Week 17 CFL Wrap: Riders, Argos, Ticats, Bombers Victorious

The Saskatchewan Roughriders appear to control their own playoff destiny, but quarterback Trevor Harris isn’t making any post-season plans just yet.

The Riders moved into second place in the CFL’s West Division with a 29-16 victory over the Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday. Saskatchewan (7-7-1) is at 15 points, one more than the B.C. Lions (7-8-0) who lost 32-29 in overtime to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday.

Now with two consecutive victories under their belts and a schedule that appears to benefit Saskatchewan’s bid for a home playoff game, the Riders are looking to return to the playoffs for the first time since the 2021 season.

But when Harris was asked after the game if he and his teammates take any satisfaction of the Riders’ current position, the veteran quarterback refused to go down that road.

“No, we’ve won two football games in a row. The goals we have are far more than that. I think the last thing you’ll feel from this team is a sense of the fact that we’re OK or like, ‘Oh, we’ve won two in a row.’

“No, no, no, there’s going to be none of that. We’re going to push the envelope harder,” said Harris, who completed 27 of 36 passes for 315 yards.

Riders head coach Corey Mace believes his charges can take some value from the two straight victories. He also feels his players are aware that the team is a work in progress.

“I think just building off momentum more than anything kind of validates the work that you put in. But those guys worked hard, even through the streak when it wasn’t good,” said Mace.

“And that’s hard for us as coaches, for us to look those guys in the face and say, ‘Hey, you’re doing a lot of things right, but we’ve just got to fix the nuances.’ It’ll be a little bit easier tomorrow when we meet to say, ‘Hey, we did a lot of things right but we still got to fix the nuances, right?’

“We’ve got to be better version of what we were today.”

The Redblacks (8-6-1) rank second in the East Division three points up on the Toronto Argonauts, who hosted the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday night.

Kicker Brett Lauther played a major role in Saskatchewan’s victory as he went 7-for-7 on field goals. Lauther struggled earlier in the season when he made only three of seven fields in a 27-24 loss to the Montreal Alouettes on Aug. 16. After that game, a large portion of Saskatchewan’s passionate fan base wanted to send the veteran kicker packing.

Mace heard the noise from the fans, but he felt strongly that Lauther would continue to be one of the league’s top kickers.

“I love my interactions in person with fans. However, I’m not going to listen to everything that’s said, or else there’d be a lot of decisions made, right? Brett’s been an incredible kicker for this organization for a long time. I’m certainly happy he’s with us. 

“We counted on him, and he did exactly what he was supposed to do. I’m proud of the guy.”

Lauther was not available for comment after the game as he had left before reporters were allowed into the Riders dressing room. While Lauther wasn’t there to speak about the contest, his teammates were quick to step up and talk about the kicker.

“After that game, I texted Brett, and I told him that I’d put my whole cheque on him every week, no matter what. I told him just continue to be who he is. Everybody has a bad game. It was just a bad game for him, but he got back to who he is,” said linebacker Rolan Milligan.

“That’s who we know he is. And shoot, he had a little blip on the radar, and everybody was like, ‘Get him out of here.’ Brett Lawler is the man. Glad we have him,” added Harris.

Ottawa kicker Lewis Ward produced nine points from his three field goals on four attempts.

Ward’s two field goals in the fourth quarter narrowed Saskatchewan’s lead to 15-9, but the Roughriders regained control with the game’s first touchdown.

Thomas Bertrand-Hudon took a pitch from Harris and broke through the Ottawa defence for a 26-yard touchdown run. Harris connected with KeeSean Johnson on a two-point convert to increase the lead to 23-9.

Lauther’s sixth field goal added to that lead with four minutes left in the game.

Ottawa responded with its only touchdown when Jeremiah Masoli connected with Kalil Pimpleton on an 11-yard scoring pass with 1:56 remaining.

Lauther closed out the contest with his seventh field goal, from 37 yards, with 17 seconds left in the game.

Jeremiah Masoli, starting in place of the injured Dru Brown, went 20-for-30 in passing for 210 yards and was intercepted three times.

Saskatchewan lost two starters on offence to injury during the game.

Tailback Ryquell Armstead, who ran for 207 yards in his Saskatchewan debut last week against the Calgary Stampeders, left the game in the third quarter with a shoulder injury.

Receiver Shawn Bane Jr. took a low hit in the second quarter when he tried to haul in a pass deep down the middle. He needed help off the field with an apparent right-knee injury.

The Riders have dealt with a large number of injuries this season, but the players appear to have bought into the “Next man up” mantra.

“We have complete belief (in the next man up). We talk about that every week, if you’re in uniform and you’re here in this building, we have complete belief that you’re going to go in and do what we need to do to win football games,” said Harris.

“And if we didn’t believe that you were good enough to do it, you wouldn’t be here … When you’re in, we expect great things and guys are coming through for us. We’ve had our depth tested, that’s for sure.”

UP NEXT 

Roughriders: Visit the Edmonton Elks on Saturday, Oct. 5.

Redblacks: Enjoy a bye week then visit the Montreal Alouettes on Monday, Oct. 14.

(Canadian Press/Jeff DeDekker)

ARGONAUTS 37 ALOUETTES 31

Lirim Hajrullahu gave the Montreal Alouettes the boot Saturday night. Hajrullahu kicked a CFL record-tying eight field goals to lift the Toronto Argonauts to a 37-31 win over the Montreal Alouettes.

Hajrullahu’s 27-yard field goal — his club record-tying seventh — at 12:43 of the fourth put Toronto ahead 34-31. Montreal took over at its 34-yard line with 2:10 remaining but turned the ball over on downs at its 39-yard line with 1:24 to play before an announced BMO Field gathering of 14,856.

That set up Hajrullahu’s 37-yard kick at 14:11 that put Toronto up 37-31. It tied the CFL record set in 1984 by Dave Ridgway and later tied by Mark McLoughlin and Paul Osbaldiston (both in 1996).

Montreal began its final possession at midfield but Tyshon Blackburn’s interception with 22 seconds remaining ended the threat and cementing the win for Toronto.

Toronto (8-7) earned its second win in three contests this season against Montreal (11-3-1). The Alouettes clinched first in the East — and home field for the division final — with the Ottawa Redblacks’ 29-16 road loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders earlier Saturday.

Toronto moved to within a point of second-place Ottawa (8-6-1) in the East Division and four points ahead of fourth-place Hamilton (6-9). The Argos host the Redblacks on Oct. 19.

“Lirim was huge, you’ve got to make those kicks,” said Toronto head coach Ryan Dinwiddie. “(But) we’ve got to finish in the red zone. We can’t have eight field goals. I know it tied a record but I’d settle for one to score some touchdowns.”

Starter Chad Kelly was 19-of-30 passing for 287 yards and an interception.

Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo completed 20-of-29 passes for 225 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Cole Spieker recorded three catches for 99 yards and a TD.

UP NEXT

Alouettes: Bye week.

Argonauts: Bye week.

BOMBERS 55 ELKS 27

Zach Collaros threw a career-high six touchdown passes to ignite the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in a 55-27 victory over the visiting Edmonton Elks on Friday that extended their win streak to seven games and clinched a playoff spot for the eighth consecutive season. The explosion of points had the team’s third straight sellout crowd of 32,243 cheering wildly as the CFL West Division-leading Blue Bombers improved to 9-and-6. The Elks dropped to 5-and-10.

TIGER-CATS 32 LIONS 29 OT

Hamilton Tiger-Cats running back Ante Milanovic-Litre took a direct snap and scored on a one-yard run in overtime to give his team a 32-29 win over the B.C. Lions in a nail-biting CFL game Friday night at BC Place.

The winning touchdown was set up after B.C. defender Ronald Kent Jr. was called for pass interference in the end zone following a review from the command centre, bringing boos from the crowd at BC Place Stadium. It was a wild game that saw the Tiger-Cats rally from a 16-point deficit and score two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter to win their fourth consecutive game.

BC quarterback Nathan Rourke shouldered the blame for an offence that started hot then cooled off.

“In this league your offence goes as much as your quarterback allows you to go,” said Rourke, who completed 22 of 36 passes for 264 yards. “I think there were times when I was playing well and moved the ball. I think there were times we weren’t moving the ball and that was because I wasn’t making the throws or making the reads.”

(Canadian Press)