Late Picton catches seal Riders’ victory over Elks

Mitch Picton came up with a late touchdown grab — and the ensuing two-point conversion — to give the Saskatchewan Roughriders a 26-16 win over the Edmonton Elks on Saturday.

“Picton did a hell of a job,” Riders head coach Craig Dickenson said. “He really helped us win the game.”

While things were close throughout the game at Commonwealth Stadium, quarterback Cody Fajardo found the end zone with a 28-yard strike to Picton with 2:59 left in the game. Picton slotted into the starting lineup after Duke Williams suffered an ankle injury in practice this week.

“I think the average fan doesn’t know that losing a receiver that late in the week is that you already have your plays set, and we had a lot of Duke-heavy plays in this game plan. That’s what makes (Picton) so special is that he can play any position on the field,” Fajardo said.

“When you have a guy like that on your roster, it doesn’t matter what happens during the week. I feel comfortable knowing that whatever position Mitch plays, he is going to have it down.”

Fajardo finished the game with 20 completions for 247 yards and a touchdown.

“(It was) scrappy and we knew it was going to be tough and we knew they were going to be ready to play in their home opener,” Fajardo said.

“Never apologize for a win. We found a way to win, we found a way to score in the fourth quarter to win the football game and I feel like that’s what we’ve been doing the past couple of years.”

Running back Jamal Morrow had 86 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown — his first in the CFL — in the first half of the game to set the tone for the Riders’ offence. The team had 184 rushing yards in the game, with Morrow contributing 126 yards.

“All kudos to the O-line. Without them, none of this is possible. They made it easier for me,” Morrow said.

The explosion on the ground comes a week after Morrow only managed 14 yards on nine carries against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

“I took (last week) personally and I didn’t like how we came out,” Morrow said. “I looked at myself in the mirror and asked what I could do better.”

Riders kicker Brett Lauther saw a streak of 19 straight field goals made come to an end in the game, missing on a 44-yarder. But otherwise, he was perfect, going 4-for-5.

Elks receiver Kenny Lawler had a game that proved why he was reportedly made the top-paid receiver in free agency this past off-season. Lawler caught 12 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown.

The Riders’ defence, which had eight sacks last week, had five against the Elks.

“It was a battle,” said linebacker Darnell Sankey, who had a sack in the game. “They came out swinging. They are a great team, have great players and great coaching staff.”

Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Dan Clark (67) is injured against the Edmonton Elks during second half CFL action in Edmonton, Alta., on Saturday June 18, 2022. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson)

The Roughriders lost starting centre Dan Clark to a right leg injury in the latter stages of the game. After the game, Dickenson said they believe it’s an ankle injury.

“It’s detrimental to the team, team morale and sours the win a little bit, and I know Dan would hate that I said that,” Fajardo said. “We’re really going to hurt from this one and hopefully we get some good news but I’m not sure it’s looking too great.

“He’s a guy who has won Grey Cups, a total locker room guy. Morale is always up around him and he is always smiling and joking around. Schematically and football-wise, he always puts us in the right protection.”

Throughout the game, the Riders took many penalties that either ended key drives or allowed the Elks to stay close. Saskatchewan took 14 penalties for 134 yards while Edmonton only had eight penalties for 55 yards.

Riders strong-side linebacker Derrick Moncrief was ejected after taking three unnecessary roughness penalties — two on the same play in the third quarter.

“I’ve got to look (at the penalties) and see what happened. We had way too many, there’s no doubt about it. I’m going to talk to the team and have a real heart to heart and try to let them know as best I can that those penalties hurt the team,” Dickenson said.

“We don’t want to be selfish players and we want to put the team first. Unfortunately tonight on a lot of those penalties, we didn’t do that.”

The win moves the Riders to 2-0 early in the 2022 season. The Riders won’t have much time to savour their second win of the campaign with a game against the Alouettes on Thursday in Montreal.

“It’s very challenging, especially going out east. Anytime a west team goes out east, it’s never easy, especially after a short week,” Fajardo said. “A lot of guys are banged up after this game. It was a very physical game.”