CFL Super Saturday Round-Up: Riders, Stampeders, RedBlacks, Alouettes Win

EDMONTON – Brett Lauther’s 23-yard field goal with 23 seconds left lifted the Saskatchewan Roughriders to a 28-27 victory over the Edmonton Elks on Saturday in CFL pre-season action.

The good news, for Edmonton fans, was that quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson completed 17-of-25 passes for 190 yards with 190 yards in his Elks debut.

The two-time Grey Cup champion, who signed with Edmonton in January after spending last season with the New Orleans Breakers of the USFL, is joining an Elks team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2019.

“Obviously you want to win, so it’s not the greatest of results, but the excitement should be there and hopefully we can turn this thing around,” Bethel-Thompson said.

Third-year QB Tre Ford replaced Bethel-Thompson to start the second half, and completed 12-of-14 passes for 121 yards.

Roughriders starting quarterback Mason Fine was 9-of-11 on pass attempts for 75 yards with a touchdown pass.                                                                                                                                                

Woodrow Trey Lowe rushed for an Elks touchdown, while Roughriders receiver Dhonte Meyers caught a TD pass.

The Elks outgained Saskatchewan on total offence 411 yards to 191 but turned the ball over a costly five times. Roughriders defensive back Kosi Onyeka returned a fumble for a touchdown, while Antoine Brooks, Jr. had a pick-six for the Riders.

“I thought for the most part we got the (player) evaluations that we needed,” Elks head coach Chris Jones said. “As far as the outcome of the game, we had two-to-one offensive output. The five turnovers is the difference in the ball game.”

Kicker Boris Bede, who signed a two-year deal with the Elks during the off-season after spending the last four years with the Toronto Argonauts, was successful on both of his field goal attempts.

Dean Faithful also booted three field goals for Edmonton, and rookie Vincent Blanchard was successful on a 47-yard field goal attempt in the fourth quarter.

Lauther was 2-for-3 on field goals and kicked three extra points as well as a single.

This was the first of two pre-season contests for the Elks, while Saskatchewan concluded its two-game exhibition slate with a 2-0 record. Edmonton wraps up its pre-season in Vancouver against the B.C. Lions on Friday.

The Roughriders led 7-6 after the first quarter and 21-13 at halftime. Edmonton was up 23-13 at the end of three quarters.

CALGARY – An early heads-up play by Marken Michel was all the Calgary Stampeders needed to propel them to a 30-6 pre-season win over the B.C. Lions at McMahon Stadium on Saturday.

Following a 30-minute lightning delay, starting quarterback Jake Maier engineered a nine-play, 72-yard drive that culminated with him tossing a 35-yard touchdown pass to Michel at 5:44 of the first quarter.

Michel made a diving catch to haul in a 30-yard pass from Maier at the B.C. five-yard line, before he quickly got up and ran untouched into the end zone.

“Marken’s made that catch diving over the middle a handful of times in camp already,” said Maier, who credited his receiver for his experience to know the play wasn’t dead.

“It’s not college, so you’ve got to be touched. Honestly, even if he was touched, he would have got up and sold it anyway, because he wants to score. That was big for us. It got us a touchdown on our first drive.”

B.J. Emmons had a pair of rushing touchdowns in the second half to put the game away for the Stamps, who will wrap up their pre-season schedule with a road game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers next Friday.

Rene Parades kicked a pair of field goals for the Stampeders, while his backup Campbell Fair also connected for one late in the game.

“We were the fresher team,” admitted Calgary coach Dave Dickenson. “We had a huge roster compared to them. I thought it should have been the case; we should have worn them down and we did.”

A total of five quarterbacks suited up for the Stamps. In addition to Maier, Matt Shiltz, Tommy Campbell, Logan Bonner and Kyle Vantrease all had a chance to show off their skills for Dickenson.

Fielding a roster primarily of rookies hoping to make an impression on head coach Rick Campbell, the Lions struggled offensively during the game and had to settle for a pair of field goals by Carl Meyer.

While Jake Dolegala started at quarterback for B.C., Dakota Prukop and Chase Brice also saw action under centre for the Lions.

HAMILTON – In a game that featured two key returning players, it was an incumbent who may have left the biggest impression.

Dustin Crum made his case to remain the Redblacks’ starting quarterback on Saturday, leading Ottawa to a 31-22 pre-season win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Crum took over for starter Dru Brown late in the first quarter and completed 10-of-16 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 33 yards and a score.

The American was Ottawa’s fourth stringer at this time last year, but he wound up starting by the end of the season as the quarterbacks in front of him faltered due to injury and poor play.

However, Ottawa traded for Brown in the off-season and immediately signed the former Blue Bombers backup QB to a two-year contract, signalling the Redblacks’ intent to insert him as the starter.

Crum said he’s trying to remain focused on his own play ahead of the team’s regular-season opener on June 13 in Winnipeg.

“You can’t really let it affect you,” he said. “Everyone knows I came in last year as the fourth string and at the end of the day, as a professional athlete, especially as a quarterback, you have to handle your business the same no matter what your role on the team is, where you’re at on the depth chart.”

Tiger-Cats QB Bo Levi Mitchell played most of Saturday’s first half after appearing in just six games last season because of various injuries.

He completed 10-of-16 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown to receiver Shemar Bridges on his final drive in the second quarter.

“It felt amazing,” said Mitchell. “It felt good to be back out there. Obviously we’d like a different result but it was just nice to get out there, get the feet wet.” 

Mitchell, who entered training camp in a walking boot, said he’s feeling healthy. 

“I feel awesome. Ready to go,” he said.

Tiger-Cats head coach Scott Milanovich evaluated Mitchell’s performance as “reasonably good,” but was disappointment in his special-teams units.

“It felt fun, right up until we took about five special-teams penalties in the first quarter,” Milanovich said. “I told the players (and) the coaches in there, you’re either coaching or allowing it to happen — and it’s not gonna be allowed to happen.”

One of those special-teams breakdowns came in the second quarter when Redblacks punt returner DeVonte Dedmon took a kick back 91 yards to the house, giving Ottawa a 14-3 lead.

Redblacks head coach Bob Dyce said he wasn’t shocked by Dedmon’s big play.

“He’s had a couple injuries but that doesn’t surprise me at all and he’s been a dynamic player since he came up here in 2019. So no surprises on that, but I was very happy for him,” Dyce said.

Ottawa seized control in the third quarter after defensive tackle Jamare Taylor forced the game’s first turnover, a sack-fumble against Hamilton QB Taylor Powell.

The change of possession gave the Redblacks the ball on Hamilton’s 20-yard line, and Ottawa converted three plays later when Crum scored on an 11-yard rush to put his team up 28-16, backing up his touchdown pass to Jon’Vea Johnson one drive prior.

Redblacks running back Ryquell Armstead, who spent two seasons with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, rushed for the first touchdown of the game in the first quarter, and Dedmon scored not long after.

Hamilton kicker Marc Liegghio converted all three of his field-goal attempts, including a 31-yarder for the first points of the game, and made his lone convert.

Ottawa added a single early in the second quarter as Hamilton returner Kaylon Geiger Sr., conceded a punt return in the end zone. Redblacks kicker/punter Michael Domagala was also perfect on three converts and made a 27-yard field goal to ice Ottawa’s win with 69 seconds left in the game.

The Tiger-Cats cut the deficit to six points when third-string QB Kevin Thomson tossed a 22-yard touchdown to Dev Holmes with just under five minutes remaining in the game. But that was the closest the home side would get.

Hamilton defensive lineman Curtis Woodmansey, the brother of Ticats offensive lineman Coulter Woodmansey, was carted off the field following an apparent late fourth-quarter leg injury. Nearly the entire Tiger-Cats’ sideline greeted him on his way out. There was no official update after the game.

Hamilton is coming off an 8-10 2023 campaign that ended with a 27-12 loss in the Eastern semifinal against the eventual Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes, while Ottawa missed the playoffs at 4-14.

UP NEXT — The Ticats conclude their pre-season slate on Friday in Toronto before heading on the road for a Week 1 showdown against Calgary on June 7.

Milanovich said he hopes his team can clean up some of its details before then.

“I know that’s gonna be a big emphasis tomorrow and throughout the rest of training camp.”

The Redblacks host Montreal on Friday before a Week 1 bye ahead of their opener against Winnipeg.

MONTREAL – The Montreal Alouettes have a lot of roster decisions to make before the start of the regular season, and their pre-season opener didn’t help narrow many down.

Quarterback Cody Fajardo connected with Canadian receiver Kaion Julien-Grant on a 48-yard throw to open the scoring, and the defending Grey Cup champions defeated the Toronto Argonauts 30-13 in CFL exhibition play Saturday night.

Fajardo finished with 107 passing yards on 7-for-8 completions in less than a quarter of action for Montreal, which dressed most of its starters in front of 13,787 fans at Molson Stadium.

Otherwise, players were battling for their positions in the depth chart.

“Choices are what we’re gonna have, we’ve not been shy with our guys to talk about it,” head coach Jason Maas said. “You have 45 guys that represent us every week and 10 guys are in practice roster. From there those are tough choices to make.

“But you want to have choices in this business.”

Davis Alexander went 10-for-12 for 89 passing yards and ran in a touchdown. Caleb Evans threw one touchdown and completed 10-of-15 attempts for 92 yards while rushing for 32 in a battle for the backup quarterback spot.

“They both did their jobs,” Maas said. “They both led scoring drives, they both made big plays, they both efficiently ran our offence.”

Toronto pivot Cameron Dukes was 4-for-6 for 51 yards with one touchdown and an interception, picked off by Alouettesdefensive back Nafees Lyon.

The second-year Dukes is expected to fill in for star QB Chad Kelly. The reigning most outstanding player is suspended a minimum of nine regular-season games for violating the league’s gender-based violence policy.

“We didn’t give Cam a ton,” head coach Ryan Dinwiddie said. “I thought he did some good things and there’s some things we can clean up. I was good with his performance.”

The Argos re-signed veteran Nick Arbuckle last week to add depth at the position. 

Arbuckle went 7-for-13 for 93 yards before giving way to Bryan Scott, who threw 109 yards on 10-for-12 completions.

“Nick came in, moved the ball a little bit, missed a few and that’s gonna happen. He’s been here for about three practices. Brian was in there with some young rookies,” Dinwiddie said. “There’s a lot of stuff that you can’t really evaluate the quarterback when it takes 12 guys to make plays.”

Ka’Deem Carey, the CFL rushing leader in 2022, ran 19 yards on three attempts in his debut in an Argos uniform.

Canadian running back Walter Fletcher ran 14 yards on three carries in the Alouettes‘ starting role with last year’s No. 1 option William Stanback gone to the B.C. Lions. 

Canadians Jeshrun Antwi and Sean Thomas-Erlington are also in the mix, along with former Indiana halfback Stevie Scott III and Ohio State alum Mike Weber Jr., who rushed for 22 yards.

“Guys got limited opportunities,” Maas said of the running back situation. “They’ll have more of an opportunity next week to show what they can do.”

Montreal’s Charleston Rambo led all receivers with 71 yards on four receptions.

Veteran defensive lineman Shawn Lemon took the field on defence for Montreal despite facing a sports-gambling suspension.

Lemon is appealing an indefinite ban from the league for betting on games, including one he played in, and is eligible to resume practising and playing until an arbitrator renders a decision.

Montreal kicker David Cote completed both his field-goal attempts, including a 50-yarder, and backup Jose Maltos was 1-for-1. Alfredo Gachuz Lozada went 2-for-2 for the Argos.

UP NEXT

Alouettes: Visit the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday to wrap up pre-season play. Montreal opens the CFL season on June 6 in Winnipeg for a rematch of last year’s Grey Cup against the Blue Bombers.

Argos: Host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in Guelph, Ont., to finish the pre-season Friday. Toronto entertains the B.C. Lions on June 9 to begin its 2024 campaign.

(Canadian Press)