Roughriders move into second place with 29-16 win over Redblacks

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Brett Lauther kicked seven field goals and Thomas Bertrand-Hudon scored the lone touchdown for the Saskatchewan Roughriders as the Green and White beat the Ottawa Redblacks 29-16 on Saturday afternoon.

In front of 27,676 fans at Mosaic Stadium in Week 17 of the CFL season, the Riders improved to 7-7-1 while the Redblacks dropped to 8-6-1.

“That’s what we talked about; we’ve got to find a way to find the way,” Riders head coach Corey Mace told reporters after the game. “This win looked a little bit different than maybe some others just like we had a bunch of different ways to lose a game.

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“When we watch the film, there’ll be a lot of truths out there for us, good and bad. We’ll just make sure we keep getting better on the goods and fix the bads.”

With the victory, the Riders jumped ahead of the B.C. Lions (7-8) for second place in the CFL’s West Division after B.C. lost to Hamilton 32-29 on Friday night.

It was also Saskatchewan’s second win in a row after beating the Calgary Stampeders 37-29 last week, which snapped a seven-game winless skid for the Riders.

“I think just building off of momentum more than anything just kind of validates the work that put in,” said Mace, whose team led 9-3 at the half on Saturday. “But those guys worked hard even through the streak when it wasn’t good.

“And that’s hard as coaches for us to look those guys in the face and say, ‘Hey, you’re doing a lot of things right, we’ve just got to fix the nuances.’

“It’s a little bit easier tomorrow when we meet to say, ‘Hey, we did a lot of things right but we’ve still got to fix the nuances.’ ”

Quarterback Trevor Harris completed 27 of 36 passes for 315 yards for the Riders, who only had three two-and-outs throughout the game.

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“We were able to move the football but just little things allowing us to get off the field when we should be staying on the field and puncturing the end zone,” said Harris. “At the end of the day, we won the football game and we can come in tomorrow and correct things on film knowing that we’ve got a lot more left in the tank.”

“I thought that they did an excellent job moving the ball; obviously put us in field goal range,” added Mace. “But I know how they want to finish those drives.”

Through the air, KeeSean Johnson (six catches, 101 yards) and rookie Dhel Duncan-Busby (seven catches, 94 yards) were Harris’ top two targets. Shawn Bane Jr. left the game in the second quarter with what appeared to be a leg injury.

“It felt great being out there,” said Duncan-Busby, who was making his first career start. “I’m just glad we got the win and that’s honestly the most important thing.”

Along the ground, after rushing for 207 yards last week against Calgary, running back Ryquell Armstead was held to 32 yards on 10 carries against his former team. He was also forced to sideline in the third quarter with what appeared to be a right shoulder injury.

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Thomas Bertrand-Hudon came into the game for Saskatchewan and proceeded to rumble for 72 yards and a touchdown on nine carries.

“Everybody stepped up,” said Bertrand-Hudon. “It’s next-man-up (mentality) on this team and coached talked about it multiple times.

“We’ve got great players and the next man up after them are also great players.”

Defensively, Saskatchewan’s defenders picked off Redblacks’ quarterback Jeremiah Masoli three times as Rolan Milligan Jr., Adam Auclair and Marcus Sayles all registered interceptions.

“We knew there was going to be opportunity (for turnovers),” said Mace. “Jeremiah is not shy to put the ball up there.

“We’ve got to capitalize on those opportunities and they did that today.”

Overall, Masoli completed 26 of 36 passes for 278 yards and a touchdown against the Riders, who limited Redblacks’ running back Khalan Laborn to just 42 rushing yards.

“We’re trying to be as consistent as we can every week,” said Milligan, who now has a league-leading seven interceptions. “Continue to turn the ball over and just show that we can be dominant.”

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Saskatchewan is now set to visit the Edmonton Elks on Oct. 5 at 5 p.m. in Week 18 of the CFL season. The Elks (5-10) lost 55-27 to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (9-6) on Friday night and remain five points back of Saskatchewan and four back of the Lions in the West Division standings.

While the Riders can control their own destiny when it comes to clinching a home playoff game with three games left in the regular season, they aren’t satisfied quite yet.

“We’ve won two football games in a row; the goals we have are far more than that,” said Harris, whose team will face the Lions in Week 19 before wrapping against Calgary. “We’re going to push the envelope harder; we know what we’re capable of.”

“We were in first place at one point; we were in third,” added Mace. “It doesn’t matter until the final game is final so to be honest, we don’t even talk about it.

“We just try to get better each day. We focus on going 1-0 each week and let the cards fall where they may from there.”

Scoring Summary

The Riders opened the scoring on the first drive of the game as Lauther kicked a 35-yard field goal to put Saskatchewan up 3-0 early.

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Later in the first quarter, after Ottawa’s Lewis Ward missed a 46-yard field goal, Saskatchewan’s Mario Alford brought the kick out of the end zone and proceeded to run 75 yards to the Ottawa 43-yard line.

After Harris generated a pair of first downs, the drive stalled before Lauther kicked his second field goal of the day from 21 yards out to make it 6-0 early in the second quarter.

On Ottawa’s next play, the Riders got the ball right back as Milligan picked off Masoli. However, the Riders were forced to punt the ball away on the drive.

Saskatchewan took the ball away again as Sayles intercepted Masoli on Ottawa’s next drive. However, the Riders couldn’t turn it into points and punted the ball away once again.

Later in the second quarter, Saskatchewan made it 9-0 as Lauther kicked a field goal from 33 yards out.

With two minutes left in the half, Ottawa made it 9-3 as Ward split the uprights from 37 yards.

On the first drive of the second half, the Riders extended their lead to 12-3 as Lauther connected on a field goal from 41 yards out.

Later in the third quarter, the Riders nabbed their third pick of the day as Auclair intercepted Masoli at Saskatchewan’s 27-yard line.

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Saskatchewan turned that into three more points as Lauther connected from 39 yards out to put the Riders up 15-3.

Early in the fourth quarter, the field goal fest continued as Ward connected from 53 yards out to make it 15-6.

On Ottawa’s next drive, receiver Justin Hardy turned a short pass into a 41-yard gain before Ward kicked a 26-yard field goal to make it 15-9.

On the next series, with Armstead on the sideline, the Riders put together a six-play, 80-yard drive capped off by Bertrand-Hudon rumbling into the end zone from 26 yards for Saskatchewan’s first touchdown of the game.

After a successful two-point convert, the Riders went up 23-9 with 7:58 left.

Following a punt by the Redblacks, Harris hit Johnson down the seam for a 53-yard gain before Lauther kicked his sixth field goal of the day from 24 yards out to extend Saskatchewan’s lead to 26-9 with 4:03 remaining.

The Redblacks then scored their first touchdown of the game as Masoli connected with Kalil Pimpleton for an 11-yard score. With the convert, Ottawa trailed the Riders 26-16 with 1:56 left.

After an unsuccessful onside kick by the Redblacks, the Riders got the ball at Ottawa’s 43-yard line before Lauther kicked his seventh field goal of the night, this one from 35 yards out to put Saskatchewan up 29-16 with 17 seconds left to seal the victory.

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West Division standings

1. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (9-6)
2. Saskatchewan Roughriders (7-7-1)
3. B.C. Lions (7-8)
4. Edmonton Elks (5-10)
5. Calgary Stampeders (4-9-1)

tshire@postmedia.com

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