Roughriders hold on for 21-18 victory over Elks on Friday
With a 21-18 victory over the Edmonton Elks on Friday night at Mosaic Stadium in Week 8 of the CFL season, the Roughriders improved to 6-1 while the Elks dropped to 1-5. Saskatchewan leapfrogged the Calgary Stampeders (5-2), who lost to the Montreal Alouettes (5-2) on Thursday, to take over the division lead.
Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris passed for 268 yards and two touchdowns, with Samuel Emilus serving as his favourite target as the Canadian receiver had 113 yards and a touchdown.
On the other side, the Roughriders defence made life tough for Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo, who was making his first start against his former team, who he spent three seasons with.
Saskatchewan's defence sacked Fajardo eight times in the first meeting of the season between the two teams, who will meet again in Week 17.
While the Roughriders built up a 21-4 lead in the fourth quarter, the Elks battled back with 14 points in the fourth quarter to make it 21-18, which is as close as they would get.
In front of an announced attendance of 27,933 tickets distributed, it was a slow start to the game.
On Saskatchewan's first offensive possession, Harris hit Emilus for a 16-yard gain as part of a five-play, 24-yard drive before Brett Lauther came in for a 47-yard field goal attempt.
However, the kick was wide right and went through the back of the end zone as Saskatchewan came away with a rouge to go up 1-0.
Edmonton tied the game up 1-1 on their next drive with a punt single.
After a punt by Saskatchewan, Fajardo hit receiver Zach Mathis, who was injured on the play, for a 35-yard gain before kicker Vincent Blanchard gave Edmonton a 4-1 lead with a 15-yard field goal at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, on Saskatchewan's fourth drive of the game, Harris found Emilus for a 43-yard gain before the Riders got down to Edmonton's two-yard line.
After two unsuccessful attempts to punch it in, the Riders elected to gamble on third down and short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens was stopped, resulting in a turnover on downs.
Following a defensive stop by Saskatchewan, highlighted by an 18-yard sack on Fajardo by linebacker A.J. Allen, Saskatchewan's offence got the ball back and after Harris hit KeeSean Johnson for back-to-back first downs, two Edmonton pass interference penalties put the ball at the 15-yard line.
From there, Emilus took a sweep pass from Harris and rumbled into the end zone to put Saskatchewan up 8-4.
Before the first half was up, the Roughriders tacked on three more points to go up 11-4 as Lauther nailed a 51-yard field goal.
In the second half, the Roughriders added to their lead.
After a 34-yard pass to Emilus which put him over 100 in the game, Harris hit Dohnte Meyers for a 30-yard gain.
Two plays later, Harris hit Johnson in the end zone for the eight-yard touchdown to put the Riders up 18-4 with the convert.
Near the end of the third quarter, after a 42-yard punt return by Drae McCray, Lauther nailed a 46-yard field goal to put Saskatchewan up 21-4.
In the fourth quarter, the Elks cut into the lead as Fajardo spun out of the pocket and found an open Kaion Julien-Grant, who spun away from a defender before scoring on a 57-yard touchdown to make it 21-11.
Saskatchewan's defence forced Edmonton into punts on their next two drives before the Elks made it 21-18 as Fajardo hit Steven Dunbar Jr. on a 13-yard touchdown strike with 1:56 left.
While Edmonton got the ball back in the final minute, Saskatchewan's defence was able to close out the game with sacks on the final two plays to secure the victory.
Next week, the Roughriders are set to visit the Montreal Alouettes on Aug. 2. The Alouettes (5-2) are coming off a 23-21 win over Calgary on Thursday.
More to come…
tshire@postmedia.com
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