OTTAWA -- As the old saying goes, a win is a win in the standings no matter how it looks on the scoresheet.
And while the Saskatchewan Roughriders were far from perfect against the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday night, a handful of big plays on offence and defence were enough to bring home a 20-13 victory in Canadian Football League action.
The Riders improve to 11-4 on the season and can now secure a home playoff date if the Calgary Stampeders can defeat the B.C. Lions on Saturday. The Redblacks fall to 4-11 and have been eliminated from postseason contention.
Most importantly for Saskatchewan, the win snapped a two-game losing skid and went a long way to helping the Roughriders regain some of the mojo that made them the definitive top team in the CFL not that long ago.
“It's incredible, you can hear the music in the background and as always we made it fun for everybody watching at home,” head coach Corey Mace said outside a raucous Saskatchewan dressing room on the Rider Broadcast Network post-game show.
“I thought our energy going into the game was incredible to start. At halftime we go in with a little bit of a lead and the message was to keep swinging. Offensively, we weren't pleased with how we were moving the ball in the second quarter, we had an opportunity to go out there and start fast in the second half and certainly we did that, trying to establish ourselves a little bit and we got some good chunk plays with [Dohnte Meyers].”
Meyers ended up having his best game of the season, hauling in all six passes thrown to him and finishing with 158 yards receiving. That puts the second-year receiver at 1,056 yards and makes him the second 1,000 yard pass catcher on the team after KeeSean Johnson reached the mark last week.
Meyers' showing included one of the key plays of the game -- a 66-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter that put Saskatchewan ahead 20-3. He explained how things played out on what would end up as the game-winning touchdown, beginning with recognizing the zero blitz Ottawa used on the play.
“Pre snap, I knew that Trevor [Harris] and I were on the same page, that's something that we practice, that's hours and countless hours of his experience and of us being in the film room and on the field,” he said. “When it's time for us to make a play, that's the result you guys get. That's what happens when you have a veteran, experienced quarterback and that's poise made for the moment. It's my job to not leave him out there and do my part.”
A major theme heading into the game was getting off to a fast start, and that’s exactly what Saskatchewan did, with the defence holding Ottawa scoreless on the game’s opening possession before Trevor Harris engineered a 12-play, 76-yard drive that ended with A.J. Ouellette scoring from a yard out.
The Riders defence did their thing from there, eventually finishing with three interceptions. The biggest came in the second quarter when Antoine Brooks Jr. -- playing strong-side linebacker after C.J. Reavis was moved to safety -- picked off a pass intended for Geno Lewis and went 85 yards for the pick-six. That touchdown was the first of his career.
Brooks Jr. was quick to give credit to defensive back Demarcus Fields for his call on the play, saying Fields wanted Brooks Jr. to use his skill with lateral movement to keep low and close in on any receivers in his range.
“I'm real good at sideways bursts, going side-to-side and he felt comfortable with me shooting the low man, so I shot the low man, and that’s all she wrote,” Brooks Jr. said. “I really appreciate my brother for trusting me. Me and him had a whole year and some change that we’ve played together and our chemistry together is probably nothing you can find anywhere else.”
As well as things were going after Meyers’ fourth-quarter score, Ottawa wasn’t done just yet. Back-up quarterback Dustin Crum engineered an 11-play, 60-yard drive that ended with a third-down gamble touchdown pass to Justin Hardy.
Saskatchewan’s next possession drove down to the Ottawa five before nearly ending in disaster when Harris was sacked and fumbled, Bryce Carter picked the ball out of the air and saw nothing but daylight between himself and the Riders end zone. He’d rumble all the way down to the 17 before Ouellette -- who had been blocking on the play -- ran him down for the touchdown-saving tackle.
That play drew rave reviews from the Riders' head coach.
“Incredibly selfless,” Mace said. “I didn't really know what to say to the team other than just scream his name because I thought that play right there is the epitome of the culture in his locker room, no quit. For him to stand there and eat zero blitzes and then also go and make that play on their turnover to prevent the touchdown, hell of a play, hell of a play by A.J.”
The Roughriders now turn their attention to Week 19 and the Toronto Argonauts, who will be at Mosaic Stadium on Friday, October 10. Kickoff is 7 p.m., and you can catch all the action on the 620 CKRM Rider Broadcast Network.
