Saskatchewan Roughriders hold off the Calgary Stampeders 37-29

CALGARY — Heading into Friday’s sport towards the Calgary Stampeders, quarterback Trevor Harris stated he and his Saskatchewan Roughriders had been “able to rock.”

With assist from newly acquired operating again Ryquell (Rock) Armstead, Harris backed up his assertion as he led the Roughriders (6-7-1) to a 37-29 win over the Stampeders (4-9-1) in entrance of 24,240 followers at McMahon Stadium.

“Truthfully, I really feel like this group can beat any group,” stated Harris, who had a dashing landing and threw a TD cross to Kian Schaffer-Baker. “It’s only a matter of us having the best angle, mindset and execution.”

Whereas Harris accomplished 16-of-18 passes for 248 yards, he was additionally in a position to work Armstead into the offence by regularly handing the ball off to the previous Ottawa Redblacks’ operating again.

“Clearly our offensive line was transferring individuals,” Harris stated. “We had been in a position to get some good cutbacks and (Armstead) was doing a fantastic job of discovering the holes. He’s a load to carry down.

“He’s a stud and he did a fantastic job for us tonight, little doubt.”

Armstead undoubtedly had a formidable debut with 207 yards dashing on 25 carries.

“All I did is simply attempt to come out right here and do my job and assist these guys and contribute,” stated Armstead, who was given the sport ball from Saskatchewan coach Corey Mace after the victory. “These coaches did a fantastic job with the sport plan, changes and issues like that.

“They made it very straightforward and all I needed to do was my half.”

Backup quarterback Shea Patterson ran for a pair of touchdowns. Brett Lauther kicked three subject objectives for the Riders, who ended a seven-game winless streak.

“I’m so pleased for these guys,” Mace stated. “They labored their tails off. I do know it hasn’t been the outcomes perhaps within the prior weeks for us, however these guys, their work ethic is excellent. They wished this simply as unhealthy as Rider Nation.”

Clark Barnes and Jalen Philpot caught landing passes from quarterback Jake Maier for the Stampeders (4-9-1), who’re 0-5-1 of their previous six video games.

Maier accomplished 25-of-31 passes for 197 yards to go along with his two TD passes and one interception.

“The temper in here’s what you’ll assume,” Maier stated. “It’s tremendous irritating. It’s a sense of failure.”

Tommy Stevens and Dedrick Mills had dashing touchdowns for Calgary, whereas Rene Paredes kicked a subject objective.

“They beat us,” stated Calgary coach Dave Dickenson. “They had been extra bodily. They owned the road of scrimmage. We fought again, nevertheless it simply wasn’t sufficient.”

The Stamps had a robust begin as Stevens ran for a 69-yard landing at 1:38 of the primary quarter. Paredes missed the convert, so Calgary needed to accept an early 6-0 lead.

Harris then led the Riders on an eight-play, 63-yard drive that Patterson accomplished by scrambling throughout the objective line for a one-yard landing.

Following a 33-yard subject objective by Lauther at 10:15, Paredes answered with a 41-yarder with simply 33 seconds left within the first quarter.

Whereas Maier and the Calgary offence struggled within the second quarter, the identical couldn’t be stated for Harris and his Saskatchewan squad.

After Harris led the Riders right down to Calgary’s two-yard line, Patterson ran for his second rating of the sport at 12:58 to cap a formidable eight-play, 99-yard drive.

Harris then punctuated a seven-play, 92-yard drive by operating for a one-yard rating with one second left within the first half to offer the Riders a 24-9 lead.

Barnes caught an eight-yard TD cross from Maier at 4:15 of the third quarter to drag the Stamps again inside eight factors.

Shaffer-Baker made an acrobatic catch simply shy of the objective line and remained on his toes regardless of taking a pair of hits from Calgary’s Branden Dozier and Kobe Williams. He then bumped into the top zone for a 25-yard rating at 10:01 of the third.

“He’s unbelievable,” Harris stated of Shaffer-Baker. “He’s among the finest I’ve ever performed with after the catch. When he will get the ball, he’s harmful. He’s going to make one thing occur.”

Philpot hauled in an eight-yard TD catch at 1:01 of the fourth quarter earlier than Lauther kicked a 32-yard subject objective at 3:44 to place the Riders up 34-23.

After Mills ran for a two-yard TD at 8:39 of the ultimate quarter, the Stamps weren’t in a position to rating a two-point convert as Maier was sacked by Saskatchewan’s C.J. Reavis.

It seemed as if the Stamps had been going to get the ball again after the Riders went two-and-out, however Tyler Richardson took a pricey penalty for contacting punter Adam Korsak.

The Riders subsequently took a 37-29 lead after Lauther kicked a 40-yard subject objective with 1:43 left on the clock.

Calgary had yet one more probability to increase the sport, however former Stampeder Jameer Thurman picked off an errant cross by Maier to safe the victory for Saskatchewan.

“Ending the sport like that meant loads to me,” Thurman stated. “It additionally meant loads to this group, although. I used to be making an attempt to place myself in place all night time to snag a type of.

“It simply so occurred that it was on the finish of the sport. He threw it and I simply went up and bought it.”

UP NEXT

Roughriders: Host the Ottawa Redblacks (8-4-1) on Sept. 28.

Stampeders: Go to the B.C. Lions (7-7) on Oct. 4.

This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Sept. 20, 2024.

Laurence Heinen, The Canadian Press