ROUGHRIDERS ROAR THROUGH OTTAWA TO BOOK FINAL DATE
Saskatchewan a win away from being first crossover team to qualify for the Grey Cup
On your Marcus, get set, go — to Toronto, for the CFL’s East Division final.
Marcus Thigpen’s 75-yard scoring sprint was the signature play Sunday as the Saskatchewan Roughriders clinically disposed of the Ottawa Redblacks 31-20 in the East semifinal.
Having won twice at TD Place this season, the Roughriders will hope the third time might be the charm — the Grey Cup game is back in the nation’s capital on Nov. 26.
That date could be a good omen for the Green and White. Saskatchewan won its first championship on Nov. 26, 1966 — Larry Dumelie, a member of that 1966 team, was at Sunday’s game — and, 23 years later, claimed the Cup a second time.
Now the Riders, which finished fourth in the West Division and earned a spot in the East playoffs are hoping for a first. Not once has a crossover team advanced to a Grey Cup.
Ottawa being a comfortable haven for the Roughriders, they will remain in the city until Friday before travelling to Toronto for a Sunday showdown with the 9-9 Argonauts. Despite a superior 10-8 regular season record, the Roughriders will be the visitors.
The objective for Saskatchewan head coach Chris Jones and his associates is to reprise a regular season set that consisted of an 18-17 victory in Regina on Sept. 29 and a 27-24 Thanksgiving weekend win in Toronto on Oct. 7.
The Roughriders set the CFL abuzz on Aug. 25 by defeating the host Edmonton Eskimos 54-31. On Oct. 20, Saskatchewan defeated the Calgary Stampeders — first-overall finishers in the CFL — 30-7 at McMahon Stadium. Then came the East semifinal.
The venue, it seems, is immaterial.
Regardless of the site or the circumstances, Jones — the Roughriders’ second-year head coach and general manager — takes the same straight-ahead approach.
He does not concern himself with outside noise or perceived distractions. He is known for his fixation on all things football. From the outset of Sunday’s game, it was clear that Jones’s players were dialed in as well.
Saskatchewan scored a touchdown on each of its first two possessions, with an efficient Kevin Glenn calling the signals.
Although the 75-yard touchdown run by Thigpen dominated the highlight reels, the key to Saskatchewan’s success was the systematic manner in which it prevailed.
The offence picked away at the Redblacks without turning over the football, while Ottawa lost a fumble, served up two interceptions (three other possible picks were dropped) and failed to convert a third-down gamble. Three of the turnovers were registered when Ottawa was in scoring range.
Offensive co-ordinator Stephen McAdoo deserves plaudits for designing a scheme that kept Ottawa off-balance and off Glenn.
In recent weeks, Jones routinely replaced Glenn with Brandon Bridge when the opposition exerted too much pressure on the 38-year-old passer.
Bridge did enter the game on Sunday, but solely in a mop-up role after Glenn had gone 18 for 28 with 252 yards and one touchdown. His quarterback-efficiency rating was an impressive 105.1.
The most telling number, however, was zero: Glenn was not sacked a single time.
It helped that the Riders often augmented the offensive line, which excelled in the absence of injured all-star guard Brendon LaBatte, with some extra bodies. The additional tonnage also helped the ground game, as evidenced by Thigpen’s 15-play, 169-yard gem.
The defence, also choreographed by Jones, kept Ottawa off guard. Jones rushed with as few as three men and as many as eight. Redblacks quarterback Trevor Harris never really knew what was coming, or from which direction.
For much of the game, the Roughriders were content to allow catches to be made for negligible gains. That approach, combined with an all-to-the-ball mindset and sure tackling, put Ottawa in several second-andlong or punting situations.
Special-teams co-ordinator Craig Dickenson also sparkled schematically. He called for a reverse on a punt return, with Chad Owens flipping the ball to Christion Jones. A 44-yard advance set up a 31-yard Tyler Crapigna field goal that gave Saskatchewan a 31-14 lead on the final play of the third quarter.
Thereafter, the catchphrase throughout Rider Nation became: Don’t blow it.
On Oct. 13, the Riders gassed a 32-20 lead in the waning minutes and lost 33-32 to the visiting Redblacks. On the road, the Riders applied the coup de grace.
And now, with the East Division final approaching, Saskatchewan is one step closer to engineering a finish few could have envisioned in August when the Riders were 2-4.
Jones, in typical fashion, blocked out that noise. A sellout crowd in Ottawa having been silenced as well, it’s onward to Toronto.