Saskatchewan Roughriders top Alouettes in Week 4 matchup

The Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal Alouettes faced off for the second time in as many weeks on Saturday night at Mosaic Stadium, only this time it was the Riders who would emerge victorious with a 41-20 win.

After suffering a 37-13 defeat to the Als just a week ago, Saskatchewan quarterback, Cody Fajardo took it upon himself to ensure his team would avoid a similar outcome in Week 4.

Fajardo completed 18 of his 29 passes and threw for 224 yards and two touchdowns after throwing two interceptions and no touchdowns in the Week 3 loss to Montreal.

Second-year wideout, Kian Schaffer-Baker lead the way for the Rider passing attack, catching seven of his eight targets for 90 yards and a touchdown in the contest.

Running back, Jamal Morrow saw 16 carries in the game and made the most of all of them. Morrow rushed for 103 yards and a touchdown on Saturday night.

But it was the Saskatchewan defence who stole the show, forcing two interceptions, recovering two fumbles and recording six sacks in the win over the Alouettes.

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Saskatchewan linebacker, Anthony Lanier put a stop to the Montreal drive with a second down sack. Forcing the Als  to settle for a field goal as kicker, David Cote opened the scoring with an 18-yard make.

The Rider offence looked to be energized rather than deflated by the Montreal score, and they responded almost immediately. Looking downfield, Fajardo connected with receiver, Tevin Jones for a 40 yard gain.

The big play from Jones would help to set up an eight-yard touchdown pass from Fajardo, which found it’s way into the hands of Regina native, Mitchell Picton to give the Riders an early lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, Montreal’s Chandler Worthy was able to evade a few tackles before breaking free for a 84-yard kickoff return touchdown, helping Montreal take back the lead before the end of the first quarter.

The score from Worthy marks his second return touchdown in back-to-back weeks, he scored on an 88-yard kickoff return against Saskatchewan in Week 3.

The Saskatchewan defence opened the second quarter with a boom. Defensive linemen, Pete Robertson found his way into the Als offensive backfield for a sack, giving him a sack in every game to start the year.

A few plays later, Lanier was once again wreaking havoc on the Montreal offensive line, this time he was able to force a fumble on Harris which Robertson recovered. The Montreal defence was able to limit the damage off the turnover, forcing Fajardo to throw back-to-back incompletions.

The Riders called on kicker, Brett Lauther for a 48-yard field goal attempt. Unfortunately for the Riders, Lauther had the length, but he missed wide left.

Midway through the second quarter, Worthy was once again making plays in the return game. This time a 33-yard punt return set up the Montreal offence on the Saskatchewan 39-yard line. The Als wouldn’t find the end zone, but still managed a score as Cote made a 38-yard field goal, extending the lead to five.

Nearing the end of the half, a Saskatchewan drive was stalled by a tough Montreal defence that forced three consecutive incompletions. Following the miss from Lauther in the first quarter, he was called on for another long try. This time Lauther wouldn’t miss, as he made a 57-yard field goal, tying a career long and helping to narrow the Montreal lead before the half.

Saskatchewan running back, Jamal Morrow opened the third quarter with a 15-yard run, Schaffer-Baker followed up with back-to-back gains of 12 and 15 yards.

On the Montreal 12-yard line, Morrow was able to make a nice cut before finding his way to the end zone for the early second half score.

The Riders would attempt the two-point conversion to attempt to push their lead to six points, but Montreal’s Wesley Sutton broke up a pass to keep the Saskatchewan lead at four.

On the goal line, Fajardo called his own number, punching in the score on a quarterback sneak. The Riders once again opted to go for a two-point conversion. This time coming away successful as Morrow was scored the two-points to cap off a 10-play scoring drive.

The Rider defence was able to build off of the momentum of the touchdown. With the Als offence back on the field, Rider defensive back Jeremy Clark was able to force a fumble on Montreal’s Jeshrun Antwi, which the Saskatchewan defence was able to recover.

With the ball back after the takeaway, the Rider offence made the most of the opportunity. It took just two plays for them to score as Schaffer-Baker turn a swing-pass into a 44-yard touchdown run, giving the Riders 21 points in the third quarter.

Montreal had possession of the ball to start the fourth quarter. Harris was able to collect a big chunk of yardage on a 30-yard completion to Wieneke.

On the goal line the Saskatchewan defence looked like they were about to come up with a third down stop, when an illegal contact flag gave the Als a fresh set of downs.

The Alouettes were able to take advantage of the opportunity as running back, Walter Fletcher found his way to the end zone on a three-yard run to narrow the Riders’ lead.

The Saskatchewan defence continued it’s display of dominance into the fourth quarter. Linebacker Derrick Moncrief was able to track down a ball for an interception.

On the next Alouettes drive, defensive back, Nick Marshall broke on a pass from Harris that he intercepted and returned for a touchdown, sinking the dagger into the Als last hopes of mounting a comeback.