Derek Mortensen/CFL.ca
All around him there was pandemonium but Ricky Foley stood like the calm in the eye of the storm.
The defensive end clinked a bottle of champagne with a teammate, took a slow drink, and watched the joviality around him as his Saskatchewan Roughrider teammates celebrated their 45-23 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in Sunday’s 101st Grey Cup.
Foley won a CFL championship in 2006 with the B.C. Lions and again last year with the Toronto Argonauts. Somehow, this victory felt different.
“I’m less happy for myself,” said the Bowmanville, Ont., native. “I am more happy for all the guys in this room that deserve it.
| Feeding off the crowd |
|---|
“We knew the 13th man was dangerous. Hank couldn’t get his snap counts down. Their receivers couldn’t come out of their waggles like they wanted to. It’s all about this crowd.” – Riders DB Dwight Anderson |
“It’s a really weird feeling. Last year, and in 06, I was happy for myself and my family. This year I want to step back and let all the Regina boys, the Weyburn guys, the Saskatoon guys, all the guys from 09, enjoy it. I love I can watch the rest of these guys celebrate.”
Dwight Anderson, the Riders’ defensive back who talks has hard as he plays, said the win was for all the Saskatchewan players who suffered the disappointment of back-to-back losses to Montreal in 2009 and 2010.
“It was for the guys that have been here and didn’t get a chance to win,” said Anderson, who had four tackles in the game. “That’s who we were playing for in this game, the home-town boys and their province of Saskatchewan.”
The Rider defence held Hamilton to just two field goals in the first half as Saskatchewan built a 31-6 lead. The game ended with Hamilton managing just 57 rushing yards and quarterback Henry Burris being sacked three times. The Riders had one interception and pounced on two fumbles.
Defensive tackle Keith Shologan said the Riders didn’t do anything fancy.
“We played outstanding,” said the six-year veteran from Spruce Grove, Alta. “Whatever they tried to show to us we just played good fundamental football.
“Our defensive backs covered extremely well. We shut down the run and then hit Henry when we needed to.”
Coming into the game there was talk about the Riders needing to stop rookie Hamilton running back C. J. Gable. Gable was held to 23 yards on three carries. Burris completed 20 of 43 passes for 272 yards, no touchdowns and the interception.
“We knew what we had was good enough stop everything they had,” said Anderson. 
“Henry is a deep guy. He wanted to take the deep ball and shots downfield. All we had to do was stay deep and play everything underneath. We knew they didn’t want to dink and dunk all night.”
Foley said an aggressive Saskatchewan offence, led by Kory Sheets rushing for a record 197 yards on 20 carries, made the job easy for the defence.
“It’s easy to play defence when you’re up by five touchdowns,” said Foley. “All they could do was pass.”
Anderson said a loud, partisan crowd of 44,710, most wearing Rider green, also played their part.
“We knew the 13th man was dangerous,” said Anderson, who won a Grey Cup in 2008 with Calgary. “Hank couldn’t get his snap counts down. Their receivers couldn’t come out of their waggles like they wanted to. It’s all about this crowd.”
The victory was especially sweet for linebacker Mike McCullough, The 11-year veteran from Kingston, Ont., took over the middle linebacker spot after Rey Williams suffered a season-ending knee injury on Sept. 8.
“The old guy still has some gas in the tank,” said the 33-year-old. “The biggest game in Rider history and I’m part of it.
“It’s been a heck of a ride.”
