Riders beat Ti-Cats on last-second Lauther field goal

For the second straight game, the Saskatchewan Roughriders used a strong fourth quarter to get a win.

With just 33 seconds left in Sunday’s CFL game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, a pass from Hamilton quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell bounced off the hands of a sliding Tim White and into the hands of Saskatchewan linebacker C.J. Avery.

“It was great. It was just something I talked about in training camp — just doing my job,” Avery said. “If you do your job, great things happen in football, and the ball just ended up in my lap.”

Shortly after that, Riders kicker Brett Lauther connected on a 43-yard field goal to give Saskatchewan the 33-30 win over the Ti-Cats.

“We’re just a group that believes in one another. We’re going to stick to the plan and we’re not going to flinch,” said Riders quarterback Trevor Harris. “We’ve got wristbands that say it — ‘build it’ on one side and on the other side say ‘don’t flinch.’

“We’re building something special here, and we just flat-out won’t flinch.”

With the team once again needing a big fourth quarter to power to a win, head coach Corey Mace said there is plenty they need to handle as a coaching staff.

“We’ve got a penalty problem. We had some busts on defence that were costly, the injuries, these are all things on my mind,” Mace said. “I just try to keep reminding myself that we finished 1-0 this week.

“In an adverse situation on the road, yet again we found a way to find a way.”

The Riders were down 20-7 heading into halftime, marking the second straight week Saskatchewan went into the locker room at the half trailing in the game. So for the second week in a row, Harris spoke to the team about how they needed to be better.

“(I told the guys) ‘This is a gift that we are only down 13 with how lackluster we have played,'” Harris said. “We kicked it up a notch and started executing when we started going fast.”

Lauther was perfect throughout the night, hitting all four of his field goal attempts and his three convert attempts.

Harris had another good game for the Green and White, completing 32 passes for 390 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Kian Schaffer-Baker caught two touchdowns Sunday, marking the first multi-touchdown game of the slotback’s career, along with 109 yards receiving.

Slotback Jerreth Sterns had a team-high 112 yards receiving, including an 18-yarder for a first down after the Riders took a sack the previous play late in the fourth quarter.

“I wish I would have been able to get rid of (the ball),” Harris said. “Sterns made a gigantic catch … Jerreth Sterns is a tremendous receiver in this league and one of the best route runners I’ve ever played with.”

Harris was sacked four times in the game — three times by Hamilton’s Brandon Barlow — but the 38-year-old pivot said the blame falls on him for those.

“Those sacks should be negative rushing yards for me and not sacks for (the offensive line), because I held onto (the ball) a little bit,” Harris said.

The Riders’ rushing attack once again struggled, with running back AJ Ouellette only managing 32 rushing yards on 11 carries. Last week, Ouellette also had 32 yards, but on 18 rushes. The Riders’ only rushing score came from quarterback Shea Patterson, who ran the ball in from the one-yard line.

But the Riders’ defence stuffed a potent Hamilton rushing attack led by running back James Butler. Butler, who had 119 rushing yards last week, mustered just 27 yards against the Riders’ defensive front.

Mitchell threw for 380 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception in the game.

Hamilton kicker Marc Liegghio provided the other scoring for the team, making all three of his field goal attempts and three convert kicks.

The Riders took 11 penalties for 115 yards in the game, something Mace wants to see improvement in.

“We have to look at them and see how many of them are preventable,” Mace said. “Consequences last week were guys having to do specific things in the gym or some people might have had their rotation moved on them.

“We’re going to have to look close at what those were and we’re going to have to attack it. There’s no hard feelings, just hard work.”

But it wasn’t all good news for the Riders, as both offensive guard Philip Blake and slotback Shawn Bane Jr. left the game early due to injuries, and didn’t return.

Mace said he hadn’t met with the medical staff yet so didn’t have a concrete update on their conditions.

The Riders (2-0) will play in their home opener Sunday at Mosaic Stadium, hosting the Ti-Cats (0-2) in a rematch.

“I’m getting goosebumps. I’m excited,” said Avery, who is in his first season in Saskatchewan. “I’ve never seen the gameday atmosphere as far as the regular season.”