RIDER PRIDE

Wes Cates attempts to fight off two Blue Bombers tacklers
Photograph by: Troy Fleece, Leader-Post

The defence provided the Saskatchewan Roughriders with a pick-me-up when they may have needed it the most.

A goal-line stand with one second remaining in the first half proved to be a catalyst as the Riders defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 29-14 in Sunday's Labour Day Classic. Defensive ends Luc Mullinder and John Chick both converged on running back Fred Reid and dropped him for a two-yard loss before a sell-out crowd of 30,945 at Mosaic Stadium.

"It wasn't the play of the game but it was huge,'' Mullinder said after the Riders improved to 5-4 and grabbed a share of first place in the West Division with the idle Edmonton Eskimos. "It was a good for the team because if they had scored we would have gone into the half with a lot less momentum. It was a key play at that point of the game because of that.''

The stop was among the many defensive highlights for the Roughriders, who were coming off a 35-24 loss to the Montreal Alouettes on Aug. 22. On Sunday, Riders weak-side linebacker Tad Kornegay had two interceptions, a fumble recovery and five tackles. The Riders also scored 10 points off Winnipeg's turnovers.
"My picks were big but that goal-line stand was big too because it gave us some momentum going into the second half,'' said Kornegay. "Whatever works to help us win, I'm good with.''

Chick dominated the line of scrimmage with four tackles and two sacks. Former Riders quarterback Michael Bishop threw for 329 yards and one touchdown but he was also intercepted three times. Bishop spent half of the 2008 season with the Riders. He was released after the Riders were beaten 33-12 by the B.C. Lions in the West Division semifinal.

"It was just another game,'' said Bishop, who also tossed an interception to Omarr Morgan "They did a good job of stopping the run and we couldn't get anything else going.''

The Riders have struggled at stopping the run in the first half of the season. On Sunday, they held Reid to 41 yards on 12 carries. That's quite the feat considering Reid rolled into Week 9 with a league-leading 795 yards on 115 carries and had rushed for a club-record 260 yards in Winnipeg's 37-10 victory over B.C. on Aug. 21.
"We spent a lot time working on schemes to stop him,'' said Mullinder. "It was a product of (defensive co-ordinator) Gary Etcheverry's scheme. There really wasn't anywhere for him to go in terms of holes. We cancelled those out and our guys in the middle did a great job.''

The elimination of Reid put the pressure on the Blue Bombers' anemic passing attack, which is last in the league. While Bishop did generate yardage, his lone touchdown pass was a 18-yarder to Adarius Bowman which reduced the Riders' third-quarter lead to 18-14. Bowman, who spent the 2008 season with the Riders before being traded to Winnipeg in the off-season, finished with five receptions for 121 yards.

That's also when the defence stepped up again. Kornegay stepped in front of a Bishop pass and returned the interception 34 yards to Winnipeg's 14. Two plays later, quarterback Darian Durant hooked up with Weston Dressler on a 13-yard pass. After Luca Congi's convert, the Riders led 25-14.

"(The Dressler touchdown) was absolutely huge because we were stuck on 14 for the entire third quarter,'' said Riders head coach Ken Miller. "To have our defence set up the score and for Dressler to make a dynamic catch was really huge. It got us some momentum again.''

The Riders picked up some unexpected momentum from the opening coin toss. The Riders won the toss and deferred their choice until the second half, which was important considering the wind was gusting out of the southeast from 40 to 70 km/h.

The Blue Bombers then inexplicably elected to kick off, which the left the Riders with the option of choosing which end of the field to defend. The Riders picked the strong wind in the second and fourth quarters.
"When I sent (captain) Jeremy O'Day out there, I wanted him to get the wind in the long quarters,'' said Miller.

"When he came back, he was pretty happy.''

For the most part, Durant was effective. He was 23 of 37 for 246 yards. Durant had one interception and the touchdown pass to Dressler. Riders running back Wes Cates rushed for 76 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown. Backup quarterback Steven Jyles also scored on a one-yard run. Congi connected on two of three field-goal attempts.

Blue Bombers kicker Alex Serna hit on both of his field-goal attempts.
Winnipeg, which fell to 3-6, plays host to the Riders in the second half of the home-and-home series on Sunday.

mmccormick@leaderpost.canwest.com
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