Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
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The Saskatchewan Roughriders flattened the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at a sold-out Mosaic Stadium to improve their record to 8-1.
In a battle between two of the front-runners for the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player Award, Riders quarterback Trevor Harris staked his claim by tossing three touchdowns to go along with 302 yards and an interception as the Riders won 29-9.
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“It’s awesome. It’s really cool through half the season where we have eight wins but eight wins is not something we had on our list of items to check off. Us winning eight games is great but that’s all it is, eight wins and 16 points,” Harris said.
“We’re getting toward our goals so it’s awesome we are able to do that and keep getting wins but it doesn’t score us any points next week so we will enjoy this one today but there are things we want to clean up and get better at next week.”
After taking a big hit, Riders’ head coach Corey Mace took Harris out of the game to avoid his starter taking any more of them.
Meanwhile, the Riders’ defence pummelled Hamilton starter Bo Levi Mitchell, sacking the pivot six times. Micah Johnson had two sacks in the game while Shane Ray, A.J. Allen, Mike Rose, and Caleb Sanders all added one of their own.
“It’s rolling right now. We’re putting a lot of work in, and the vibe in the room is incredible. The guys in the room really love each other and we are playing for each other,” Johnson said. “There are a lot of good things going on in the room right now.
“It’s always fun when you get to the quarterback. I tell people year in and year out to not write me off. I still feel good and feel I can produce at a high, high level. I’m just excited that it’s coming together,” Johnson said.
The defence also forced two interceptions — one by Tevaughn Campbell and by the reigning Most Outstanding Defensive Player, Rolan Milligan. Saskatchewan also recovered a fumble by Mitchell and forced a turnover-on-downs.
Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver Dohnte Meyers had a touchdown in the 29-9 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. (Saskatchewan Roughriders/Submitted)
Mitchell finished with 201 yards and the two interceptions. He was replaced late in the fourth quarter by Taylor Powell, who completed one of two passes for five yards.
“We were just locked in. That was the message all week — we have to be locked in after the bye and just be ready to go. We knew who was coming here,” Milligan said.
The Riders’ defence hasn’t surrendered a touchdown in the past eight quarters.
“I think guys’ confidence is through the roof and coach kind of brought the word conviction in a few weeks back and I think that really hit home,” Johnson said.
Three different receivers caught touchdown passes in front of the 33,350 fans at the game. Dohnte Meyers, Tommy Nield and Joe Robustelli hauled in scores for the Riders.
Once again, kicker Brett Lauther struggled in the game. He missed three of his five field goal attempts but one of his makes was from 59 yards out as time expired in the first half.
“A lot of fans and players and people in this organization definitely deserve a lot better,” said Lauther, who is only hitting kicks at a 66.7 per cent rate this season. “I’m trying everything I can and just not getting the results. It’s been a difficult year personally but just happy for the team and how good the guys are playing.
“They are playing right now basically without a kicker so that’s how good this team is.”
Despite the struggles, Mace still has a lot of faith in the veteran kicker.
“It has been tough for him, but in the same breath, he bangs a 59-yarder right before half and that was huge for us to get those three points,” Mace said. “That was one of the plays of the game for Brett to make that kick. He has not had the year he has wanted to have but in the same breath, he has done some incredible things for this football team.”
The Ticats did get out to an early lead in the game, with the Hamilton offence able to get deep into Riders’ territory on the first two drives. But rather than gamble on third downs, Hamilton coach Scott Milanovich elected to take the points with kicker Marc Liegghio connecting on both attempts.
After Lauther missed is first field goal attempt, it did go through the end zone for a single point.
In the second quarter, the Riders took over the game with Harris tossing two touchdowns — one a 58-yarder to Meyers and then followed up with a 26-yarder to Nield.
Saskatchewan added to the lead in the third quarter, with Harris connecting with Robustelli for a touchdown and another Lauther single on a missed field goal.
Liegghio and Lauther both added field goals in the fourth quarter.
The Riders will head to Calgary to take on the Stampeders (6-3) next Saturday. Calgary is the only team who have beaten the Riders this season.
“They came into our house and they whooped us. Kudos to them so we will just try to return it,” Milligan said.
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