Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
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The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defence turned around its turnover luck and it helped the team earn a big win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday night at Mosaic Stadium.
The Riders’ defence, which only had three total turnovers coming into the game, came away with four in this contest. That includes a turnover on downs and then Antoine Brooks Jr. forced a fumble by Ti-Cats receiver Kenny Lawler, which was picked up by Marcus Sayles and returned to the one-yard line.
Then linebacker Josh Woods, who came into the game as the only Saskatchewan player with an interception this season, came up with his second of the campaign. He then proceeded to run 107 yards for the pick-six.
“Joking with Tevaughn (Campbell) and Marcus — I told both of them they have to catch up and I expect them to. Both of them seem to be making more tackles than me and I’m getting more interceptions so it has kind of flip-flopped,” Woods said. “Like I said, I feel like once (the turnovers) start to come, there’s going to be a storm of them. We should have had even more but it was great and the energy it brought; that was good football we played tonight.”
Saskatchewan went on to win the game 38-7.
“I thought specials did a great job putting us into positions field-position wise. I thought our defence created turnovers, especially in the fourth quarter. I don’t think I played many plays at all,” quarterback Trevor Harris said. “I thought we were efficient in the pass game. I think it’s one of those murky games where the few things that did go wrong were the interceptions … We were able to run the ball really well because that’s what they were giving us. That’s the name of the game — whatever the defence does, make sure you’re exploiting it.”
Head coach Corey Mace said it finally felt like the Football Gods went their way when it came to getting turnovers.
“It’s not for a lack of effort or anything. We have been preaching it like crazy. Just proud of the guys. We talked about it all week and we have been talking about it. It might not be an interception. We might need to force the ball out or punch the ball out,” Mace said. “I’m happy. This has been something we have been waiting for as a defence and you see how it can turn the tide for this team. I’m happy that it started in the second half.”
Due to an injury to Bo Levi Mitchell, former Riders quarterback Jake Dolegala was making his first start for the Tiger-Cats. He went 2-9 in his previous 11 starts.
Dolegala had 122 yards and an interception before he was replaced by Tre Ford late in the fourth quarter. Ford finished with 47 passing yards.
Harris had 211 yards with two touchdowns but two interceptions as well.
Saskatchewan Roughriders short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens rushes the ball against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on July 12, 2026. (Saskatchewan Roughriders)
Saskatchewan running back A.J. Ouellette was making his return to the lineup after missing two games with an ankle injury. He had 83 yards rushing in his return.
“Everybody knows how good of a runner he is, but people don’t realize how good he is at pass-protection and how good he is at stretching and cutting and outside zone and how patient he is in the gap-scheme game,” Harris said. “That’s who A.J. is and he’s a Hall of Fame teammate. Really thankful he is back.”
The team relied on short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens to come in late to close out the game. With under two minutes to go, Stevens had a rush for 26 yards and then another for 14 yards for a touchdown in two plays.
Stevens said the plan was to just run out the clock.
“I had an opportunity to get loose. Doing those plays, it’s basically 12-on-12 football. Add an extra hat in the run game with the running back being the lead blocker essentially, it allows us to manipulate defences and get an extra hat. I tried to put our best foot forward and thought we did that,” Stevens said.
Stevens finished with two touchdowns and 54 yards on the ground.
Kian Schaffer-Baker led the way for Saskatchewan with six catches for 78 yards and a touchdown. Sam Emilus wasn’t far behind with six catches for 72 yards and a touchdown.
Riders defensive end James Vaughters had two sacks in the contest. He leads the team with four this season. Defensive tackle Caleb Sanders had the other sack for the Riders.
“The thing with the defensive line is it takes some time for us to gel and really understand how everyone rushes. I think everyone played well today on the D-line across the board and it was nice to even have our subs come in and do their thing really well too,” Vaughter said. “It’s a team effort. If the quarterback can’t step up in the pocket, the defensive ends should be getting sacks. If he can step up in the pocket, the defensive tackles should be getting them.”
Kicker Alex Hale missed one of two field goals in the game, his miss coming from just 35 yards out. He also missed one of his five convert kicks as well.
Mace elected to punt from the Hamilton 40 and 41-yard lines heading into the south end zone.
“I wouldn’t say it was super gusty, but it was between 25 and 35 (kilometres per hour), which is still a factor. We put Alex out there and pregame, we felt comfortable that was a spot we would be able to hit that. We didn’t. They have an explosive returner and just a risk-reward with understanding how our defence was playing at that time,” Mace said. “If it was going the other way, probably would have put Alex out there anyway.”
Saskatchewan did lose returner Mathew Sexton after suffering a leg injury on the opening kickoff of the second half.
The Riders (4-1) will now head out on a bye week before having a home-and-home with the Edmonton Elks (4-1).
