Roughriders get defensive touchdown from Hughes, late go-ahead TD from Thigpen

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 TigerCats 18-13 on Thursday.

Lirim Hajrullahu’s fourth field goal of the night — a 39yarder — gave 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 3 for 6 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 C-F-L record shared by Sam Etcheverry and Kent Austin. He 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 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.