WINNIPEG – Defensive back Rod Williams scored on a 60-yard fumble return after a blocked field goal and receiver Weston Dressler ran 74 yards for a touchdown on a punt return as the Saskatchewan Roughriders defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 30-24 on Sunday.
The win was costly, though, as Riders veteran quarterback Darian Durant left the game 5:38 into the third quarterback after he was knocked to the turf by Bombers defensive lineman Bryant Turner.
Durant was on the field moving in pain and then walked to the dressing room holding his right throwing arm with what the Riders later said was an elbow injury.
Tino Sunseri went into the game in place of Durant and led the Riders on a drive that ended with Chris Milo’s 35-yard field goal to make it 30-15.
Williams’ and Dressler’s touchdowns came during the second quarter, when the Riders outscored the Bombers 26-1 – including 17 points in a four-minute span – and lifted the defending Grey Cup champion’s into second place in the CFL West Division with an 8-2 record.
Winnipeg quarterback Drew Willy attempted his fifth late-game comeback of the season, hitting Aaron Kelly with a 29-yard TD pass with 2:27 left in the game to make it 30-24.
Riders fullback Jerome Messam then carried the ball and fumbled, with Bombers defensive back Maurice Leggett picking it up and breathing new life into the Bombers at Saskatchewan’s 45-yard line with 1:36 left.
The joy was brief as Willy’s next throw was intercepted by former Bomber Will Ford with 1:26 remaining.
After a number of penalties were sorted out, Saskatchewan got the ball on their own 43-yard line. Sunseri ended up being sacked on second-and-nine and Saskatchewan was forced to punt.
Winnipeg started from its own 34, completed one pass and then Willy was sacked. On third with eight yards to go, Willy’s throw was intercepted by Tristan Jackson with 14 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
It was Dressler’s second game and first TD for the Riders this season after he re-signed with the club following his cut earlier last month by the NFL Kansas City Chiefs.
Winnipeg has now lost four of its last five games and sits at 6-5.
The victory gave the Riders a three-game sweep of the Bombers this season, following a 23-17 win in Winnipeg on Aug. 7 and a 35-30 victory last weekend in the Labour Day Classic game.
Saskatchewan came away from the 11th annual Banjo Bowl with its sixth victory in the tilt, played in front of Winnipeg’s second sold-out crowd this season of 33,234 fans at Investors Group Field.
Milo also tried two 35-yard field goals earlier in the game, missing on the first one for a single and connecting on the second attempt.
The Riders also got a 13-yard TD run by Anthony Allen and added two points when Bombers kicker Lirim Hajrullahu had to concede a safety after teammate Kyle Jones sailed a snap for a punt over the kicker’s head into the end zone.
Winnipeg was missing regular long snapper Ian Wild, a linebacker who’s also their leading tackler, after he was injured in last weekend’s game.
Bombers running back Nic Grigsby scored his eighth rushing TD and receiver Rory Kohlert added his third major of the year with a 14-yard catch. Hajrullahu had three punt singles.
Winnipeg led 7-1 after the first quarter, but the Riders turned the tables to a 27-8 lead at halftime.
Saskatchewan methodically got itself out of a hole during its opening drive of the game after Hajrullahu punted the ball out of bounds at the Roughriders’ one-yard line.
Durant then engineered a 10-play, 81-yard drive that ended with Milo going wide left on a 35-yard field-goal attempt to claim a single point at 8:58.
Winnipeg responded right away and hit the end zone after a 10-play, 90-yard drive.
Grigsby used a good block by fullback Michel-Pierre Pontbriand to run 12 yards for the TD to make the score 7-1 with 1:57 left in the first quarter.
Sunseri then fumbled on a third-and-one sneak and Bomber defensive back Desia Dunn recovered the ball at Saskatchewan’s 38-yard line.
The turnover didn’t end well after Hajrullahu’s 41-yard field-goal attempt was blocked by Weldon Brown and Williams ran 60 yards for the TD 15 seconds into the second quarter.
A roughing penalty on Kohlert took the Bombers out of field-goal range and Hajrullahu booted a 49-yard punt single. The kicker then had to concede a safety after the bad snap.
Milo was good on his second 35-yard field-goal attempt and gave the Riders a 13-8 lead at 10:23 of the second.
Winnipeg took its fourth major penalty of the game when linebacker Ejiro Kuale was called for roughing the passer and the Riders moved to Winnipeg’s 20-yard line.
Allen chalked up his fourth TD of the season with his 13-yard run to go ahead 20-8 and then Dressler made a couple Bomber defenders miss him as he ran wide and then down the sidelines for his 74-yard punt return TD and the 27-8 halftime lead.
Winnipeg came out in the third quarter fired up, putting together a five-play, 61-yard drive that ended with Kohlert’s TD at 2:53 to squeeze the score 27-15.
Milo added his 35-yarder and Hajrullahu had an 83-yard punt single to make it 30-16 heading into the fourth quarter.
Comments