Canadian quarterback Brandon Bridge made his first start as a Rider and his big second quarter combined with a defence that held tough late, helped the Saskatchewan Roughriders hold on to a 27-19 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Friday night at Tim Hortons Field.
Bridge was the favourite to start the contest with Kevin Glenn nursing a sore had but his status wasn’t confirmed until hours before kickoff.
The ‘Cats had strung together a pair of wins after a challenging start to the year with Jeremiah Masoli firmly at the controls under centre.
The Riders had a golden opportunity to put the first major on the board when former Ticats DB Mike Edem pounced on a fumble by WR Mike Jones to set the Riders up at the Hamilton 6-yard line. Pinned deep in their end, the Ticats called a hitch screen to Jones who had the pigskin knocked out to put the Riders on the doorstep.
Head coach Chris Jones elected to go with Vernon Adams Jr. on the series, likely to use his athleticism to give the ‘Cats a different look but Hamilton’s defence wasn’t fooled. Adams Jr. was flushed out of the pocket on consecutive plays and was forced to throw the ball away and then take a sack.
Saskatchewan would settle for a 12-yard field goal.
Bridge would return on the Riders’ next drive with a 3-0 lead but on second-and-eight had the ball punched loose by LB Larry Dean and recovered by DL Davon Coleman. The Ticats, however, also couldn’t put a major on the board and went two-and-out.
As the second quarter began, Bridge settled in. A pair of first down completions to Rob Bagg and Bakari Grant helped launch a 6-play, 75-yard scoring drive which was capped off by a 9-yard touchdown pass to St. FX grad WR Devon Bailey for a 10-0 lead.
With a major under his belt, Bridge was afforded great field position once again the next time he took the field. On the ensuing drive the Tiger-Cats got a productive gain out of CJ Gable on the ground but elected a screen pass on second-and-one to Jalen Saunders. Saunders was short of the first down already but had the ball punched loose by DB Kacy Rodgers and scooped up by DB Tobi Antigha.
Bridge went to work on a short field, getting 10 yards on a hitch from RB Kienan LaFrance before throwing a strike to a wide open Grant in the endzone to increase the Riders lead to 17-0.
After consecutive stalled drives, the Ticats offence found their footing shortly thereafter, answering the Grant score with a 6-play 75-yard scoring drive. The possession was finished off with a touchdown pass from Masoli to Saunders who was on a crossing route, snagged the football and turned up field for a 36-yard major.
The clubs traded field goals before halftime with the Riders leading 20-10.
When the teams returned to the field, the Riders were primed on both sides of the ball. First, the defence forced another turnover when DB Ed Gainey snagged the interception in his own zone. Bridge once again had great field position shortly thereafter when Tiger-Cats DB Demond Washington was assessed a 25-yard penalty and an immediate disqualification for spitting at a Riders player.
Bridge made the Ticats pay by quickly finding SB Namaan Roosevelt for a 23-yard touchdown pass to increase the Riders lead to 27-10.
The Ticats responded with a pair of field goals off the foot of Sergio Castillo to cut into the advantage.
Despite being down, the Ticats moved the ball relatively well in the second half with Masoli leaning on Saunders and veteran receiver Luke Tasker who consistently found holes in the defence over the middle. On their first drive of the fourth quarter, Masoli worked the clock and got the Ticats into the red zone with completions from the aforementioned pass-catchers but Gainey bailed out the Riders again with his league-leading eighth interception of the season, this one in the endzone.
Even with the turnovers, the Ticats were a different team in the second half, the defence tightening up after the opening drive and keeping their squad in it. With just over two minutes remaining, Masoli went to work at midfield after a solid retun by SB Brandon Banks. Despite getting inside the Riders 35-yardline, Saskatchewan’s defence held tough and forced a turnover on downs with 90 seconds remaining.
A quick two-and-out by the Riders gave the Ticats one last shot and Masoli aired it out with 11 seconds left to Banks who was interefered with. The Ticats scrimmaged from the 1-yard line with five seconds remaining but elected to pass the football and a pass to Saunders fell imcomplete to seal the deal for the Riders.
