Riders Clinch Home Playoff Game; Roll Over BC

Everything came up Green and White on Saturday at Mosaic Stadium.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders rode eight turnovers from their defence to a 35-14 win over the BC Lions, clinching a home playoff game with two weeks to go in the regular season.

“Lights out performance by (the defence),” said quarterback Darian Durant.  “Those guys are fearless.  Bringing Alex Hall in the mix makes our d-line probably the best in the league, so it's good to have those guys.”

Three weeks ago, a home playoff game seemed out of the question as the Riders were in the middle of a four-game losing streak, but now they've won three straight and will host their first playoff game in three seasons.

“It feels pretty good, this being my second year, we continue to improve on the things that we want to get done here,” said head coach Corey Chamblin.  “For this year that's huge, that was one of the goals that we had set on the board and it's another one that we've checked off.

“There was a lot of energy in the stadium.  It was just a good thing of everyone on this team and in that stadium wanted that home playoff game.”

The game didn't start smoothly for the Riders as they fumbled the ball away on their first two possessions, which led to a 7-0 lead for the Lions after an 11-yard touchdown pass by Thomas DeMarco to Nick Moore.

The Riders would clean their game up after that however and got on the board a few minutes later when Chris Milo booted a 30-yard field goal through the uprights.  They would take the lead two plays later when Weldon Brown scooped up a DeMarco fumble and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown.

The turnovers kept coming for BC and the Riders offence continued to convert them into points.  They picked up points on every possession of the second quarter, expected one, starting with a 14-yard field goal by Milo after a Stefan Logan fumble.

Durant followed up DeMarco's first interception of the game by finding Weston Dressler for a 20-yard score.   BC would have one more play before Courtney Taylor fumbled and Sheets turned that into a one-yard touchdown for the Riders and a 27-7 lead.

Milo would miss from 51 yards out after another DeMarco interception and that would make it 28-7.  The Riders finished off the first half scoring with a 15-yard field goal from Milo with 15 seconds to go.

“It was crazy.  I'm sure the conditions helped, but we were kind of like sharks, once we smelt blood in the water, everybody was trying to cause a fumble, everybody was trying to get picks, so it was fun,” said defensive end Ricky Foley, who finished with two tackles and a fumble recovery.  “The best part was every time we got a turnover, it seemed like the offence went and put it in the end zone.”

The turnovers continued to start the second half, but this time it was Saskatchewan as Durant had his pass intercepted by Lin-J Shell.  BC would turn that into points with DeMarco hitting Shawn Gore for a seven-yard touchdown.

That would be as close as BC would get as Kory Sheets and the Riders defence took over from there.  Ricky Schmitt added to the lead with a punt single and Milo hit his fourth field goal of the game from 38 yards out for the 35-14 final.

“The guys had good focus all week and I don't think they were going to allow anything at that point to allow us to go back in a hole and make it trying for us,” said head coach Corey Chamblin on his team overcoming early turnovers.  “It was a good adjustment by those guys of being smart about holding onto the ball and just locking in.”

The Riders' defence ended up forcing four interceptions out of DeMarco with Carlos Thomas, Craig Butler, Tristan Jackson and Dwight Anderson all getting their hands on the ball.  They forced three fumbles and a turnover on downs late in the game.

“The guys are playing at a good level, they're starting to play together and they're starting to believe in themselves and believe that they can become a championship defence,” said Chamblin.

“That's one of the best performances all around that I've been a part of in my eight years, so it's awesome,” added Foley.  “I'm just proud of this team right now and it just felt great.  I know this is the kind of attitude and energy we need to win a cup and feeling that is special.”

Durant was effective leading the offence, completing 13-of-29 passes for 187 yards, a touchdown and an interception.  Dressled hauled in three passes for 107 yard and a touchdown – his fifth straight game with a score.

Kory Sheets carried the load in the second half and finished with 25 carries for 148 yards and a touchdown.  He will go into next week's showdown with Jon Cornish 130 yards back for the league's rushing title.

The Riders will now working towards next week's battle with the Calgary Stampeders.  They'll be at McMahon Stadium next Saturday.