Quarterback Trevor Harris threw three touchdowns to Shawn Bane Jr. to propel Saskatchewan to victory in the opening week of the CFL season
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A massive fourth quarter by the Saskatchewan Roughriders powered them to victory over the Edmonton Elks in the opening week of the CFL season.
Quarterback Trevor Harris threw three touchdown passes to Shawn Bane Jr., and A.J. Ouellette scored his first major in green and white, as the Roughriders (1-0) won 29-21 over the Elks (0-1) on Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium.
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Saskatchewan trailed 11-7 at the half and 21-8 early in the fourth quarter, before putting together three touchdown drives to complete the comeback.
Harris completed 22 of 31 passes for 301 yards on the day and while he had three touchdowns, he also threw two interceptions.
Along with three touchdowns, Bane Jr. had 125 receiving yards to lead the team in that category as the Riders put up 330 yards of net offence to Edmonton’s 361.
Defensively, Rolan Milligan led the way for the Riders with 10 total tackles and a pass knockdown, while Bryan Cox Jr. and Jameer Thurman each had fumble recoveries. C.J. Avery also picked up his first career interception for Saskatchewan.
Scoring summary
After the Elks opened the scoring with a field goal in the first quarter, Saskatchewan put up the first major of the game as Harris put together a six-play, 70-yard drive capped off by a 27-yard touchdown strike to Bane Jr., which put Saskatchewan on top 7-3 with the convert.
After the Riders conceded a single point on a punt return to make it 7-4, the Elks went back on top with 1:06 left in the first half as quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson connected with receiver Hergy Mayala for a 22-yard touchdown to make it 11-7 for the Elks.
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The Riders looked to put together a drive in the final minute of the first half, but Harris was intercepted by Elks’ defensive back Darrius Bratton to end the half.
In the second half, on the Riders eighth punt of the game in their first 10 series, Adam Korsak booted it 62-yards through the back of the end zone for the rouge to make it 11-8.
On Edmonton’s next drive, Bethel-Thompson hit Eugene Lewis for a 52-yard gain before the quarterback connected with Mayala for his second touchdown of the day to put Edmonton up 18-8 with the convert.
After Harris threw his second interception of the game, the Elks tacked on a field goal to make it 21-8 early in the fourth quarter.
Harris then made up for the interception in his next series as he threw a 40-yard pass to Bane Jr. for his second touchdown of the day to cut Edmonton’s lead to 21-15 with the convert.
After Thurman recovered a fumble on Edmonton’s next series, Ouellette plowed into the end zone for his first touchdown as a Rider. With the convert, Saskatchewan went on top 22-21 with just over eight minutes to go.
With two minutes left in the game and Edmonton driving the field, Cox Jr. stripped Bethel-Thompson and then recovered the loose ball.
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That turnover allowed increase their lead as Harris threw his third touchdown pass to Bane Jr., this one for 33 yards, as Saskatchewan went on top 29-21 with the convert.
After Avery intercepted Bethel-Thompson, Saskatchewan attempted to put the game away, but Ouellette fumbled the ball with 28 seconds left, allowing the Elks back in the game.
However, as time expired, Bethel-Thompson’s Hail Mary pass to the end zone fell incomplete as Saskatchewan survived the late scare to pick up the victory.
Off the board
In the first quarter, Elks’ returner Javon Leake had a 75-yard punt return touchdown, but it was called back due to an illegal block penalty.
Near the end of the second quarter, Riders’ returner Mario Alford had a 91-yard punt return touchdown, but it was called back due to a holding penalty. Alford also had a 32-yard punt return wiped off the board due to a holding penalty in the first quarter.
Ferland ejected
With 5:53 left in the second quarter, Riders right guard Logan Ferland was ejected from the game as he was given a rough play disqualification penalty after striking Elks’ linebacker Leon O’Neal Jr. in the helmet after the play. Ryan Sceviour entered the game at right guard for the remainder of the game for Saskatchewan.
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The Riders gave up back-to-back sacks following the ejection but didn’t allow any more in the rest of the game.
Penalty problems
It wasn’t a good first half for the Riders when it came to penalties.
Saskatchewan committed five total infractions in the first half for 75 yards. However, in the second half, the Green and White then had just one penalty.
Meanwhile, Edmonton had 11 penalties for 101 yards in the game.
Milestone moment
In the first half, Harris became the 19th player in CFL history to hit the 30,000 passing yard milestone. The 38-year-old entered the game just 116 yards shy of the mark in his 102nd career start.
Next up
The Roughriders will play their second straight road game in Week 2 as they will visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (0-1) on June 16 (5 p.m., TSN).
The Ti-Cats lost 32-24 to the Calgary Stampeders in their opening game of the season on Friday.
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