CFL.ca
THE CANADIAN PRESS
HAMILTON, Ont. — Saskatchewan quarterback Darian Durant threw three touchdown passes, two of them to Rob Bagg, as the Roughriders defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 32-25 in CFL action Saturday night.
Tied at 25-25 heading into the final quarter, Hamilton’s new defensive end and former Roughrider Stevie Baggs caused a Durant fumble on the Saskatchewan 29-yard line.
But Hamilton running back DeAndra Cobb committed his second fumble of the night inside the 20-yard line and Saskatchewan recovered.
That led to an 85-yard scoring drive and Bagg’s second TD of the game, a 19 yarder, to give Saskatchewan the 32-25 lead midway through the fourth.
Saskatchewan was trying to run out the clock when Durant fumbled his second of the night at the Hamilton 40 with 49 seconds left in the game. Hamilton got down to the Saskatchewan 13-yard line with one second left on the clock, but Hamilton pivot Kevin Glenn was intercepted by James Patrick in the endzone to end the game.
Wes Cates and Weston Dressler also scored touchdowns for the Roughriders (8-4). Matt Carter, Quinton Porter and Marquay McDaniel each scored for Hamilton (6-6).
Durant threw three touchdown passes from 70, 43 and 19 yards and had one interception and two lost fumbles. Glenn threw two touchdown passes, from nine and 10 yards out plus one interception.
Saskatchewan kicker Luca Congi was good on one of two field-goal attempts, missing his first from 44 yards before tying the game at the end of the third with a 35-yarder.
Hamilton kicker Sandro DeAngelis made one of two field-goal attempts, hitting from 32 yards, but missing from 41 yards.
Cobb rushed for 166 yards yards on 15 carries, plus two untimely fumbles, in a losing cause.
After Congi missed a 44-yard field goal to start the third, Hamilton took the ball 82 yards on six plays, culminating in a 10-yard TD pass from Glenn to McDaniel and a 25-21 Ticat lead.
After a Roughrider punt single, Saskatchewan defensive back Lance Frazier jumped in front of a Glenn pass to Carter and ended up at the Hamilton 49-yard line to set up a Congi 35-yard field goal and tie the game 25-25 heading into the fourth.
Saskatchewan took a 21-18 lead into the locker-room at halftime on a 43-yard TD pass to Dressler with one second left on the clock. After being intercepted by Hamilton’s Dylan Barker on the Ticat seven-yard line with less than a minute left in the half, Durant got the ball back on his own 48 with 16 seconds on the clock. He needed just two plays for the score, eventually finding Dressler all alone on the sidelines.
Hamilton was up 15-0 in the first quarter. Hamilton’s Marcus Thigpen returned the opening kickoff 28 yards to the Saskatchewan 50-yard line and Glenn needed just two plays — a 41-yard completion to Dave Stala and a nine-yard TD pass to Carter — to put the Ticats up 7-0 less than one minute into the game.
They added a second score on their next possession, driving the ball 79 yards, mainly on a 52-yard run by Cobb, before Porter punched it in from the one-yard line on the fourth try thanks to two Saskatchewan offside calls.
DeAngelis’ missed field goal made it 15-0 before the Roughriders began to move the sticks late in the first quarter. Cates finished a 75-yard drive with a one-yard TD run over the top.
Hamilton responded by moving to ball down to the Saskatchewan 30-yard line before Cobb coughed it up at the 15 and it was recovered by Saskatchewan at their own seven-yard line. Aided by a roughing-the-passer call in the Saskatchewan endzone, the Roughriders drove the ball 103 yards on six plays, ending when Durant hit Bagg for a 70-yard pass-and-run.
DeAngelis hit a 32-yard field goal for an 18-14 Hamilton lead before Saskatchewan’s score in the final seconds.
