Monday Sports: Riders Rout Ticats & More
Despite losing quarterback Trevor Harris to an injury, the Saskatchewan Roughriders improved to 3-0 with a convincing 36-20 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday.
Harris was injured late in the second quarter when tackled by Ticats defensive lineman Nick Usher, and did not return to the playing field. The Riders stuck with backup Shea Patterson for the remainder of the game.
“I haven’t sat down with him, but I talked to him at halftime and he was in pretty good spirits. And then in the second half, he was in my ear and telling me, ‘Coach, I can go’ but we wanted to play it just a little bit safe,” said Saskatchewan head coach Corey Mace. “Shea was moving the ball very well. Heading into the bye week, it’ll just give Trev some more rest but the way he was acting, it sounded like he was ready to go.
“Why risk it? We love Trevor. It’s a long season but we’re confident with what Shea has provided for us to this point. We were still able to maintain the lead, move the field and execute the offence. I didn’t see any point to putting Trev back in the game.”
With Patterson at the controls and the Riders holding an 18-7 lead, the Riders defence took control of the game in the third quarter. Saskatchewan forced three turnovers in the frame with Hamilton quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell losing a fumble on the Riders five-yard line and tossing two interceptions. Jameer Thurman had the first interception, returning it 28 yards for a touchdown, and DeMarcus Fields intercepted Mitchell on the next series.
Running back A.J. Ouellette, another free-agent signing by the Riders, had an impressive home-field debut. The former Toronto Argonaut was Saskatchewan’s leading rusher with 98 yards on 20 carries. He was also the leading receiver with four catches for 47 yards.
After rushing for 64 yards on 29 carries in the first two games of the season, Ouellette displayed the form Sunday that made him a highly touted free agent in the off-season.
Ouellette said his role with the Riders is a work in progress.
“This is just familiarity. It’s going to take a while for us to mesh together,” said Ouellette. “It’s a whole new system for these guys and then I haven’t got a chance to read them, you know? For years in Toronto, it took me a little bit to get used to those guys and we’ll get together in the bye week and get after it.”
UP NEXT
Tiger-Cats: Travel to Ottawa next Sunday for a tilt with the Redblacks (1-1).
Roughriders: Bye week. Next game is July 4 when Riders host the Toronto Argonauts.
(Canadian Press/Jeff DeDekker)
NHL
The Stanley Cup will be presented in Sunrise, Florida, tonight. The Edmonton Oilers, who rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the best-of-seven championship series against the Florida Panthers to force a Game 7, will be aiming to win their first championship since 1990. The Panthers have never won the Cup. The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs are the only team in NHL history to rally from a 3-0 deficit in the final to win the Cup.
MLB
Steven Kwan and Josh Naylor of Mississauga, Ontario, hit solo homers as Cleveland scored five straight runs in the third and fourth innings, helping the AL Central-leading Guardians edge the visiting Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 on Sunday. Cleveland won its fifth straight and is a season-high 23 games over .500. The Jays, who have lost six straight games, open a three-game series Monday in Boston.
WCBL
Regina 6 Moose Jaw 5
Sylvan Lake 10 Medicine Hat 3
Okotoks 8 Fort McMurray 7
Brooks 20 Weyburn 12
Swift Current 8 Edmonton 6
CEBL
The reigning Western Conference champions have arrived back on the scene. Calgary started and ended its 91-80 victory over Edmonton on separate 9-0 runs, including holding the Stingers scoreless in Target Score Time, to extend its winning streak to three while halting the Stingers’ run at the same number on Sunday at the Edmonton EXPO Centre.
A Donovan Willians circus layup helped the Scarborough Shooting Stars (6-4) halt the Montreal Alliance (3-8) comeback attempt and secure a 92-84 win on Sunday night. The Shooting Stars led the entire game and three times by over 20 points.
GOLF
Scottie Scheffler beat Tom Kim with a par on the first playoff hole Sunday to win the Travelers Championship for his sixth win of the year. That’s the most in one PGA Tour season since Tiger Woods won six in 2009 and the most by a player before July since Arnold Palmer in 1962. It was Scheffler’s fourth victory of the year in the PGA Tour’s 20-million-dollar signature events, earning him a payday of 3.6-million-dollars.
(CP/CEBL)
