Roughriders clinch playoff spot with 28-24 win over Elks

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The Saskatchewan Roughriders have clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2021.

With a 28-24 win over the Edmonton Elks at Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday night in Week 18 of the CFL season, the Green and White officially booked their ticket to the postseason while eliminating the Elks and Calgary Stampeders in the process.

“It’s definitely one of those like, ‘OK, let’s celebrate this moment because for a seven-game stretch, we couldn’t figure out a way to win a ball game,” said Riders’ quarterback Trevor Harris, whose team won its third straight game after previously snapping a seven-game winless skid. “And we knew there was outside noise but there was never noise from within.

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“We’ve always believed in one another, and we’ve won three in a row but if you think we’re going to just exhale now, you’re dead wrong about the character of this team and what we’re all about.

“We have a lot of goals left and things that we want to accomplish and just making the playoffs is good, don’t get me wrong it’s nothing to sneeze at in pro football, but also we’ve got bigger goals in mind.”

Harris completed 22 of 28 passes for 358 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions with Samuel Emilus (four catches, 126 yards, one touchdown) and KeeSean Johnson (five catches, 103 yards, one touchdown) serving as his favourite targets.

Defensively, linebacker C.J. Reavis had a team-high nine tackles while defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. notched his league-leading eighth interception of the season. Linebacker Adam Auclair also collected a pick for the Riders, who are into the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.

“We’re happy that we’ll have an opportunity to check off some more things on our list that we set out for ourselves,” said first-year head coach Corey Mace. “But to be honest with you, we’ve got to get ready for B.C.”

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With the victory, the Roughriders improved to 8-7-1 to jump ahead of the B.C. Lions (8-8) for second place in the West Division standings. The Lions, who also secured a playoff spot, beat the Calgary Stampeders on Friday night which helped Saskatchewan secure the postseason berth.

This Saturday, the Riders and Lions will meet in Week 19 of the season in a game that is shaping up to be a preview of the West Division semifinal. However, who is hosting that game still needs to be determined and could very well come down to who wins this week at Mosaic Stadium.

Following their matchup against the Lions, the Riders finish the season against the Stampeders while the Lions face the Alouettes.

First place in the division is still mathematically in reach for the Roughriders. However, the Green and White will need to win both of their remaining games while have the Winnipeg Blue Bombers lose both of theirs.

The Bombers, who beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday night which also helped Saskatchewan clinch a spot, have a three-point lead for first place in the division over the Riders. Winnipeg faces the Montreal Alouettes and Toronto Argonauts in its final two games.

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As for Saturday night’s game, It was a slow start offensively for both teams as the only scoring in the first quarter was a punt single by the Elks as they took a 1-0 lead.

As Saskatchewan looked to generate a drive, Harris was intercepted by Elks defensive back Kordell Jackson before Edmonton put together a 12-play, 93-yard drive capped off by a short touchdown run by Javon Leake to put the Elks up 8-0.

However, Harris and the Riders responded immediately as the quarterback connected on an 88-yard touchdown to pass to Emilus. Harris then connected with Dhel Duncan-Busby on the two-point convert attempt to tie the game 8-8.

Later in the second quarter, the Elks re-took the lead as McLeod Bethel-Thompson threw a 38-yard touchdown strike to Dillon Mitchell, which put Edmonton up 15-8 with the convert.

Again, Saskatchewan responded as the Riders marched 74 yards down the field on seven plays before short-yardage quarterback Shea Patterson plunged into the end zone from one yard out to tie the game 15-15 with the convert.

After Auclair intercepted a pass that bobbled by Elks’ receiver Eugene Lewis, Brett Lauther, playing in his 100th career game, connected on a 50-yard to give Saskatchewan the 18-15 lead into halftime.

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In the second half, Milligan picked off Bethel-Thompson for his eighth interception of the season before Harris and company marched down to Edmonton’s five-yard line.

However, the Green and White couldn’t punch it into the end zone as Lauther was called in to kick a 13-yard field goal to make it 21-15 for Saskatchewan.

The back-and-forth game continued as the Elks marched the field before Bethel-Thompson connected with Lewis on a 10-yard touchdown pass to tie the game 21-21 after Edmonton’s Boris Bede missed the convert.

On Saskatchewan’s next series, after a 34-yard pass to Kian Schaffer-Baker, Harris threw a 28-yard touchdown to Johnson, who went up and over an Elks defender to put the Riders up 28-21.

After the Elks made it 28-24 with a field goal in the fourth quarter, Harris was picked off by Edmonton’s Loucheiz Purifoy. However, the Elks went two-and-out and punted the ball away after the turnover.

With under two minutes to go and the Elks looking to put together a drive, Edmonton’s Kurleigh Gittens Jr. had the ball knocked out of his hands by Riders defensive back Amari Henderson before Reavis jumped on the loose ball to secure the turnover for the Riders.

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From there, Harris and the Riders were able to run out the clock to secure the victory.

And while Saskatchewan is happy about clinching a playoff spot, it was evident in the postgame interviews that there’s still more to get done.

“The ability that we have as a team is far greater than what we’ve shown and so we’re going to keep our hand right on the wheel, foot on the pedal and keep pressing because this team and group has a lot more in terms of our potential,” said Harris. “This team is not playing our best football right now, but we’re heading in the right direction.”

“It’s really tough to be a satisfied coach,” added Mace. “We’re excited to find ways to get better.

“We’re happy as an organization just being able to go through a stretch like that and respond the way that we have.

“We’re happy with that but we’re not satisfied because we believe we can play better football. We really believe that, but we’ve got to prove it.”

tshire@postmedia.com

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