DEFENCE DELIVERS
Roughriders to be home team for either semifinal or final after victory over B.C.
Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive back Ed Gainey celebrates with his teammates after he scored a touchdown following an interception against the B.C. Lions at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday. The Riders won, assuring a playoff game at home.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders took care of their business Saturday by beating the B.C. Lions 35-16 to clinch a home playoff game.
Now the Riders are hoping the Lions can help them out by defeating the visiting Calgary Stampeders next Saturday. If that happens, the Riders will finish first in the CFL’S West Division and play host to the division final on Nov. 18.
The Stampeders (12-5) need one more point to finish first in the West. The Riders (12-6) could finish first or second. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers (10-7) will finish third. The Lions (9-8) can do no better than fourth place and are destined to cross over into the East playoffs.
“I feel that we’re in a very good position right now,” Riders defensive back Ed Gainey said after Saturday’s win. “The football gods are on our side and I’m just going to kick back and watch (the Calgary-B.C. game). If we get it, we get it. If we don’t, we don’t. We still have to produce and be the best team on the football field.”
The Riders are in a good spot for a number of reasons. They are assured of a home playoff game for the first time since 2013.
They are also rolling. The Riders were 3-4 before their second bye week of the season. Since then, they have won nine of 11 games and reached 12 wins for the first time since 2008.
“It’s big,” Riders centre Brendon Labatte said when asked about having a home playoff game. “That’s the goal when you set out at the start of the season. You can think back to before the second bye week and it wasn’t looking so good to even be in the playoffs, let alone host a playoff game. It was, ‘Just keep battling away.’ We never lost sight of what we were trying to do and that was host a home playoff game.”
The Riders will have some time to savour their playoff position, because they are on their third bye week of the season. They begin a break while not knowing if they will play host to the West semifinal Nov. 11 or the division final Nov. 18.
“We’re fortunate to be where we are,” said Chris Jones, the Roughriders’ head coach and general manager. “Now we’ll go into this bye and whatever happens, happens.”
It could be a costly win for the Riders, who lost starting quarterback Zach Collaros and running back Tre Mason during Saturday ’s game.
Collaros absorbed a helmet-to-helmet hit from B.C.’S Odell Willis late in the first quarter. The Roughriders quarterback then left the game early in the second quarter while suffering the effects of the hit.
“He should be fine,” Jones said. “He took a good shot. It was a headgear-to-headgear shot. Out of precautionary reasons, our trainers thought it was best to take him out of the football game.”
Collaros has a history of concussions. He missed four weeks earlier this season while dealing with concussion and neck issues.
“Obviously, it’s concerning any time when the No. 1 guy is unable to finish the game,” Labatte said. “We always worry how he will be in the future. Hopefully he will be all right.
“We have to get ourselves ready to go regardless if he’s going to be back there or not.”
Mason suffered an injury to his left knee in the second quarter. Jones said it didn’t look good for Mason, who leads the Riders in rushing yards (809).
Cameron Marshall stepped up with Mason on the sideline. Marshall had 19 carries for 134 yards as the Riders leaned on the running game with Brandon Bridge at quarterback.
“It was unfortunate that Tre was a little banged up,” Marshall said. “His going down changed the game plan a little bit. We had to capitalize on that regardless.”
Mason rushed for one touchdown before leaving the game. Zack Evans scored on a one-yard fumble return and Gainey returned an interception 42 yards for a touchdown. Brett Lauther connected on four of five field goal attempts.
The Lions scored on a 44-yard pass from Travis Lulay to Bryan Burnham and a one-yard run by short-yardage quarterback Cody Fajardo.