REGINA -- It ended up way closer than the Saskatchewan Roughriders would have liked against the struggling Edmonton Elks on Friday night, but they were once again just good enough to get the job done.
The Riders racked up eight sacks -- including a pair on the final two plays of the game as Edmonton attempted to get into field goal range -- and would go on to a 21-18 victory over the Elks in Canadian Football League action from Mosaic Stadium. Saskatchewan improves to 6-1 with the victory and are now in first place in the West Division and overall in the CFL, while Edmonton falls to 1-5 and are last in the West.
The Green and White came into the contest as heavy favourites but found themselves struggling to get going on offence, with only a rouge and a 4-1 deficit to show for things in the first quarter. They’d tack on 10 points in the second -- with Sam Emilus scoring their lone major of the first half -- and take a 11-4 lead into the break.
While Trevor Harris aimed to get the offence going, things were going pretty smoothly on the other side of the ball, and especially for the defensive line. Defensive ends Malik Carney and Shane Ray joined defensive tackle Micah Johnson in recording a pair of sacks each, while linebackers A.J. Allen and C.J. Reavis each got to Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo once.
Seeing that relentless success was naturally a highlight for Riders' head coach Corey Mace.
“Shout out to the d-line, I thought they were humming all day,” he said during the Rider Broadcast Network post-game show. “Usually, Cody's pretty good at being able to get a quick release and get rid of the ball, but even saying so, in those situations the guys were still able to apply pressure, which I thought was really nice. Ultimately in second and longer situations when they always got to drop back and sit back there, the boys were like piranhas tonight.”
Ray was one of those carnivorous predators, with his second sack of the game helping stall out Edmonton’s final drive in the game’s dying seconds. Johnson would then haul down Fajardo on the last play of the game to secure the victory once and for all.
“Man, it was great,” Ray said. “The whole game we were working, trying to bring as much pressure as we could to get to them, and there were some times where I was getting close, but I just couldn't hit home. Then to hit home at such a crucial moment, to end the drive like that is amazing. I'm glad I could do that for my team and kind of close the game out in that sense.”
A KeeSean Johnson touchdown in the third quarter helped the Riders build a 21-4 lead heading into the final 15 minutes, but Edmonton would find some life and put up a pair of majors to create the aforementioned late-game pressure. The Riders have had issues closing out games all season, and that’ll be something they’ll be looking to improve going forward.
“Being able to establish drives and finish them,” Mace said about the key to making games less dramatic. “We were up 21-4. Can we put some more on the board? Defensively, I thought we were okay and then we had an explosion play that we gave up again… We have to be better at closing these out, but when you can train through these things and come away with a win, that makes it a little bit easier.”
Ray had the exact same opinion.
“It was a hell of a game from all the guys and we worked hard to the last whistle,” he said. “We have to be better at closing teams out and not letting it be close games at the end and keeping the suspense away. That's what we're going to continue to work through throughout the season, finishing guys when we got them down.”
Harris ended up 25-of-33 passing for 268 yards, once again going well over the 70 percent completion rate. Fajardo -- who was playing his first game since his final season as a Rider in 2022 -- was 26-of-33 for 346 yards and his two fourth-quarter majors.
You can find all the stats from the contest at www.cfl.ca and follow along with how the game played out on the SportsCage Live Blog.
The Riders are back in action on Saturday, August 2 when the team travels to Montreal to face the Alouettes. Game time is 5 p.m. and you can catch all the coverage action on the Rider Broadcast Network.
