‘Not being who we are’: Riders hold on for a CFL victory in Hamilton

The Saskatchewan Roughriders overcame a first half of some uncharacteristic mistakes to emerge with a win in Hamilton.

Saskatchewan overcame a 7-6 halftime deficit to beat the Tiger-Cats 27-23 on Saturday in CFL action at Hamilton Stadium.

“Perfection, I don’t think is a thing, specifically in this game, but I don’t think we were even close to the expectation for ourselves so we will continue to chase it and hope to never cross the perfection finish line,” said Riders head coach Corey Mace.

Kicker Brett Lauther had a bad first half as the kicker missed both of his field goal attempts and the convert attempt. He did bounce back in the second half and made his first field goal attempt and a convert attempt.

But he missed a field goal with 50 seconds left to give Hamilton a chance to take the lead.

Lauther finished with two made field goals on five attempts.

But the Riders still have a lot of faith in the veteran kicker.

“We’ve been through this so you guys are going to know my stance on it,” said Mace, referring to an Aug. 17 game against the Montreal Alouettes last season where Lauther missed on four of seven attempts. “That’s Brett Lauther. If it looks like it did last year, you should expect he’s going to be banging these things through here the rest of the season.”

After that game last season, Lauther only missed one kick.

The defence would end up making the game-clinching play as linebacker A.J. Allen broke up the pass attempt on third down to end Hamilton’s chances at a comeback.

“It was just not being who we are. Some stuff we have to continue to clean up. Still with all that went on and still getting a win, it shows how good we can actually be if we clean up those mistakes,” said defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr.

Quarterback Trevor Harris shook off a first drive interception to finish with 295 yards and a touchdown as well.

Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris (7) and Hamilton Tiger Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell (19) speak briefly at the conclusion of the CFL Hamilton Tiger Cats home opener against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Hamilton, Ont., on Saturday, June 14, 2025. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Power)

“Who we will be at the end of the year is not who are right now. The important thing is we are finding ways to win and that’s the DNA of a championship-calibre team,” Harris said. “When we get to Week 12, 14, 15, those weeks we’re going to be a better football team and we will look more like a well-oiled machine, at least you would hope so.”

The interception was a great play by Hamilton safety Stavros Katsantonis who came over to interrupt the pass to Sam Emilus, which Jonathan Moxey came up with the bouncing ball.

Running back AJ Ouellette got sprung for a 47-yard touchdown run — the longest run in his CFL career. He finished the game with 96 yards on 13 rushing attempts.

“Some of the runs that he made that gained four yards, he made two guys miss. It’s truly incredible,” Harris said. “AJ has always been the guy that we thought we got in free agency and I think you’re starting to see him come into form and who he is. He finally got his hips right this offseason and unfortunately got dinged in the head last week.

“A guy we are really fortunate to have and what a lot of people don’t know, he’s maybe the best in pass protection I have seen.”

Hamilton quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell had 336 yards, a touchdown to Tim White, and an interception.

That one interception was a big one as Milligan, the reigning CFL most outstanding defensive player, came down with the ball and the defensive back returned it 64 yards for a touchdown.

“It felt like it took long enough (to score a touchdown). It was hype. I’ve been trying to get into the end zone for a while now,” Milligan said. “They have been joking with me getting tackled by quarterbacks and offensive linemen, so it felt good to finally finish one of them off.”

Read more: 

• Riders’ Tevaughn Campbell has evolved into a steady pro defender
• La Ronge Ice Wolves head coach praises resilience of the community during wildfires
• Former Rams coach Frank McCrystal among 2025 hall of fame class

The Riders’ rushing defence was once again stout for the most part. The defensive unit only surrendered 51 yards on the ground in the game. Along with five tackles, linebacker Jameer Thurman recorded a sack for a second straight game. Linebacker C.J. Reavis had the other sack in the game.

Wide receiver Kenny Lawler had another big game against the Riders. He finished the game with 162 yards on eight catches. The last time he faced the Riders was in the West Final last year, where he had 177 yards and three touchdowns.

KeeSean Johnson led the way for the team with 124 receiving yards and a touchdown on eight catches. Six of those catches came in the fourht quarter.

Harris said this week was Johnson’s week to go off for the team and said all the receivers have the ability to have these kinds of games.

“We just have the ability for anybody to have one of those days. Today was KeeSean’s and you’ll see more of that as well from him, I think,” Harris said.

The Riders (2-0) will take on the Toronto Argonauts on Friday at BMO Field.