THE CANADIAN PRESS
Mitchell Blair
Riderville.com
REGINA — For three quarters it looked like the Saskatchewan Roughriders were going to go into their second and final bye week of the season full of positives. They had a 27-12 lead and were playing the type of football they were in the first half of the season when they were 8-2. However, a football game is 60 minutes long and that final 15 minutes was a disaster.
The Stampeders scored 25 points in the final quarter and went on to a 40-27 win over the Riders, handing the Green and White their fifth straight loss.
Despite the way the game turned in the final 15 minutes, Head Coach Corey Chamblin says it was a much better effort from his football team and that this loss doesn’t disappoint him as much as others have during this losing streak.
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“I was pleased with the way we played early and the way we believed in ourselves for all four quarters.” Chamblin told 620 CKRM’s Carm Carteri after the game. “This is a team that has been through a lot over the past couple of weeks, but I think we did a tremendous job of getting to where we want to be. I saw that fire tonight and I was proud of them. A lot of people will question as to why I am proud of them when we didn’t win, but there was a small victory there and while time is running out, I think things are going to turn for us.”
Chamblin admits the fourth quarter was not what he wanted, but he feels this team has just as good a chance as anyone once the playoffs come around.
“This team is growing and they are fighting through the adversity.” Chamblin said. “There was some things at the end I didn’t like, but this is a team that will have a chance. We are going to have a chance and when push comes to shove, we will be ready.”
Kerry Joseph was fantastic for three quarters and looked like he had been drinking from the fountain of youth, as he hurled the football down the field before having a fourth quarter where he threw three interceptions, one of them going back for a touchdown. The main targets for Joseph were Rob Bagg, who caught a touchdown pass, and Chris Getzlaf who once again had a big game against the Stampeders and became a main force in the offence by catching six balls for 106 yards and a touchdown.
“There were a lot of positives for us tonight, it felt good to move the football and put points on the board against that defence.” Getzlaf said after the game. “We did a pretty good job today and while it fell apart in the fourth quarter, we feel as if we have turned the corner and we are taking more positives away from this one instead of negatives. We’ve built some momentum, we had some fire in our eyes and with a week off next weekend it gives us a chance to refresh and get ready for the final stretch.”
Linebacker Brian Peters might have had his best game of the season. He had 11 tackles and a touchdown when he intercepted a Bo Levi Mitchell pass late in the first half and returned it 15 yards for six points. He says that first half was Riders defence at its best, but he knows they have to put two halves together.
“We have to put this on ourselves,” Peters said. “We have to be a team of two halves that starts fast and finishes strong and we didn’t do that tonight. We are growing and if we play the way we did in the first half, we showed we are a tough team to beat. We’ve faced a lot of adversity in the second half of the season, but we can take a lot away from this game.”
The loss leaves Saskatchewan with a record of 9-8. The Riders will have next weekend off and then finish the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 8 against the Edmonton Eskimos in a six o’clock start.
