Saskatoon Hilltops best Regina Thunder in rivalry matchup
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Saskatoon Hilltops handed Regina Thunder its first loss of the season with the 29-15 win.
Under the lights of the Queen City Ex the Edmonton Elks proved to be the big winner against the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday.
The Riders came into the game giving up just 47.9 yards per game.
But Edmonton’s rushing attack gashed Saskatchewan’s defence all game, led by Javon Leake who had 169 yards and three touchdowns on the ground as the Elks got their first win of the season with a 42-31 decision.
Edmonton had 276 yards on the ground — 169 from Leake, 60 from running back Justin Rankin, 46 from quarterback Tre Ford, and one from quarterback Dakota Prukop.
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After the game, head coach Corey Mace placed the blame squarely on his shoulders.
“We just have to get to work. That’s on me. These guys didn’t look like in the totality we were ready to play a football game today. We have to chop some heavy wood here,” Mace said. “It didn’t look like us out there. We have to get them mentally ready to play.”
But defensive lineman Micah Johnson, who suited up for his 150th CFL game, said the loss doesn’t fall on the coaches’ shoulders.
“That’s on the players. We were prepared and felt like we were prepared so after the game we can’t be like we weren’t prepared,” Johnson said. “That’s on us. We have to look in the mirror and, in our opinion, we let the staff down today.
“That’s Mace being the standup guy he is and the coach he is, that he wants to take that on the chin for the team and that’s on the locker room.”
Mace knew what kind of player Leake was heading into the game, both of them being with the Toronto Argonauts in 2023. Leake was named the CFL’s most outstanding special teams player that year.
“I’d venture to say that’s the best game he’s had since being in this league,” Mace said. “Certainly in our time here, that was our worst rush defence. It didn’t look like us.”
Johnson called the performance, “embarrassing” for the defence.
“Somewhat of a wake-up call,” Johnson said. “It’s one of those types of games where you look in the mirror and know we have to be better across the board. When you lose like that, it’s not just one player, one person, one reason, there’s multiple reasons across the board.”
The loss drops the Riders to 5-3 and into a tie with the B.C. Lions (5-3) for first place in the West division. B.C. owns the tiebreaker as of now, as the two clubs have only played one of their two meetings this season.
The Elks’ offence found a spark in the game with Ford making his first start at quarterback for Edmonton.
The Edmonton Elks had 515 yards of net offence against the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Aug. 3, 2024. (Submitted/Saskatchewan Roughriders)
Along with 46 yards on the ground, Ford threw for 252 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Both of those touchdowns went to Tevin Jones, a former Rider, who led the way with 123 yards as well.
Shea Patterson rushed for a touchdown and threw for two more, along with 306 yards and an interception as he made his fifth straight start for the Riders.
Patterson said that wasn’t the team that shows up every day to work.
“It’s just frustrating but, just like we always do, we’re going to bounce back. We’re going to come back and put in the work to get a win next week in Ottawa,” Patterson said.
Saskatchewan’s loss was its second in a row — the first time the CFL club has lost back-to-back games this season.
“It’s absolutely not trending in the wrong direction. What’s your definition of success? To go 18-0? If that’s the case, then maybe,” Patterson said.
“What we want to do is learn from our mistakes and grow every single day. I think losses like that can bring a team closer together. We can just be more accountable as a whole and really look at ourselves in the mirror, prepare like we know how to prepare and come out ready to go.”
The Riders came out firing in the game, with Mario Alford returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown.
“It felt great. That’s a momentum play,” Alford said. “We knew we still had four quarters to play but it was great — I needed to get in there. It had been a long time so it felt good to get in there.”
But with Ford at the helm, the Edmonton offence scored on four of their first five drives — two touchdowns and two field goals.
Rolan Milligan recorded the Riders’ lone turnover in the game, hauling in his CFL-leading fifth interception.
Saskatchewan kicker Brett Lauther was good on one of his two field goal attempts, his lone miss from 42 yards out scored a single point. He also was good on both of his point-after converts. Saskatchewan elected to go for a two-point conversion once but the pass fell incomplete.
Elks kicker Boris Bede made both of his field goals and connected on all four of his point-after attempts. The Elks also went for a successful two-point conversion.
Frankie Hickson, who started his second straight game for the injured A.J. Ouellette (hip), had 89 yards on the ground.
The Riders’ next game is against the 5-2 Ottawa Redblacks. While the Riders will have a short week and head to Ottawa for a game on Thursday, the Redblacks will be coming off a bye week.
“We will get to the film and get the corrections and then we have to jump right into installing (the gameplan) for an opponent in Ottawa who is playing really good right now,” Mace said.
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