All’s well that ends well for Mitchell Gale and Roughriders
The last time Mitchell Gale touched a football Saturday certainly went better than the first.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ backup quarterback led a drive that ended in a last-play, 29-yard field goal by Tyler Crapigna — a threepointer that gave Saskatchewan a 20-18 CFL victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Mosaic Stadium.
That play occurred long after Gale fumbled on a quarterback sneak at the Tiger-Cats’ one-yard line, a second-quarter bobble that was returned 107 yards for an apparent touchdown by Hamilton’s Adrian Tracy.
But the CFL’s Command Centre overturned the play on review, ruling that Gale was down before the ball was ripped from his grasp.
“I can’t sit here and say I know that I was down, but it was a bangbang play,” Gale said. “I think they slowed it down as slow as they could and I was down before the ball came out.
“It was a fortunate play that went our way that very easily could have gone the other way.”
While Tracy was going the other way with the football, Gale sat on the turf at the Hamilton goal line and pondered the turn of events.
“My initial thought was, ‘Are you kidding me?’ ” he said. “When they showed the replay, I was hopeful that it would say I was down before the ball came out — and it did.
“It’s kind of like waiting for a grade on a test that you didn’t study for: ‘I feel like I did OK, but this could go either way.’ “
It certainly went the right way for Saskatchewan.
The game was tied 10-10 at the time of the (non-)fumble. Instead of Hamilton taking the lead, the Roughriders went ahead on the next play when Darian Durant plunged in from the one. Crapigna’s convert put Saskatchewan up 17-10.
Gale remained on the sideline until the second-last play of the third quarter, when Durant was tackled by Hamilton defensive end John Chick.
After Durant’s helmet smacked the ground, the Roughriders’ No. 1 quarterback stayed down for a few moments. He subsequently had to undergo the CFL’s concussion protocol, ending his night and putting the game in Gale’s hands.
His first pass attempt didn’t go well, with the football bouncing off the hands of intended receiver Armanti Edwards and landing in the mitts of Hamilton’s Dominique Ellis.
But Gale settled down and finished with seven completions in nine pass attempts for 52 yards (45 of which came on the game’s final drive) and six carries for 12 yards (all of which were gained to set up Crapigna’s game-winner).
“He had a couple of big plays early that didn’t go his way,” Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones said. “(His showing on the final drive) just shows his mental toughness to come back and be able to, in that situation, keep his composure and lead us down the field to get a winning score.”
Gale now has led Saskatchewan to two of its three victories this season. He started in place of an injured Durant on July 22 when the Roughriders beat the Ottawa Redblacks 30-29.
But Gale knows his role — and he’ll keep trying to handle it.
“Does the pressure amp up (when Durant is out)? No,” Gale said. “If we’re either up big or down big, I’m supposed to still do my job.”