Riders’ losing streak reaches five games

The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ woes continued Friday and, as a result, their playoff hopes continue to dwindle.

Saskatchewan didn’t score a point in the second half in an 18-14 CFL loss to the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

“Credit to Hamilton, that’s a well-coached them and they were hungry — we were hungry too,” Riders head coach Craig Dickenson said. “I think that’s why you saw so much emotion. Both teams realized what was at stake and really gave it everything they had.”

Second-half disappearing acts on offence are nothing new for the Riders.

In their 10 losses, the Riders’ offence has only scored an average of 17.4 points a game. During this recent five-game slide, that average is 17.8.

The team has scored 24 points or less in all 10 of its losses this season and, in six of those, the team hasn’t scored more than 18 points.

The Roughriders have been shut out three times in the second half over their last nine games and have scored more than 10 points after halftime only twice in that span.

When the Riders have won, they’ve averaged 30.4 points a game.

The loss dealt a blow to the Riders’ post-season chances, given their only way into the playoffs is by way of the crossover. The Riders (6-10) now find themselves only two points ahead of the Tiger-Cats (5-10) in the overall standings.

In order to qualify for the playoffs, the fourth-place team from one division must have more wins than the third-place team in the other division.

Coming into the game, Dickenson and the Riders preached about how important this game was.

“I think the effort was outstanding, we just didn’t play well enough,” Dickenson said. “We’re just not playing well enough and we have to keep working and try to play better each week but we’re running out of time.”

The Riders’ pass protection was also porous again, giving up seven sacks to the Tiger-Cats in the loss. That makes 66 on the season.

“I thought (Hamilton) did a great job all night of disguising a lot of looks and coming down and playing us pretty tight so we couldn’t get the ball out of our hands quickly,” quarterback Cody Fajardo said.

The Riders’ rushing attack could only manage 29 yards in the game — 22 from Fajardo and seven from Shaq Cooper. Cooper was the starting running back due to injuries to Frankie Hickson (wrist), Jamal Morrow (hand) and Kienan LaFrance (knee).

“I felt like we need to be able to run the ball just a little bit better so we can help out the pass game and be a little more balanced,” Fajardo said.

Hamilton Tiger Cats running back Wes Hills (34) runs against the Saskatchewan Roughriders during second half CFL football game action in Hamilton, on Oct. 7, 2022. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Power)

Hamilton was led by a hard-hitting ground attack featuring Wes Hills. The Tiger-Cats’ tailback had 132 yards rushing in the game, with 77 of those coming in the second half.

Riders linebacker Darnell Sankey, who went over the 100-tackle mark for the season, said there was only one way to describe how Friday’s game went.

“It’s a terrible feeling. We want to come out here and win and we left wins out there for sure,” Sankey said. “It sucks but it’s the position we’re in and there’s nothing we can do.”

Fajardo threw for 237 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Kian Schaffer-Baker and Justin McInnis had the touchdown catches for Saskatchewan.

Fajardo had the Riders down to the Hamilton 46-yard line with just 1:15 left in the game but overthrew Kyran Moore on third down.

“(That drive) was a little bit sickening, getting into second-and-14 and try to claw back. I felt like I had Swerve open and I just missed him,” Fajardo said. “As a quarterback, you want the ball with the game on the line and I feel like I let my guys down tonight.”

Tiger-Cats quarterback Dane Evans completed 11 of 24 pass attempts for 214 yards with two interceptions. Evans also had a rushing touchdown.

Hamilton kicker Seth Small was good on all four of his field-goal attempts. Brett Lauther kicked two converts for Saskatchewan.

The loss dealt a blow to the Riders’ playoff chances and criticism of the team will swell from yet another defeat.

“We’re professional athletes and we get paid to play the game. When we don’t play to the best of our ability (we get criticized). That’s what we sign up for — for the good and the bad,” Sankey said.

“You do good, you’ll have positives from the fans and positives from the (media). If you do bad, you have negatives. It comes with the territory.”

The Riders still have one more win than Hamilton in the standings. The Riders have a bye week before a home-and-home series with the Calgary Stampeders. Hamilton will face Calgary next and then play two games against the Ottawa Redblacks.

“I know Rider Nation is disappointed, as we are, but we’re going to keep working and do the best we can to finish strong and hopefully give them something to cheer about,” Dickenson said.

“We’re not dead yet, which is crazy to think. Our goal is to try and win one at home. You can only win both if you win the first one,” Fajardo added.