FAMOSO RECAP: ROUGHRIDERS 34 ALOUETTES 29
MONTREAL – Defensive back Nick Marshall scored two rushing touchdowns as the surging Saskatchewan Roughriders beat the Montreal Alouettes 34-29 in a game where Johnny Manziel threw his first two CFL touchdown passes in a losing effort.
Zach Collaros went 29 for 41 for 394 yards, a touchdown and an interception as Saskatchewan (9-5-0) won for the sixth time in seven games.
Manziel completed 9 of 16 passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns for Montreal (3-11-0), which has lost three games in a row. The former Heisman Trophy winner added 45 yards on the ground. He was sacked five times.
Running back Stefan Logan scored a touchdown on a punt return.
Down 31-23 in the fourth quarter, Manziel threw his second touchdown of the game when he found Ernest Jackson in the end zone for the 20-yard score. Montreal almost tied the game with a two-point conversion but Manziel was stopped on the one-yard line. The drive started with an interception by Henoc Muamba.
Earlier in the game, the Alouettes starting quarterback found the end zone for the first time this season on one of Montreal’s nicest plays of the year.
On a carefully executed trick play early in the second quarter, Manziel handed the ball off to running back William Stanback, who reversed it to receiver B.J. Cunningham with another handoff. Cunningham flicked the ball back to Manziel, who went deep for the 47-yard score to a wide-open Adarius Bowman.
The touchdown put the Alouettes ahead 14-13 in Manziel’s fourth CFL start. The 25-year-old is still looking for his first victory of the season.
The Roughriders had 505 yards of total offence to Montreal’s 187.
Montreal opened the scoring 6:51 into the game with an Antonio Pipkin QB sneak to take a 7-0 lead.
The Roughriders tied the game three minutes later on a 27-yard touchdown by Tre Mason, his first of the season.
Saskatchewan went up 13-7 on a 23-yard pass from Collaros to Kyran Moore in the dying seconds of the second quarter.
Manziel’s TD and a Boris Bede field goal gave the Alouettes a 17-13 lead.
Marshall punched the ball into the end zone from one yard out late in the first half and the Riders added a two-point conversion.
Saskatchewan went up 24-17 on a Brett Lauther field goal.
Marshall scored another one-yard touchdown at 4:30 of the third quarter to put the visitors up 31-17.
The Alouettes began mounting their comeback attempt, against the run of play, on a 74-yard punt return by Logan at 14:21 of the third quarter to cut the deficit to 31-23. Logan became the Alouettes’ all-time franchise leader for punt return yards.
Following Manziel’s second touchdown and failed two-point conversion, Lauther added a 23-yard-field goal to give Saskatchewan the 34-29 lead.
Notes: There were 18,370 fans in attendance at Percival Molson Stadium.
POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM CHRIS JONES
– Unfortunately they were very opportunistic with what we gave them in turnovers and missed coverages. That allowed them to sneak back into the game. But we played well offensively. They also returned a punt, and that kept them in the game. Coach Sherman and his staff did a nice job with their game plan.
– We talked about Manziel all week. I played a bit more 2-man than I normally would against a scrambling QB and he caught me there late. Our front knows they gotta get him on the ground.
– Mac did a great job with the 6-receivers and that package, especially in the second half. That cleared the box up for Zach to see what was coming. He felt very comfortable with it.
– St. John has been playing pretty well. We’ve had him on our big team and field goals. We rotated him with Bladek which allowed to get him on the field more.
– It was status quo. Nobody had any bad injuries out there today.
(RodPedersen.com Wire Services)
