WINNIPEG -- The Saskatchewan Roughriders and their depleted line-up kept things as close as could be against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday night, but in the end came up a touch short on the scoreboard.
Sergio Castillo kicked a 22-yard field goal with no time left on the clock and the Bombers took a 17-16 victory over the Green and White in Canadian Football League action from Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg.
Saskatchewan drops to 12-5 but already clinched first place in the West Division, while the Bombers improve to 9-8 and keep their playoff hopes alive with the win.
Now for the elephant in the room.
With their spot in the West Final already locked down, the Riders opted to rest a handful of players while also giving plenty of back-ups a lot of playing time. While that took a bit of the sting away from the narrow loss, the fact things were so close and they came up short was still disappointing.
“We wanted to come in here, win this game and to lose in that fashion, that sucks,” head coach Corey Mace said on the Rider Broadcast Network post-game show. “But I told these guys I am incredibly, incredibly proud of this group. We came into Winnipeg, we know what that team's fighting for. We talked about how football for us for the rest of the season is extremely meaningful and those guys, man, they fought and scrapped all day and night -- so proud of this group.”
The Riders couldn’t have gotten off to a better start, as Kerfalla Exume recovered his own forced fumble on the opening kick-off and two plays later Jack Coan plunged in from the one-yard line for what would stand as Saskatchewan’s lone major of the game. The rest of the Riders offence belonged to Brett Lauther, as he hit three-of-four field goals, one in each quarter other than the fourth.
With their top three receivers -- KeeSean Johnson, Dohnte Meyers and Sam Emilus -- all sitting out and Joe Robustelli going down on the aforementioned opening drive, Saskatchewan needed someone to step up and make some plays. As it turns out, Regina product Mitch Picton was that man, hauling in five passes for 71 yards, including a spectacular diving snag along the sideline for 20 yards in the third quarter and a leaping contested catch for 30 yards in the fourth.
“I thought we fought hard, ultimately we didn't get the job done, we wanted to come in here and go 1-0,” Picton said. “We had some tough sledding on offence there for a little bit, but I thought we were grinding away and we made plays when we had the opportunity. Ultimately, I thought we fought hard, but didn't get it done.”
Picton has battled injury and been used sparingly this season, but has shown a propensity for coming up big when the team needs him. A big part of that is simply being prepared when your number is called, something many a Rider had a chance to show on Friday.
“It's tough, but that's part of playing pro ball,” Picton said. “So regardless of how many reps you're going to get or you think you're going to get, you always have to stay ready on the sidelines, always be ready to go. Even if it's just in practice, making sure you're locked in on the playbook and knowing your assignments, so that when your number does get called, you're ready to go.”
Jake Maier started for Saskatchewan at quarterback in place of starter Trevor Harris and went 15-of-20 passing for 123 yards; Jack Coan played the fourth quarter and went 2-of-8 for 38 yards.
Mario Anderson Jr. took the place of 1,000-yard rusher A.J. Ouellette and had seven carries for five yards, with Saskatchewan putting up 29 yards total on the ground -- 12 each from Maier and Coan.
Not the flashiest of offensive numbers to say the least, which meant the defence had to play well to keep things close. That they did, giving up a lone passing major to Ontaria Wilson Jr. in the first quarter and holding Winnipeg to only three field goals of their own -- with a second quarter rouge proving to be the difference in the final score.
Antoine Brooks Jr. was a major part of that, especially in the second half when the Riders began to get more and more pressure on Winnipeg quarterback Zach Collaros. The majority of that came from Brooks Jr., who ended up with five tackles and two sacks, plus two special teams tackles.
“We wanted him to be overstimulated and made sure he didn't see me in the blitz,” Brooks Jr. said of how he was able to get to Collaros in the third and fourth quarters. “He couldn't figure out if I was blitzing or not. I was showing him something different: I've leaned a lot when I blitz, so I had to change something, stand still or move around so he won't notice. It only works if your teammates know what they're doing, too.”
Collaros ended up 15-of-24 passing for 182 yards total, one major and a fourth-quarter interception.
The Roughriders now turn their attention to Week 21 and their final game of the regular season against the B.C. Lions on Saturday, October 25 at Mosaic Stadium. Mace said it’ll be more of the same when it comes to preparation and getting as much accomplished as possible as the playoffs near.
“We're getting a lot of stuff done here with these games,” Mace said. “I think the intensity of how we approach each week and how we approach the game, we're training ourselves in our mentality.
“[Saskatchewan’s opponents] have had a lot to play for, they're fighting for their playoff lives as well. So mentally for us and how we're preparing ourselves to get ready for the playoffs, we're approaching these like playoff games as a team. It's good that everybody gets to be a part of that and whatever happens moving forward, [there will be] meaningful reps for a lot of guys on this team.”
The Rider Broadcast Network will have all the action from the game against B.C., with Teagan Witko, Justin Dunk and Wes Cates bringing the pre-game show at 2 p.m. followed by Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder with the game call at 5 p.m. on the 620 CKRM Co-operators radio network.
