Strong third quarter powers Riders past Montreal

A strong third quarter for the Saskatchewan Roughriders was the difference-maker as they defeated the Montreal Alouettes 41-20 in their Canada Day long weekend affair at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday.

After trailing 13-8 at halftime and quarterback Cody Fajardo only completing seven of 15 passes, the Riders looked like a completely different team in the third.

Before the start of the game, the Riders had won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff. Montreal would’ve gotten the ball to start the second, but they opted to give it to Saskatchewan when the teams ran out onto the field for the second half.

Fajardo says the decision made by Montreal lit a fire in the offence.

“After halftime, we felt a little disrespected as an offence because they chose to kick off to us again. We took it personally and it kind of motivated us on offence,’ he explained.

“It got us rolling, we drove down the field, scored and it kind of gave us the momentum back,” Fajardo added. “That really excited us that we had the opportunity to do that, I’m really proud of the guys.”

Fajardo completed nine of 11 passes in the third and threw for a touchdown to slotback Kian Schaffer-Baker and completed a two-point convert. His touchdown pass was one of three touchdowns scored in the quarter. He would finish the game completing 18 of 29 passes and throwing for two touchdowns and 224 yards.

Running back Jamal Morrow rushed for 85 yards and scored a touchdown and two-point convert in the third. He would finish the game with 103 yards rushing on 16 carries. Morrow also added two catches for 14 yards.

Fajardo contributed on the ground as well, scoring on a one-yard quarterback sneak.

Slotback Duke Williams left the game briefly late in the second quarter after an injury, but returned early in the second half.

Schaffer-Baker stepped up and posted 76 yards and a touchdown receiving in the third quarter. The wide receiver finished the game with 90 yards in receiving.

Fajardo says he’s proud of how players like Schaffer-Baker were able to get open and find space.

“Those plays to Schaffer-Baker, we saw on tape at halftime was they (Montreal) didn’t do as good of job tracking with the motions,” Fajardo explained. “We got him to motion a few times and slip him across the opposite side of the field and hit him on a big play. He did all the work.”

“Duke did an amazing job and Duke deserves a lot of praise and a huge shout out. He didn’t have one catch tonight, but if you put on the tape for what he did for the receivers blocking out the perimeter, that’s why he’s one of the top receivers in the league.”

The Riders’ defence had five sacks in the victory. Anthony Lanier II led the way with three of them, he feels the defensive line is a big reason as to why he was able to have so much success.

“We just have to keep trusting the process,” Lanier II said. “Somebody is going to have a day, every dog has his day, now you got a team full of dogs so which dog is going to have it?”

Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive back intercepts a pass from Montreal Alouettes quarterback Trevor Harris on July 2, 2022. (Saskatchewan Roughriders)

The Riders’ defence also forced five turnovers in the game, including an interception returned for a touchdown by Nick Marshall.

Montreal quarterback Trevor Harris finished the game with 18 completions for 198 yards and two touchdowns. He was replaced by Vernon Adam Jr. late in the fourth quarter. Adams Jr. only completed one pass for 30 yards.

While Walter Fletcher eventually found the end zone and scored a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter, prior to that the only major for the Alouettes came from returner Chandler Worthy.

Worthy, who returned the opening kickoff last week, also caused damage in the return game, returning the kickoff following a Mitch Picton touchdown for 84 yards and a score.

Penalties were a problem for both teams in the game, with the refs throwing around a lot of fabric throughout. The Riders were penalized 16 times for 155 yards. Montreal committed 12 infractions for 105 yards, including two misconduct penalties against defensive tackle Michael Wakefield. Wakefield was ejected from the game following his second infraction.

Montreal kicker David Côté was good on both of his field goal attempts. Riders kicker Brett Lauther was one-for-two when it came to field goals.

While the Riders can celebrate the victory, they aren’t escaping unscathed.

Fajardo took several hits which caused him to hobble, Williams didn’t feel right heading into halftime, and Derick Moncrief also picked up an injury.

Fajardo mentioned he’s not in the best physical shape right now.

“I hit my knee. If I didn’t have my knee brace on I probably would not have finished that game,” Fajardo explained. “It set me back for sure, I gotta go see the docs. I thought I was going to be out of the knee brace next week, but God had other plans for me. It looks like this knee brace will be on me for a couple of weeks.”

Head coach Craig Dickinson admitted his team and quarterback is playing through some pain right now.

“We think (Fajardo) is going to be alright, but he’s beat up pretty good,” Dickinson stated.

“We’re going to cut back on everybody’s workload. We’re beat up in there, there’s a lot of guys with ice on their shoulders and knees,” he added. “We’re only going to practice three times this week, so we’ll give them two full days off. We’re going to cut back on reps, the amount of time they’re on the field, and hopefully get their legs and bodies back.”

The win pushed the Riders’ record to 3-1 on the season.

Their next game is scheduled for Friday against the Ottawa Redblacks at Mosaic Stadium.