By Rob Vanstone and Ian Hamilton, Leader-PostOctober 11, 2009 5:01 AM
The Saskatchewan Roughriders did not waste time in addressing their first-half offensive woes.
After being held without an offensive touchdown until the fourth quarter in each of their previous two games, the Roughriders scored four first-half majors Saturday en route to a 32-22 CFL victory over the Toronto Argonauts at Mosaic Stadium.
The Roughriders' offensive flurry was ignited on their opening possession, when Darian Durant found a wide-open Chris Getzlaf on a short crossing pattern. The Regina-born slotback made a leaping catch and motored toward the goal line for a 33-yard major.
"It gets us off to a great start,'' Getzlaf said. "What you want to do on offence is go out there on the first possession and be able to score a touchdown and get the game rolling in a good way. We came out and fortunately that's the way it went.''
The Roughriders' first two TDs were scored by Reginans. A seven-yard run by Stu Foord helped Saskatchewan assume a 14-0 lead. The Roughriders were ahead 28-7 after touchdown passes from Durant to Weston Dressler and Gerran Walker.
Eight days earlier, the Roughriders did not score a touchdown until 2:33 remained in the fourth quarter against the host B.C. Lions, who won 19-16.
On Sept. 26, the Roughriders' first offensive major came with 9:41 left in the game, when Steven Jyles scored on a one-yard run. That was the winning touchdown as Saskatchewan prevailed 23-20 over the host Edmonton Eskimos.
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Getzlaf's major — his fourth of the season — moved him into the team lead in touchdown receptions. Dressler later tied him in that category.
"He's doing very, very well,'' Roughriders head coach Ken Miller said of Getzlaf. "On that first touchdown he had, they blitzed us — an all-out blitz — and Chris spotted it and was able to manoeuvre himself into an open area and catch it. The catch was nice in itself, but the run after the catch was truly spectacular. He is really a tough competitor.''
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The Roughriders were flagged for offside on three of their kickoffs by Luca Congi, who was replacing Jamie Boreham (neck injury).
"It's having a new kicker,'' Roughriders special-teams co-ordinator Kavis Reed said. "We had a very short week, with a day inside (at the Credit Union Eventplex), and we weren't able to work on the timing with Luca. Luca has a hitch in his step right at the end and guys were trying to hit the line (as Congi kicked the ball). After 14 weeks with Jamie, they had that timing down. Now they get another kid kicking and that threw them off."
Congi also filled in for Boreham as the punter, averaging 26.8 yards on five punts.
"We had a couple of punts that weren't all that hot at the end of the game, but if you look at Luca's punting early on, it was really pretty good,'' Miller said. "As he gets some more reps and develops a little more confidence, he'll be fine.''
Congi handled all the Riders' placekicking and punting as a rookie in 2006, when he averaged 38 yards per punt. Boreham arrived the following year to take over the punting duties.
On Saturday, Congi had punts of 20, 17 and six yards into a 26-kilometre-per-hour wind. With the wind, he punted for 53 and 38 yards. The 53-yarder produced a single.
"I had some good points and I had some points I need to work on,'' Congi said. "That's what I take out of it. I'm going to go watch the film and keep picking up the technique and keep working on it.''
rvanstone@leaderpost.canwest.com
The Saskatchewan Roughriders did not waste time in addressing their first-half offensive woes.
After being held without an offensive touchdown until the fourth quarter in each of their previous two games, the Roughriders scored four first-half majors Saturday en route to a 32-22 CFL victory over the Toronto Argonauts at Mosaic Stadium.
The Roughriders' offensive flurry was ignited on their opening possession, when Darian Durant found a wide-open Chris Getzlaf on a short crossing pattern. The Regina-born slotback made a leaping catch and motored toward the goal line for a 33-yard major.
"It gets us off to a great start,'' Getzlaf said. "What you want to do on offence is go out there on the first possession and be able to score a touchdown and get the game rolling in a good way. We came out and fortunately that's the way it went.''
The Roughriders' first two TDs were scored by Reginans. A seven-yard run by Stu Foord helped Saskatchewan assume a 14-0 lead. The Roughriders were ahead 28-7 after touchdown passes from Durant to Weston Dressler and Gerran Walker.
Eight days earlier, the Roughriders did not score a touchdown until 2:33 remained in the fourth quarter against the host B.C. Lions, who won 19-16.
On Sept. 26, the Roughriders' first offensive major came with 9:41 left in the game, when Steven Jyles scored on a one-yard run. That was the winning touchdown as Saskatchewan prevailed 23-20 over the host Edmonton Eskimos.
n n n
Getzlaf's major — his fourth of the season — moved him into the team lead in touchdown receptions. Dressler later tied him in that category.
"He's doing very, very well,'' Roughriders head coach Ken Miller said of Getzlaf. "On that first touchdown he had, they blitzed us — an all-out blitz — and Chris spotted it and was able to manoeuvre himself into an open area and catch it. The catch was nice in itself, but the run after the catch was truly spectacular. He is really a tough competitor.''
n n n
The Roughriders were flagged for offside on three of their kickoffs by Luca Congi, who was replacing Jamie Boreham (neck injury).
"It's having a new kicker,'' Roughriders special-teams co-ordinator Kavis Reed said. "We had a very short week, with a day inside (at the Credit Union Eventplex), and we weren't able to work on the timing with Luca. Luca has a hitch in his step right at the end and guys were trying to hit the line (as Congi kicked the ball). After 14 weeks with Jamie, they had that timing down. Now they get another kid kicking and that threw them off."
Congi also filled in for Boreham as the punter, averaging 26.8 yards on five punts.
"We had a couple of punts that weren't all that hot at the end of the game, but if you look at Luca's punting early on, it was really pretty good,'' Miller said. "As he gets some more reps and develops a little more confidence, he'll be fine.''
Congi handled all the Riders' placekicking and punting as a rookie in 2006, when he averaged 38 yards per punt. Boreham arrived the following year to take over the punting duties.
On Saturday, Congi had punts of 20, 17 and six yards into a 26-kilometre-per-hour wind. With the wind, he punted for 53 and 38 yards. The 53-yarder produced a single.
"I had some good points and I had some points I need to work on,'' Congi said. "That's what I take out of it. I'm going to go watch the film and keep picking up the technique and keep working on it.''
rvanstone@leaderpost.canwest.com
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