You have to go back a lonnnnnng way to find some plays that went a long way.
In 1912, for example, the Regina Rugby Club’s Jerry Crapper scooped up a fumble and sprinted 99 yards.
The Regina Roughriders’ Paul Kirk took off on a 105-yard interception return in 1936.
But the one name that repeatedly jumps off the screen is that of Mario Alford.
In only 31 games since joining the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2022, Super Mario boasts one of the longest special-teams returns in franchise history in three different categories.
His resume includes punt returns of 107 and 104 yards, a kickoff return for 98, and a missed field goal return of 112.
Read on and see where Alford ranks on the first three lists.
Beyond that, you will find the Roughriders’ longest plays on offence and defence — and, as a bonus, the most substantial gains since new Mosaic Stadium first staged a CFL game in 2017.
To complete the deluge of distance-related details, we also threw in some field-goal factoids.
Over to you, Mario …
LONGEST PUNT RETURN
109 — Herb Johnson vs. Edmonton, Aug. 31, 1953 (TD).
108 — Willis Jacox vs. Toronto, Aug. 9, 1991 (TD).
107 — Fran McDermott at Hamilton, Oct. 11, 1982.
107 — Mario Alford at Ottawa, Sept. 22, 2023 (TD).
104 — Mario Alford vs. Calgary, Oct. 22, 2022 (TD).
LONGEST AGAINST: 108 — Leon Bright vs. B.C., Oct. 30, 1977 (TD) and Tony Hunter vs. B.C., Sept. 30, 1990 (TD).
- When Bright sprinted 108 yards to pay dirt, the Roughriders added to the afternoon’s punt-return parade by scoring on two such plays. Paul Williams went the distance on a 77-yard punt return and Joey Walters added a 50-yard major.
LONGEST KICKOFF RETURN
115 — Bobby Thompson vs. B.C., Oct. 24, 1971 (TD).
100 — Marcus Thigpen vs. B.C., July 20, 2019 (TD).
98 — Mario Alford at Edmonton, Aug. 13, 2022 (TD).
97 — Albert Brown vs. Edmonton, July 12, 1991 (TD).
97 — Marcus Thigpen vs. Ottawa, Sept. 15, 2018 (TD).
96 — Demetris Bendross at Winnipeg, Sept. 29, 2000 (TD).
96 — Kevin Nickerson vs. Ottawa, Aug. 17, 2003 (TD).
LONGEST AGAINST: 112 — Dave West vs. Calgary, Sept. 13, 1952 (TD).
- Thompson’s 115-yard kickoff return helped him set a team single-game record for all-purpose yardage (361). In addition to taking the kickoff return to the house, he caught five passes for 163 yards and rushed eight times for 57 yards. In the first quarter, he caught TD passes of 97 and 14 yards from Ron Lancaster to ignite the offence in a game the Roughriders won 50-18.
LONGEST MISSED FIELD GOAL RETURN
129 — Tristan Jackson vs. B.C., July 14, 2012 (TD).
112 — Mario Alford vs. Toronto, July 24, 2022 (TD).
111 — Tristan Jackson at Ottawa, Aug. 2, 2014 (TD).
108 — Paul Williams vs. Edmonton, Aug. 15, 1976 (TD).
108 — Albert Brown vs. B.C., Oct. 1, 1993 (TD).
LONGEST AGAINST: 125— Tim Maypray vs. Montreal, July 1, 2010 (TD).
- Williams’ 108-yarder on Aug. 15, 1976 was considered a punt return at the time. Back then, missed field goals were regarded as punts for statistical purposes. Earlier in the game, Williams had returned an actual punt for a TD, only to have the score negated by a clipping penalty. It hardly mattered, ultimately, as Saskatchewan blanked Edmonton 40-0.
LONGEST COMPLETION
107 — Kent Austin to Jeff Fairholm vs. Winnipeg, Sept. 2, 1990 (TD).
106 — Rick Worman to Willis Jacox at Calgary, July 18, 1991 (TD).
104 — Bob Ptacek to Ray Purdin at Hamilton, Oct. 15, 1962 (TD).
102 — Ron Lancaster to Gord Barwell at B.C., Oct. 24, 1965 (TD).
100 — Joe Barnes to Chris DeFrance vs. B.C., Aug. 9, 1981 (TD).
100 — Nealon Greene to Derick Armstrong vs. Calgary, July 5, 2002 (TD).
LONGEST AGAINST: 108 — Tobin Rote to Jim Rountree at Toronto, Sept. 10, 1961 (TD).
- Barwell had an eye-popping statistical line on Oct. 24, 1965 — one catch for 102 yards. That same evening at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, George Reed rushed for 268 yards to establish an enduring single-game team record.
LONGEST RUSH
98 — Alex Bravo vs. B.C., Sept. 29, 1956 (TD).
93 — Ray Purdin vs. Montreal, Sept. 12, 1962 (TD).
93 — Ed Buchanan at Calgary, Aug. 3, 1964 (TD).
92 — Ray Purdin vs. B.C., Sept. 22, 1962 (TD).
90 — Pete Van Valkenburg at Calgary, Aug. 20, 1976 (TD).
LONGEST AGAINST: 103 yards — Richard Crump vs. Winnipeg, Sept. 4, 1978 (TD).
- Bravo’s 98-yard run produced one of the three TDs he would score over 13 games as a Roughrider. He signed with the Green and White on Feb. 15, 1956, but left the team in late July of that year to join the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams. Two weeks later, he rejoined the Roughriders and remained with them for the duration of the Western Interprovincial Football Union season. He then suited up for Angeles in 1957 and 1958 and subsequently played for the Oakland Raiders of the fledgling American Football League in 1960 and 1961.
LONGEST INTERCEPTION RETURN
112 — Bruce Bennett vs. Calgary, Aug. 27, 1972 (TD).
105 — Paul Kirk vs. Calgary, Sept. 19, 1936 (TD)
105 — Omarr Morgan (46 yards) and Davin Bush (59), July 17, 2005 vs. Hamilton (TD).
103 — Sam Eguavoen at Winnipeg, Sept. 8, 2018 (TD).
102 — Frank Dark vs. B.C., Oct. 28, 1979 (TD).
102 — Harry Skipper at Calgary, Nov. 12, 1989 (playoffs).
LONGEST AGAINST: 120 yards — Neal Beaumont at B.C., Oct. 12, 1963 (TD); CFL record.
- Bennett’s 112-yard pick-six helped the Roughriders establish an enduring league record for interception-return yards in a game (291, on four thefts). Also on Aug. 27, 1972, Lewis Cook had interception returns of 96 and 39 yards. His total of 135 yards has been unchallenged as a franchise single-game mark for more than a half-century.
- One of the two 105-yard interception returns in Roughriders history was actually a combined effort. On July 17, 2005 against Hamilton, Omarr Morgan intercepted Danny McManus and sprinted 46 yards before flipping the football to Davin Bush, who went the rest of the way. While we are on the topic of Omarr Morgan …
LONGEST FUMBLE RETURN
108 — Omarr Morgan vs. Edmonton, Sept. 20, 2009 (TD).
99 — Jerry Crapper vs. Saskatoon, Oct. 28, 1912.
99 — Steve Johnson at Calgary, Aug. 19, 1984 (TD).
94 — Elie Bouka at Winnipeg, Dec. 5, 2021 (playoffs).
93 — Dick Cohee at B.C., Oct. 12, 1963 (TD).
LONGEST AGAINST: 96 yards — Fred Bennett at Calgary, Nov. 11, 2012 (playoffs).
OVERALL OBSERVATIONS
- Oddity: Two of the five longest fumble returns in Roughriders history (those of Crapper and Bouka) did not result in a touchdown. Crapper’s 99-yarder stood alone as a Club record for 26,228 days before Johnson equalled the mark. Crapper had a share of the record for 35,391 days, leading up to Morgan’s 108-yard sprint.
- Twenty-three of the Roughriders’ 39 long-gainers listed above were registered at home. The longest play in all seven categories took place in a home game.
- Most long plays surrendered: B.C. 10; Calgary 9; Edmonton 5; Winnipeg 4; Ottawa 4; Hamilton 3; Toronto 2; Montreal 1; Saskatoon 1.
LONGEST FIELD GOAL
62 — Paul McCallum vs. Edmonton, Oct. 27, 2001; CFL record.
60 — Dave Ridgway vs. Winnipeg, Sept. 6, 1987.
59 — Paul Watson vs. Winnipeg, July 12, 1981.
58 — Paul McCallum vs. Hamilton, Oct. 24, 1999.
57 — Bob Macoritti vs. Edmonton, Oct. 19, 1980.
57 — Paul McCallum vs. Toronto, Sept. 28, 2003.
57 — Brett Lauther at Ottawa, June 20, 2019.
57 — Brett Lauther vs. Montreal, July 2, 2022.
LONGEST AGAINST: 59 — Dave Cutler vs. Edmonton, Oct. 28, 1970.
- Cutler’s league record was tied by Watson in 1981. Ridgway topped them by one yard in 1987. McCallum increased the league record by two yards in 2001.
ROUGHRIDERS’ LONGEST PLAYS AT NEW MOSAIC STADIUM (2017-present)
Completion: 98 yards — Cody Fajardo to Kyran Moore vs. Toronto, July 1, 2019 (TD).
Rush: 63 yards — Frankie Hickson vs. Ottawa, July 8, 2022 (TD).
Punt return: 90 yards — Kyran Moore vs. Ottawa, Sept. 15, 2018 (TD).
Kickoff return: 100 yards — Marcus Thigpen vs. B.C., July 20, 2019 (TD).
Missed field goal return: 112 yards — Mario Alford vs. Toronto, July 24, 2022 (TD).
Interception return: 90 yards — Nic Marshall vs. Montreal, July 2, 2022 (TD).
Fumble return: 57 yards — Charleston Hughes vs. Hamilton, July 5, 2018 (TD).
Field goal: 57 yards — Brett Lauther vs. Montreal, July 2, 2022.
OPPONENTS’ LONGEST PLAYS AT NEW MOSAIC STADIUM (2017-present)
Completion: 90 yards — Nathan Rourke to Lucky Whitehead (B.C.), Aug. 19, 2022 (TD).
Rush: 69 yards — William Powell (Ottawa), Sept. 15, 2018 (TD).
Punt return: 92 yards — Janarion Grant (Winnipeg), June 16, 2023 (TD).
Kickoff return: 84 yards — Chandler Worthy (Montreal), July 2, 2022 (TD).
Missed field goal return: 86 yards — Clark Barnes (Calgary), July 15, 2023.
Interception return: 110 yards — Justin Rogers (Hamilton), July 8, 2017 (TD).
Fumble return: 45 yards — Douglas Coleman II (Ottawa), Aug. 6, 2023 (TD).
Field goal: 55 yards — Marc Liegghio (Winnipeg), Sept. 4, 2022.
