The comeback kids did it again.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders defeated the Edmonton Eskimos on Saturday night by a score of 27-24. The victory came courtesy of a 43-yard field goal from Brett Lauther with no time remaining on the clock.
Edmonton built a 17-7 lead at halftime thanks in part to a Don Unamba strip-sack of Cody Fajardo. Mike Moore recovered the ball at the Riders’ one-yard line and on the next play Calvin McCarty punched it in for his second of two first quarter touchdowns.
Halftime was extended due to a brief power concern at Commonwealth Stadium. The lights were quickly fixed and the second half was delayed by approximately ten minutes.
Saskatchewan scored two third quarter touchdowns from Kyran Moore and Emmanuel Arceneaux, giving the Riders a 21-17 lead. The club would maintain that lead until Trevor Harris led a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive capped by a 12-yard pass to Tevaun Smith with less than two minutes remaining.
Cody Fajardo responded by engineering a nine-play, 69-yard drive that started at Saskatchewan’s six-yard line. Fresh-off signing a two-year contract extension, Fajardo finished the night with 25-of-35 passing for 429 yards and two touchdowns.
Lauther finished the night a perfect two-for-two, while his counterpart Sean Whyte missed a costly 46-yarder early in the fourth quarter.
The victory moves the Roughriders to 12-5 on the season and into sole possession of first place in the West Division. A win in next week’s rematch would clinch the division for Saskatchewan, earning a bye straight to the West Final.
The Eskimos, now 8-9, were already locked into fourth place heading into Saturday’s game. Trevor Harris played respectably in his return from injury with 321 passing yards, though he tossed a pair of interceptions.
Edmonton and Saskatchewan play next Saturday at Mosaic Stadium with kickoff scheduled for 2:00 PM ET.
