Thigpen hero as Riders top Ticats
REGINA — Marcus Thigpen found a hole and went 34 yards for the touchdown with 1:29 to play as the Saskatchewan Roughriders downed the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 18-13 on Thursday.
Lirim Hajrullahu’s fourth field goal of the night — a 39-yarder — had given Hamilton a 13-12 lead with 6:27 to go in the fourth quarter, but Saskatchewan quarterback Brandon Bridge engineered a four-play drive starting on the Roughriders 33 that was capped by Thigpen.
Bridge finished 11-of-13 passing for 101 yards, while backup David Watford was three for six for 47 yards. Thigpen had 50 yards on seven carries.
Tiger-Cats quarterback Jeremiah Masoli produced his ninth straight game with 300 or more yards passing to tie a long-standing CFL record shared by former Alouette Sam (the Rifle) Etcheverry and former Rider Kent Austin. Austin later coached both the Riders and the Ticats.
Masoli finished the game with 333 yards, but no touchdowns and one interception.
Brandon Banks was Masoli’s top target with seven receptions for 113 yards.
The visitors opened the scoring with an 11-yard field goal from Hajrullahu on Hamilton’s first drive of the game. Hajrullahu would attempt another field goal later in the quarter but missed, leading to a rouge.
The Riders appeared to have taken the lead in the second quarter after a mad scramble by Bridge.
But after another look by the CFL command centre, it was concluded that Bridge fumbled right before crossing the goal line.
Later in the quarter, defensive end Charleston Hughes forced a fumble and 57-yard recovery for a touchdown, giving the Riders a 6-4 lead.
The Ticats responded with another Hajrullahu field goal for a 7-6 lead at the half.
Lauther added a field goal midway through the third quarter for a 9-7 lead, only for Hajrullahu to respond with another field goal of his own.
The see-saw battle continued early in the fourth quarter, with Lauther hitting a 41-yard field goal for a 12-10 lead.