Crapigna’s field goal leads Riders past Argos
Canadian Brandon Bridge put the Toronto Argonauts’ playoff party on hold while moving the Saskatchewan Roughriders up the West Division standings.
Bridge came off the bench to pass for 292 yards and two TDs and rally Saskatchewan to a hard-fought 27-24 win over Toronto on Saturday night. After Ricky Ray’s 19-yard TD pass to S.J. Green tied the score 24-24, Bridge marched the Riders 64 yards on 11 plays, setting up Tyler Crapigna’s game-winning 18yard field goal with seven seconds remaining.
Saskatchewan (8-6) took sole possession of third in the West Division, four points behind second-place Winnipeg (10-4). Toronto (7-8) could’ve clinched a home playoff date with a victory.
The six-foot-five, 230-pound Bridge completed 20-of-28 passes after relieving starter Kevin Glenn in the second quarter. Glenn was pulled after completing just three-of-eight passes for 29 yards.
Bridge came in with Saskatchewan trailing 16-3. The 25-year-old native of Mississauga, Ont., capped a smart nine-play, 75-yard drive with an eight-yard TD pass to Namaan Roosevelt to cut Toronto’s halftime lead to 16-10.
Then after Lirim Hajrullahu’s 74-yard single put Toronto ahead 17-16, Bridge found Caleb Holley on a 75-yard scoring strike on the final play of the third. He followed that up by hitting Bakari Grant for the two-point convert to give the Riders a 24-17 advantage before a BMO Field gathering of 15,102 that not only featured plenty of green jerseys but members of Bridge’s family.
The mobile Bridge was able to effectively elude Toronto’s pass rush and buy his receivers time downfield.
“That’s what Brandon has, the ability to extend plays,” said Riders head coach/GM Chris Jones. “When you only have to cover for 2 1/2 seconds, 2.7 seconds it’s a little easier to scheme up things coverage-wise. But when that play extends to four, five and six seconds then all of a sudden your (defensive backs) have to be even better.”
Bridge led Saskatchewan to a 27-19 win over Hamilton as the starter on Sept. 15.