Robservations: Roughriders register franchise first … hot start for Harris … a Victor Sawa memory … and classic correspondence
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are striving to sweep a home-and-home set with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats after a comeback win in Stealtown.
“Last week was one of those things where we stole a game late,” quarterback Trevor Harris said leading up to the Home Opener, presented by Flynn.
“I know (the Tiger-Cats) are heated (over the loss), but if you think we’re not ticked off about the way we played, you’re dead wrong.
“We’re not sitting here putting our hands back over our head and our feet up on the desk, saying we’re 2-and-0. We’re in attack mode. We have to be. If we’re not, they’re going to come in and beat us.”
That is the Roughriders’ mindset as they complete preparations for Sunday’s CFL game at Mosaic Stadium (5 p.m., TSN, CKRM).
“We’re not talking about how we’re 2-and-0,” Harris continued. “It doesn’t matter. We haven’t done anything yet.
“If we have two wins in a season, it’s a disastrous year, so we know it’s one week at a time. We want to go 1-and-0 this week and last week’s over.”
Although “we haven’t done anything yet” is the mantra from Harris, it should be noted that the 2024 Roughriders have already achieved a notable franchise first.
Dating back to the inception of the Regina Rugby Club in 1910, the team had never posted back-to-back victories while also rallying from double-digit fourth-quarter deficits until last Sunday’s result became official.
On June 8, Saskatchewan trailed the Edmonton Elks 21-8 before scoring all 21 fourth-quarter points and winning 29-21 at Commonwealth Stadium.
Eight days later, Hamilton led 30-20 with 5½ minutes left, only to have Saskatchewan handle the rest of the scoring and win 33-30 at Tim Hortons Field — the difference being Brett Lauther’s 43-yard field goal on the final play.
Twice before, the Roughriders had won consecutive games in which they trailed by 10-plus points in any quarter.
The first such streak actually consisted of three wins.
Sept. 6, 1981: Montreal Alouettes 26 at Saskatchewan 35. The Roughriders trailed 26-8 in the third quarter before scoring the game’s final 27 points. John Hufnagel sparked the rally by coming off the bench and throwing for 240 yards, including touchdown tosses to Dwight Edwards, Chris DeFrance and Greg Fieger.
Sept. 12, 1981: Saskatchewan 32 at Winnipeg Blue Bombers 25. Winnipeg led 25-11 late in the third quarter before Saskatchewan scored on a one-yard run by Lester Brown, a six-yard fumble return by John McCorquindale and a 12-yard touchdown pass from Hufnagel to Joey Walters. The latter TD, with 4:52 remaining, snapped a 25-25 tie.
Sept. 20, 1981: Ottawa Rough Riders 23 at Saskatchewan 26. Before the game was 12 minutes old, Jordan Case had thrown a pair of long TD passes to Kelvin Kirk to give Ottawa a 14-0 lead. The rest of the way, it was 26-9 for Saskatchewan. Two more Hufnagel-to-Walters TD passes were complemented by Fieger’s one-yard payoff plunge.
It wasn’t a banner night for Ottawa the next time the victorious Roughriders strung together rallies of 10-plus points.
Sept. 29, 2017: Saskatchewan 18 at Ottawa REDBLACKS 17. Ottawa led 17-0 in the third quarter before surrendering 18 unanswered points. Josh Bartel registered the game-winning point by punting for a 55-yard rouge with 2:12 remaining.
Oct. 7, 2017: Saskatchewan 27 at Toronto Argonauts 24. Toronto’s 16-3 second-quarter lead evaporated as Saskatchewan went on a 24-8 run. Brandon Bridge, who entered the game midway through the second frame, went 20-for-28 for 292 yards and two TDs. Tyler Crapigna’s 18-yard field goal with seven seconds left broke a 24-24 tie.
This brings us to one more category.
There are 28 cases of the Roughriders winning multiple games in a season after trailing by 10 or more at some point.
In 2010, half of Saskatchewan’s 12 victories (playoffs included) were registered after a multi-digit deficit had been erased.
Four such wins were recorded in 1974, 1981 and 1989.
Three comebacks from 10-plus are on the books from 1970, 1973, 1982, 2003, 2006, 2008 and 2017.
Saskatchewan has staged two rallies from double-digit deficits in 1956, 1958, 1964, 1971, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2007, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2024 (so far).
TREVOR’S TOTALS
With 695 passing yards, Harris has the fifth-highest two-game regulation-time total in franchise history. Here’s the list:
864 — Joe Paopao, 1985
843 — Kent Austin, 1993
780 — Kent Austin, 1992
728 — Kent Austin, 1990
695 — Trevor Harris, 2024
Factor in yards compiled in overtime and the list swells to seven, with OT yards in parentheses where applicable.
883 — Kent Austin, 1993 (40)
864 — Joe Paopao, 1985
799 — Kent Austin, 1992 (19)
733 — Darian Durant, 2010 (70)
728 — Kent Austin, 1990
713 — Tom Burgess, 1994 (87)
695 — Trevor Harris, 2024
Last Sunday at Tim Hortons Field, Harris recorded the 22nd game of 32-plus completions by a Roughrider.
Jerreth Sterns and Kian Schaffer-Baker became the 51st Roughriders teammates to register 100-plus receiving yards in the same game.
VICTOR VICTORIOUS
Long-time Regina Symphony Orchestra conductor Victor Sawa, who passed away on June 12, played an instrumental role in one Roughriders victory.
Sawa was invited to watch from the sideline at Taylor Field on Sept. 5, 1998, when the Roughriders snapped a six-game losing streak by defeating Winnipeg 32-18.
After the game, Sawa sat beside Jim Daley as he faced questions from reporters.
“We’ll have to get you to conduct the orchestra,” Sawa said while turning toward the Roughriders’ Head Coach.
Daley’s priceless reply: “They don’t boo there, so that’ll be great.”
READ-LETTER DAYS
Vice-President of Football Operations and General Manager Jeremy O’Day was in fine form during the Roughriders’ Annual General Meeting.
“Every once in a while, I get a letter sent to me at the stadium,” O’Day told Tuesday’s gathering of ardent fans.
“They’re usually handwritten and there’s usually advice about what we should do or what we should change.
“We had a couple earlier this year that were actually play designs that they wanted to give to (Offensive Co-ordinator) Marc Mueller, which was interesting.
“One of them had 11 players on it, so I don’t think we’re going to use it.”
ROLL CREDITS …
• Nice people who deserve a plug: Suzanne Harris, Tom Harris, Peter Godber, Wayne Chamberlain, Godfrey Onyeka, Rob Vanderhooft, Thomas Bertrand-Hudon, Barry Clarke, Greg Witter, Hugh Campbell, Micah Johnson, Mario Alford, Grant Langford, Anthony Lanier II, Miles Brown, Maren Tunison, Eva Fletcher, Rich Preston, Jim Daley, Dylan Earis and Ron Taylor.
