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It would seem Bo Levi Mitchell knows how to beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Since taking over as the starter of the Calgary Stampeders he hasn’t lost a game against the green and white.
Many of those games overlapped with injuries to Roughriders star quarterback Darian Durant, but despite having Durant back behind centre Thursday after a two-game absence, Mitchell’s record still stands.
The final score was 35-15 Stampeders.
“We didn’t do enough to win,” Durant said after the game. “We’ve got to put touchdowns on the board when we get in scoring rage. We settled for far too many field goals.”
Four field goals to be exact, but last minute addition John Mark, who was brought in for the injured Tyler Crapigna, missed one of them. It was an otherwise strong performance for Mark given the amount of time he had to prepare.
Head coach Chris Jones said Crapigna was injured during the last kick in practice on Tuesday; Mark was added to the roster Thursday.
Despite this, Mark’s foot was able to bring the Roughriders within one point of the Stampeders in the third, but Mitchell and the offence took control in the fourth and never looked back.
“For three quarters it was a really tight game,” Jones said.
“We had a really good week of prep, we had opportunities to win this football game and you’ve got to give Calgary credit,” he added.
Mitchell and his offence surged down the field for 60 plus yards twice in the fourth ending each drive with a touchdown. One was courtesy of Andrew Buckley and the other was from running back and former Roughrider Jerome Messam.
Jones said the defence just has to be better.
“You can look statistically, when you give up 400 yards and you give up the points that we gave up, we’ve got to play better defensively, and we’ve got to put two halves together,” he said.
The Roughriders will have their chance at revenge next week when the Stampeders come to Mosaic Stadium Saturday.
“I think everyone in this room is looking forward to it,” Durant said. “We just got to keep grinding.”
The Roughriders are now 1-5 on the season.
GAME NOTES
- Rob Bagg was Durant’s number one target getting 135 yards receiving and a touchdown.
- Marquay McDaniel was Mitchell’s number one receiver, hitting 110 yards receiving.
- Former Roughrider Jerome Messam rushed for more than 100 yards and a touchdown.
- Greg Jones amassed 12 tackles for the Roughriders in the loss.
- Major Culbert, playing in just his second game with the Riders since being added last week had seven.
- Another new Roughrider, Regina-native Ivan Brown, had a good debut for the green and white that included one defensive tackle, one special teams tackle and a forced fumble.
