EDMONTON – The Saskatchewan Rovers’ recent dominance over the Edmonton Elks continued on Saturday.
Mitchell Picton’s catch in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference, as the Rowriders remained perfect in the young season of the Canadian Football League with a 26-16 victory over Elks, their sixth consecutive victory over Edmonton.
“It was a bad game, we knew it was going to be tough,” said Saskatchewan quarterback Cody Fajardo, who grazed 247 yards.
“We knew they would be ready to play in their first game, but we will never apologize for finding a way to win. We found a way to score in the fourth quarter to win the football game and I feel that’s what we’ve been doing for the last few years. “
The Roughriders are 2-0 after also beating Hamilton in their first game.
The Elks fell 0-2 after losing 59-15 in their first game against the BC Lions, and have now played nine games without a win at home. Edmonton scored 0-7 last season at the Commonwealth Stadium.
“We didn’t play well enough on defense to win the football game, and we had enough mistakes in both the kicking game and the attack to keep us from winning the football game,” said Elks head coach and defense coordinator Chris. Jones. When you play like us, you don’t deserve to win.
“We need to play sharper football. We are taking some steps, we have a good locker room.”
Saskatchewan struck 50 yards from Brett Lauter on his first shot.
Edmonton was minus one yard in attack in the first quarter.
There were no more goals until the middle of the second when Lauther scored for an 18-yard field.
After Matt Thomas of Edmonton managed to recover from a missed field goal return to Saskatchewan 23, quarterback Nick Arbuckle found Kenny Lawler for a 5-yard pass to lead the Elks 7-6 with three minutes left in the second frame.
Saskatchewan quickly responded with their own touchdown unchanged with less than a minute before the game in the first half, after Jamal Morrow scored in a two-yard attack.
The Elks opened the third quarter with a 12-yard goal by Sergio Castillo, who then added 30 yards to close the third.
Lauter put his team back with a 41-yard goal in the fifth minute after the fourth. Castillo made 16-15 for Edmonton with 37 yards in the middle of the last quarter.
The Roughriders responded quickly with a 28-yard pass from TD from Fajardo to Picton, who also managed to convert two points.
“He had a good game,” Dickenson told Picton, who pulled four passes 56 yards. “It was good to see him have some success. He’s been grinding it for three or four years. “
Saskatchewan seemed to postpone the game shortly after AC Leonard’s forced recovery, but Lauther missed a 44-yard goal. However, he quickly got another chance and scored from 21 yards.
There was some bad news for the Riders at the end of the game, as offensive veteran Dan Clark had to be taken off the field after suffering a lower body injury.
Both teams are on the road next week, while the Riders head to Montreal on Thursday and the Elks are in Calgary on Saturday.
FEET NOTES: After the disastrous loss to Lions in Vancouver last week in the first week, the Elks had 11 new starters in their squad on Saturday. … The last time Edmonton hosted the Roughriders for their home game was in 2016, when Chris Jones coached his former team for the first time with Saskatchewan. Jones returned with Elks. … The highest paid offensive line player in the league, Mark Corte of Edmonton, missed the match to attend his own wedding. For Elks, it was the successor, Darrell Walker. The Riders played without Duke Williams’ slotback.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 18, 2022
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