Riders’ Alford up for CFL award as league’s top special-teams player

Mario Alford will face the man who replaced him in Montreal in voting for the CFL award as most outstanding special-teams player.

Alford, whom the Saskatchewan Roughriders acquired from the Montreal Alouettes on July 3, was named the West Division’s nominee for the award Tuesday. The East Division nominee is the Als’ Chandler Worthy, whose play early this season made Alford expendable in Montreal.

After arriving in Saskatchewan, Alford had four return touchdowns — two on kickoffs, one on a punt and one on a missed field-goal attempt. His two TDs on kickoff returns tied a CFL single-season record.

As a member of the Roughriders, the 30-year-old product of Greenville, Ga., had 44 punt returns for 530 yards, 38 kickoff returns for 990 yards and three missed field-goal returns for 129 yards.

Alford set the Roughriders’ record for most touchdown returns in a season. He also became the fifth player in CFL history and the first Roughrider to complete the “trifecta” (with TD returns of a punt, a kickoff and a missed field goal) in a season.

“I worked hard to get to this point. I just want to say thank you to my teammates and the guys who helped me out on the field. This is not possible without them,” Alford said last week after earning the Roughriders’ nomination.

Worthy had 51 kickoff returns for 1,220 yards and two touchdowns, 47 punt returns for 547 yards and three missed field goals for 57 yards this season.

He recorded 10 big play returns during the campaign, with six punt returns of at least 30 yards and four kickoff returns of 40 yards or more.

The Roughriders’ other nominees — Darnell Sankey (most outstanding player and defensive player), Kian Schaffer-Baker (Canadian), Logan Ferland (offensive lineman) and Frankie Hickson (rookie) — didn’t advance to the next round of balloting.

The division winners were selected by members of the Football Reporters of Canada and CFL head coaches in their respective divisions. The league’s award winners will be announced Nov. 17 at the Conexus Arts Centre in Regina as part of the Grey Cup festivities.

Former Roughriders quarterback Zach Collaros, who’s now with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, is up for the award as the CFL’s most outstanding player.

Calgary Stampeders defensive end Shawn Lemon, who was with Saskatchewan briefly in 2011 and again in 2016, is the West’s nominee for outstanding defensive player.

Here’s a complete list of the division winners:

(CFL.ca)