CAPITAL GMC SERVICE RECAP: RIDERS 30 STAMPS 7
CALGARY – Duron Carter would have liked a sack, but the Saskatchewan Roughriders wide receiver was otherwise satisfied with his night at defensive back.
Saskatchewan’s top receiver with eight touchdowns added a defensive one Friday, returning an interception in a 30-7 win over the Calgary Stampeders.
“I’m supposed to be putting touchdowns on the board no matter where I’m at and that’s why I play,” Carter said.
Saskatchewan (9-7) earned a playoff spot and won at McMahon Stadium for the first time since 2009.
The Roughriders get at least a crossover post-season berth in the East Division, but with two games remaining in the regular season they’re still chasing the Edmonton Eskimos (9-6) in the West.
Saskatchewan last made the playoffs in 2014.
The Riders also halted Calgary’s lengthy streaks for consecutive wins (11), wins at home (17) and wins against West Division opponents (16).
Calgary (13-2-1) already had a home playoff berth sewn up, but wanted to clinch the division Friday.
“We’re not going to freak out,” Stampeder quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell said. “It’s one loss.
“We understand right now this is the time we have to get better. Going into the playoffs, it’s not the time to go the other way.”
Carter, a six-foot-five, 205-pound Ohio State alum, was pressed into starting at cornerback because of injuries and illness.
Roughrider head coach Chris Jones had predicted Carter would play both sides of the ball in Calgary, but he didn’t. The offence didn’t require Carter’s services, the coach said.
“It was a situation where we were moving the football effectively doing what we were doing,” Jones said.
Running back Christion Jones scored on a punt return with third-string quarterback Vernon Adams rushing for a major and a two-point convert for the visitors. Tyler Crapigna kicked field goals from 26 and 13 yards.
Calgary kicker Rene Paredes was good from 26 and 48 yards in front of an announced 27,316.
Saskatchewan quarterback Kevin Glenn was replaced by Brandon Bridge before the end of the first quarter after completing one of three passes for 19 yards. Bridge went 10-for-19 for 133 yards and was intercepted twice.
“We were having a hard time getting anything generated so we just went with Brandon early,” Jones said.
Mitchell completed 14 of 27 passes for 136 yards and was picked off twice. He was replaced after Carter’s touchdown by Andrew Buckley, who made one of four pass attempts for four yards.
Carter recorded two tackles, including a leg takedown of star running back Jerome Messam in the first half.
“Defence allows you to sort of be you,” Carter observed. “You’re not sort of locked into your route. Sometimes at receiver you can’t really affect the game. At DB, I can always affect the game.
“Bo Levi checked my side every play to see where I was at. It’s fun just getting in guys’ heads and playing with the defence and I get to play with my ears back.”
Mitchell and Carter engaged in Twitter banter during the week with Mitchell mock threatening to throw 25 balls to receivers Carter covered.
But Carter had the last laugh with a 37-yard pick-six just under three minutes into the fourth quarter.
“I just stayed true to my coverage and he put one in my hands,” Carter said. “I figured no one on offence was out there ready to tackle so it was an easy touchdown.”
Stampeder head coach Dave Dickenson felt his team let themselves get distracted by the social media buzz around Carter.
“He’s a player on another team. Why do we give a damn?” Dickenson asked. “There was a bunch of people talking on Twitter and doing things that had nothing to with football and we decided that’s important. That’s our mistake.
“Sometimes you have a stinker,” Dickenson said.
“Didn’t see it coming tonight, really didn’t, but we haven’t been practising well, we haven’t been practising with urgency, we haven’t really, in my opinion been improving in practice.”
One of the few bright spots for Calgary was defensive back Alex Singleton’s seven tackles for 114 so far this season, which set a record for a Canadian player in the CFL.
POSTGAME QUOTES
DURON CARTER
– Tackling Messam felt great. I wanted to come in and be physical early. I wanted to bring that to the defensive side and I felt confident.
– Oh man on that pick return I went left, I went right, I had to score. Shoutout to my guys … they were out there blocking for me and when you play with confidence you feel like you can do anything.
– It feels like we’re coming together at the right time. We let it slip last week but we wanted to get back to blowing people out and playing Roughrider fooball.
– It feels amazing. It feels like teams don’t want to play us going into the playoffs. We love it. We’re fighting on every play and hitting people in the mouth.
– It’s great watching our two QBs. Teams want to get pressure early but then we switch it up with Bridge getting out of the pocket. It’s giving defensive coordinators fits. We coulda thrown KG back in and gone back to the quick game. We’re tough to defend right now.
– I just like being out on the field. I love helping my team win and anyway I can help my team win, I’ll be out there.
CHRIS JONES
– We played good, three phase football. We were physical, held up against the run game well. Other than the first drive, we stopped the run. C-Jones gave us a spark and we kept grinding on offense. We did what we had to do to keep the ball away from them.
– They were getting to KG early. They ran zero the one time and KG couldn’t get the ball out because no one was open. We went to the kid to move the pocket. KG can dice you up as good as anybody when you’re protecting him but when you’re not, you can’t just leave him out there.
– Duron’s a good player and I knew people would be surprised at how good he’d play. Every time he’s been challenged, he’s responded. Right now it’s just seeing where he can be as a player like we are as a team. As you saw tonight, when we get in our gaps and play disciplined, we can be a formidable team. We’re making strides in the right direction.
– We clinched a playoff spot tonight and it’s good to take care of yourself. Coming to Calgary and
beating a very good team – I think the last loss here was 2015 – it’s been awhile, so to come on the road with a quality win was a good thing. Now we need to shift gears, we have two games at home and we need to put on a really good show for two weeks solid.
RP
@rodpedersen
