Regina, SK. -- The Saskatchewan Roughriders broke a two-game slide Saturday night, pounding the Toronto Argonauts 37-9 in front of 32,621 at Mosaic Stadium.
On Toronto's first possession, Ricky Ray was off the mark and had a pass intercepted by Tyron Brackenridge, who returned the ball 45 yards to the Argonaut 23. After a first down, Darian Durant rolled left and scampered into the end zone from 9 yards out. Chris Milo converted and the Roughriders were up 7-0, with 2:36 gone in the opening quarter. On Toronto's second possession, Ray was stripped of the ball by Tearrius George during a sack and Saskatchewan was in business at the Argo 27. On the second play from scrimmage, newcomer Will Ford went over right tackle for 20 yards and a major. Milo's convert made it 14-0, just 4:38 into the contest. Toronto got a takeaway of their own on the next Rider possession, as Jamie Robinson deflected a pass and Thaddeus Gibson intercepted at the Saskatchewan 40. The Double Blue would turn it into points, as Swayze Waters would come on to kick a 17 yard field goal, making it 14-3 Riders, with 4:40 to play in the opening quarter. Toronto would strike again on the next possession, reaching the Saskatchewan 9, before settling for a 16 yard Waters field goal, cutting the deficit to 14-6, with 1:40 left in the first.
Late in the second quarter, the Roughriders put together a 7 play drive that resulted in a 3 yard run up the middle by Ford for his second major of the night. Milo converted with 3:29 to play in the half, putting Saskatchewan up 21-6. The Riders extended the lead late in the half. After a Dan DePalma catch and run for 56 yards down to the 2, Ford scored again, his third touchdown of the game. Milo's convert, with 1:39 remaining, made it 28-6 Saskatchewan.
Five minutes into the third, intense pressure by the Roughriders forced the Argos to cough up the football again, with John Chick recovering at the Toronto 40. Milo came on to kick a 39 yard field goal and 6:38 into the second half, the Saskatchewan lead was 31-6. Waters booted a 40 yard field goal with 1:53 left in the quarter for the Argos, cutting the Rider lead to 31-9.
A Milo 38 yard field goal 2:52 into the final stanza increased the Saskatchewan lead to 34-9.
The Roughriders got another fumble recovery early in the fourth, with Macho Harris knocking the ball loose with a big hit, then recovering the loose ball himself at the 32, the fifth Argo turnover of the night. After a big run by Ford, then an incomplete pass in the end zone, Milo drilled a 43 yard field goal, putting Saskatchewan up 37-9, with 6:56 gone in the final quarter. Neither team found pay dirt the rest of the way and the Riders would head out with the 28 point win.
For Saskatchewan, Darian Durant was 9-of-17 passing for 155 yards and 1 interception plus 1 rushing touchdown, while Tino Sunseri was 0-for-2 in a mop-up role. Will Ford, in his first game with the Roughriders, ran 17 times for 113 yards and 3 majors and caught 3 passes for 24 yards. Chris Milo was 3-for-4 on field goals and 4-of-4 on coverts, Josh Bartel punted 8 times for a 46.6 yard average and defensively, Sam Hurl had 7 tackles, while Tyron Brackenridge had 5 tackles, 2 special teams tackles, 1 sack and 1 interception. For Toronto, Ricky Ray was 23-of-35 passing for 221 yards and 2 interceptions and Trevor Harris was 7-of-10 passing for 58 yards. Curtis Steele ran for 32 yards, Anthony Coombs caught 5 passes for 61 yards, Swayze Waters was 3-of-3 on field goals and 8 punts for a 41.8 yard average. Shea Emry led the defence with 6 tackles. The Riders won the turnover battle, with 6 takeaways to just 2 for the Argonauts.
Next up for 2-2 Saskatchewan is a matchup with the 1-3 Ottawa REDBLACKS next Saturday, August 2nd in Ottawa. Kickoff is set for 7:00pm EDT. Catch all the action with Rod Pedersen and Carm Carteri on 620 CKRM, the Rider Radio Network and 620ckrm.com. The game can be seen in Canada on TSN and in the U.S. on ESPN3.com. Toronto next plays on Friday, August 1st at Montreal.
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