REGINA – The injuries and the losses continue to mount for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats erased a fourth-quarter deficit and pulled off another win on the road – a 31-21 triumph on Sunday at Mosaic Stadium – to keep the Riders winless to start the 2015 CFL season.
The Riders dropped to 0-5 with the loss, their fourth straight on home field, and when they look ahead to Week 6 they may very well be without quarterback Kevin Glenn, who replaced starter Darian Durant after a season-ending injury in Week 1.
“The only thing we can do is continue to work hard,” said Riders receiver Rob Bagg. “We want to win more than anybody who is critiquing and looking in from the outside. We’re not trying to lose intentionally.
“We have put in a lot of time and effort and it’s frustrating to not get the results you want. You can either quit or you can keep working.”
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An 0-4 start to the season looked to be behind the Riders as they held a lead to open the fourth quarter. That’s when their fortunes took another turn for the worse.
Jeff Mathews’ one-yard touchdown plunge put the Tiger-Cats ahead for good, and when the Riders looked to their offence to give them a come-from-behind victory, they saw their starting quarterback nursing an injury.
With rookie quarterback Brett Smith filling in for Glenn, Saskatchewan couldn’t create any momentum, let alone a comeback to snap their losing skid.
Kicker Justin Medlock booted his fifth field goal of the game to give the Tiger-Cats an insurance score late and help the team improve to 2-2.
“We brought Kevin in here because we knew that if anything happened to Darian (Durant) we would have a true starting quarterback, a winning starting quarterback and Grey Cup starting quarterback,” head coach Corey Chamblin explained. “So to have that happen it’s always a blow, especially when you have a chance to win a game.”
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The Riders broke a 14-14 halftime tie when Smith, the Riders’ quarterback in short-yardage situations, scored on a one-yard run on the team’s opening possession of the second half.
But it was all Hamilton from there. Medlock kicked a pair of field goals to bring the visitors to within a point before Mathews scored to put his team ahead for good.
“Any time you can get a win, especially on the road, it’s a great feeling,” said Hamilton quarterback Zach Collaros, who completed 19-of-28 passes for 284 yards and one touchdown. “Saskatchewan is a good football team, but we did just enough today to get a win.”
It appeared Glenn injured himself late in the third quarter after he was intercepted by Rico Murray. Glenn was in on the tackle of Murray and was spotted on the sideline grimacing when he tried to move his right shoulder.
“I don’t think it’s snake bit,” Smith said. “Football is a rough sport. Quarterbacks bodies aren’t really meant to tackle guys sometimes. Kevin is a hard worker and he’s a great teammate. He’s going to do what he can to prevent a touchdown and help the team.”
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The Riders opened the scoring in the first quarter when Paul McCallum kicked a 29-yard field goal on the team’s first possession. Hamilton then outscored the Riders 14-3 until Glenn found Bagg for a 20-yard touchdown reception with 13 seconds to go in the first half. Bagg snagged the two-point convert to tie the score at 14-14.
Hamilton running back C.J. Gable rushed for a game-high 135 yards on 20 carries. Jasper Collins Jr., had 73 receiving yards and one touchdown.
“That’s a good defence and a good team over there. (Saskatchewan’s) record doesn’t compare to how good they really are,” Gable said. “We kept fighting and we kept pushing. We were going to run it until they found a way to stop us.”
The Tiger-Cats are scheduled to play their first game of the season on Aug. 3 when they host the Toronto Argonauts. The Riders will travel to face the Edmonton Eskimos on Friday.
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