Riders outgunned by Stamps, lose 32-15 in West showdown

The Saskatchewan Roughriders were outgunned in a Western clash in Calgary.

The Calgary Stampeders beat the Riders by double-digits for a second time this season, this time 32-15 at McMahon Stadium. Calgary also won 24-10 at Mosaic Stadium back in July.

“Disappointment obviously,” Riders quarterback Trevor Harris said when asked about his takeaways from the game. “I thought there was some opportunities we could look back on that we could have capitalised on.

“I’ve talked plenty before where you’re 8-1 and everyone is praising you about how great you are. It’s not about your record, it’s about who you are becoming in the process. Today, we didn’t bring our A-game, and they beat us good. It’s a good thing for us to reflect on, look back on and see how we can improve. We have championship-calibre guys in the locker room and I think this will be a good opportunity to show that.”

Saskatchewan’s offence was shut out in the second half after entering halftime with a 15-14 lead.

“When they punched back in the second half, we didn’t. It’s unfortunate but this team will get better from this,” Harris said.

After the first meeting between the clubs, the Riders admitted they were “outphysicaled” in the contest. That appeared to be the case once again as the Stamps’ defence was able to generate a lot of pressure and sacked Harris four times in the game. The Riders’ offensive line was one of the best coming into the game, only surrendering 11 sacks throughout the team’s first nine games.

“We unfortunately couldn’t get in a rhythm. It’s sort of when you can get to play five or six in a drive and be able to wear down their pass rush a little bit and be able to shove the ball down the field a little bit. We weren’t able to do that,” Harris said. “Their pass rush did a good job and I’ve got to make sure I do a better job of getting the ball out quick for the guys. I’m sure we will take a look at the film and see some things we can kind of clean up and we will.

“We will see them down the line and that’s not the end of this. It’s going to be fun. We will be fine.”

Harris also added this team knew some adversity would hit at some point this season.

“We took a punch today and that’s all it is. We have to make sure we respond accordingly. We have talked about our character all year so it’s time to put that on the table and show who we are,” Harris said. “We’re not happy about this. It sucks, it hurts but to say the sky is falling or we need to revamp things, that’s just not true. This team will respond accordingly.

“We’re going to take a hard look in the mirror, have some tough conversations and get better than this because if we want to get where we are capable of going, that’s the only option we have.”

One of those sacks saw Harris get up and appear to wobble before heading to the sidelines. Harris said it was due to cramping in his calves.

“Both my calves were cramping and it had nothing to do with the hit. For some reason, I’ve been getting these calf cramps these last couple games,” Harris said. “I may need to start drinking some pickle juice or electrolytes. (The hit) had nothing to do with it. I’m fine.”

He came in for the next series but was then replaced by quarterback Jake Maier. Maier completed six of 10 passes for 52 yards.

Saskatchewan Roughriders kicker Brett Lauther missed his only field goal attempt of the game as his season struggles continued. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)

Harris finished the game with 15 completions on 23 pass attempts for 205 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions.

“Trevor is just fine. I made that decision. We were down 17 and we had 15 points on the night and they were getting to the quarterback early and often. It was a decision that I felt. Let’s get Jake in there and get some live reps,” head coach Corey Mace said. “Just looking forward to the future of our season. Sometimes, that’s the plus of the start we have had. You have to look long-game sometimes.”

Stamps quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. finished the game with 222 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.

The game featured a battle between two of the top three rushers in the CFL. Riders running back AJ Ouellette had 65 yards in the contest while Stampeders rusher Dedrick Mills finished with 78 yards.

“I did feel defensively we struggled tackling,” said Mace, who is also the team’s defensive co-ordinator. “The physicality of their running back and then up front — their front four — got to our quarterback quite often.”

Saskatchewan’s defence saw some shuffling in its defensive backfield before and during the game. Defensive back Marcus Sayles was ruled out before the game so the team moved safety Nelson Lokombo to boundary corner with Jaxon Ford starting at safety. Lokombo was then hurt early in the game, which led to Kerfalla Exume playing the remainder of it.

Riders kicker Brett Lauther, who has struggled this season, missed his only field goal attempt of the game, which was 28 yards out.

The Riders have now dropped to 8-2 and have a big task ahead of them next week. The Riders will welcome a Winnipeg Blue Bombers team to Mosaic Stadium for the annual Labour Day Classic.

Harris doesn’t believe this loss will affect them in their next game.

“We’ve been preaching 1-0 all year and for us to backtrack on that and say this changes this, it’s not true. We just have to focus on Winnipeg,” Harris said. “We need to take a hard look in the mirror at this game first, and we will. Hopefully, we see (Calgary) along the line.”