and return to the field on Saturday, August 16 for a Week 11 home game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Mosaic Stadium.
