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The Saskatchewan Roughriders finally got the moment they needed to end a four-game slide and punch their ticket to the postseason.
Saskatchewan drove 74 yards on their final offensive drive with a clutch third-down catch from KeeSean Johnson, a 22-yard rush from quarterback Trevor Harris and finally a touchdown pass between those two as Saskatchewan defeated the Montreal Alouettes 16-12 at Mosaic Stadium.
“A couple of weeks ago in a team meeting, I addressed the team and I usually don’t because I don’t have a ton to say. As a player, I think the less you say the more power it has, but I did have something to say and it more or less was it wasn’t we needed one win, we just needed one moment,” Harris said. “I think we had that today and I think that one moment kind of flips the feeling and attitude and spirit of the team … I think this was a big moment in the fourth quarter that we needed as a team to kind of get going in the right direction.
“Not pretty and not how we draw it up, especially offensively.”
Head coach Corey Mace also shared the sentiment that while they got the win, it wasn’t up to the standard this team has for itself. Montreal had rested a number of starters in the game, including star quarterback Davis Alexander.
“In saying so, I think being able to solidify ourselves into playing a second season and putting another tick mark on the piece of wood out there, I’m hoping that’s the momentum we needed to start shaking back to who we need to be, but not our standard,” Mace said.
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Saskatchewan’s offence struggled throughout much of this game as it settled for three long field goals from Brett Lauther to put points on the board.
Montreal starter Dustin Crum had Montreal playing with a lead for most of the game, with their only touchdown drive coming in the first quarter, where after a 23-yard run from Shomari Lawrence, Crum connected with Alex Hollins for a 37-yard touchdown strike.
“It’s a touchdown that shouldn’t have been surrendered,” defensive back Tevaughn Campbell said. “We’re definitely looking at it from a defensive point of view and try to correct it for next week.”
The Riders’ defence was able to avoid things from spiralling as they have during this losing streak and only surrendered field goals from that point on.
“We just stood on business. We had to get something shaking and we knew at the end of the day, it was going to fall on us to not let them get points and I think we did that,” Campbell said.
Saskatchewan had something finally go their way as reliable Alouettes kicker Jose Maltos Diaz missed from 44 yards out, which led to the team’s final drive.
Harris finished the game with 251 yards, a touchdown and one interception. The 40-year-old quarterback led the Riders with 36 yards of rushing.
Johnson finished the game with a game-high 85 yards. His 108 catches this season are the second-most by a Rider ever in a single season, only trailing Don Narcisse (123).
“Second year in a row he has led the league in second-down conversion catches, which is why I started calling him second-and-Kee. He’s just dependable. He has elite body control and is somebody you can trust as a receiver. He’s on a short list for me throughout my career of receivers who make the game easy for you as a quarterback,” Harris said.
Kian Schaffer-Baker had 45 yards in the game, which puts him at 1,006 yards this season — the first time he has crossed 1,000 receiving yards in a season.
Saskatchewan’s rushing defence, which was one of their strengths all season, did surrender 109 yards to Montreal backup running back Shomari Lawrence.
Where Saskatchewan will play in the postseason remains to be determined. There are multiple scenarios that can still take place depending on the Calgary Stampeders and B.C. Lions game later on Saturday and then the games next weekend.
Saskatchewan will host the Edmonton Elks, who clinched first place in the CFL West Division, next week.
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