Depth-tested Riders can’t find way to hold off Argos in fourth quarter

A Saskatchewan Roughriders team that reached deep onto its depth chart couldn’t hold off the Toronto Argonauts, losing 31-21 at Mosaic Stadium on Sunday.

“I don’t think it’s frustrating, I think it’s a learning lesson,” defensive end Charleston Hughes said. “We have to build from that. We know we went through a lot of adversity this week going into that game but (it’s) still not an excuse. We had our opportunities to win. We’ve just got to play football a little bit better.”

With the score tied 21-21 in the fourth quarter, Boris Bede hit a 29-yard field goal with 43 seconds left in regulation time that put Toronto up 24-21.

On the ensuing kickoff, Saskatchewan returner Mario Alford fumbled the ball, which the Argos picked up and returned for a touchdown to seal the game.

“We were down and (I was) just trying to make something happen. They had the right side where I was supposed to take the ball, it was clogged up so I bounced it and spun off another guy,” Alford said.

“That’s what happens when you try to do too much. You’ve got to protect the ball — I just tried to make a play for my team and it ended up not being good. I’m going to be better and we’re going to be better.”

“I felt like we had a chance to win and we were focused on trying to win the ball game. It’s been a tough couple of weeks for our team for sure — we’ve lost guys to suspension, we’ve had COVID run through the locker room, we’ve had a lot of injuries but other teams have adversity too,” Saskatchewan head coach Craig Dickenson said.

“We’ve still got good players in that (locker room), guys that are hungry and want to play and we expect to do well.”

In the week ahead of the game, the Riders dealt with a COVID outbreak in the locker room, leading to two practices being cancelled before the game was eventually postponed from its scheduled Saturday kickoff.

By the time the game came around, seven members of the Riders were ruled out with either an illness or injury, including starting quarterback Cody Fajardo.

With backup Mason Fine also out for most of the week due to being in COVID protocol, Jake Dolegala made his first CFL start.

Dolegala struggled throughout the first half but did connect with Tevin Jones for a 10-yard touchdown — the first CFL touchdown for both of them.

In his first start, Dolegala threw for 131 yards, with a touchdown and an interception.

“It wasn’t my best. I expect to play at a high level and I didn’t feel like I did that tonight,” Dolegala said. “I just needed to get that first hit in me and once we got there, I felt like I was in the game.

“There’s the good and the bad (and) I’m going to take positives away from both of them. It’s just a learning experience at this point.”

“I thought (Dolegala) did a good job; we wanted him to manage the game and not turn the ball over, I thought he did a good job on that,” Dickenson said. “He look poised back there, he looked like he knew what he was doing and I thought he threw some nice balls. It’s just too little too late there.”

With the status of Fajardo’s injured knee still up in the air, Dickenson said either Dolegala or Fine could play next week against the B.C. Lions.

Dolegala’s favourite target in the game was Jones, who finished with 67 yards and the touchdown.

“When the ball is in the air, I just catch it. Cody is a great quarterback, Jake is a great quarterback so when they put the ball in the air, I catch it. I’m glad Jake trusted me and threw the ball to me and I appreciate him for that,” Jones said.

Despite having only 70 yards of net offence in the first half compared to 195 by Toronto, the Riders went into halftime with a 15-11 lead thanks to a 112-yard return by Alford on a missed 61-yard field-goal try by Bede.

The Riders won the turnover battle in the game, with their defence forcing five compared to two by the Riders.

One of those turnovers was a forced fumble by Hughes on a sack of Argos quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson, the 134th sack of Hughes’ career.

“I’m just playing to win. When my name and number is called, I’m going to perform,” Hughes said.

Andrew Harris was a focal point for the Argos in the game, rushing 26 times for 143 yards. During the game, Harris became the first Canadian to have more than 10,000 career rushing yards.

“They had a good game plan and a good strategy when running the ball,” Hughes said. We played our best foot forward and they had some injuries during that game up front and they still continued to run the ball and do what they do best.”

The Riders (4-3) now sit in fourth place in the CFL’s West Division, behind the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (7-0), Calgary Stampeders (4-1) and Lions (4-1).

“You don’t want to get too far behind … If we lose another and Winnipeg wins another, they are four games ahead of us and it gets hard to catch them when it gets to that,” Dickenson said.

“I think it’s fair to put us right in the middle of the pack. I think you’ve got Winnipeg and Calgary (in one tier) and then B.C. in three and then the rest of us in the middle and then you’ve got teams struggling. We’ve got to get from the middle to the upper (tier) and we’ve got to do it here in the next six to eight weeks.”