WINNIPEG \u2014 The Riders were the bombers at a crucial juncture in the Labour Day Rematch.<\/p>\n
With the Saskatchewan Roughriders backed up to their one-yard line, Trevor Harris launched a bomb from the visitors\u2019 end zone on Saturday at Princess Auto Stadium.<\/p>\n
Joe Robustelli<\/a> caught the perfectly placed pass in stride down the left sideline and produced a gain of 48 yards.<\/p>\n Six plays later, Brett Lauther<\/a> kicked a 33-yard field goal that gave Saskatchewan an 18-13 lead against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were pinned on our one-yard line and we were up by two points,\u201d Robustelli said after the Roughriders won 21-13 to improve their CFL-best record to 10-2.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cTo be able to get out of the end zone was huge.\u201d<\/p>\n Even if the drive had stalled after Robustelli\u2019s reception, the Roughriders would have flipped the field in a closely contested game.<\/p>\n As a bonus, Saskatchewan scored on a possession that began 109 yards away from pay dirt for only the third time in more than a decade.<\/p>\n Dating back to 2013, the Roughriders have started off from their one-yard line on 15 occasions (excluding end-of-half\/end-of-game kneel-down situations).<\/p>\n Those 15 possessions concluded as follows: Eight punts, three field goals, two safety touches, one interception and one missed field goal.<\/p>\n The field goals were recorded on June 30, 2018 (Tyler Crapigna, 38 yards versus Montreal Alouettes), Sept. 17, 2021 (Lauther, 24 yards versus Toronto Argonauts) and Saturday (Lauther, 33 yards).<\/p>\n Saskatchewan threw the ball to begin nine of the 15 possessions. Five of those passes were completed, three were incomplete and one was intercepted.<\/p>\n One must rewind to a championship season to find any comparison to Saturday\u2019s Harris-Robustelli collaboration.<\/p>\n On July 27, 2013 in Hamilton, Drew Willy went over the top to a diving Geroy Simon for a 45-yard advance. So began an 11-play, 62-yard march that concluded with a punt.<\/p>\n Most recently, Offensive Co-ordinator Marc Mueller dialled up a deep route by Robustelli, who sped past Trey Vaval, caught the football on the 30-yard line, and added 18 to the gain before being tackled.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was definitely a ballsy call from Coach Mueller,\u201d Robustelli said. \u201cIt means a lot to me that he would trust me, backed up on our own one-yard line, to go make a play.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen he called it, I knew I had to make him proud, so I went out there and did my thing.\u201d<\/p>\n The result was Robustelli\u2019s longest reception in 11 regular-season games as a CFLer \u2014 and the longest gain by either side in Saturday\u2019s showdown of arch-rivals.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was kind of cool, because there was a TV timeout and the place was rockin\u2019, so I kind of took a moment and looked around,\u201d Harris said as 32,343 generally disconsolate spectators shuffled out of the stadium.<\/p>\n \u201cI looked around and I was like, \u2018This is awesome!\u2019 Then I went into the huddle and said, \u2018Guys, check this out. This is awesome! These are the moments you kind of think of when the crowd\u2019s going crazy.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re backed up and you\u2019ve got to have a drive. Marc called a double move there and I couldn\u2019t have been more excited, so I went in the huddle and was like, \u2018Boys, let\u2019s go. We\u2019re going to gash \u2019em over the top here.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cJoe made a good move and was able to catch it and get up-field. It was a big drive for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Corey Mace was quick to concur.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was incredible,\u201d the Roughriders\u2019 Head Coach said<\/a>. \u201cGreat route. Great protection. Trevor threw an excellent ball. And then, ultimately, Muells with a heck of a call. Boy, that was a fun one.<\/p>\n \u201cNot a lot of people would call that, but that\u2019s why we love Muells.\u201d<\/p>\n In that spirit, Mueller was presented with a game ball.<\/p>\n COLLAROS \u201cSAYLES\u201d A PASS<\/p>\n The Roughriders\u2019 run of 18 unanswered points was ignited by a Marcus Sayles interception.<\/p>\n With 36 seconds remaining in the first half, Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros accepted a snap and looked deep for Ontaria Wilson.<\/p>\n Sayles played the role of centre fielder, tracking down an overthrown pass and returning the pick 24 yards to the Roughriders\u2019 49.<\/p>\n Harris promptly looked over the middle to Tommy Nield<\/a>, who gained 34 yards. Two plays later, Lauther kicked a 35-yard field goal to pare Winnipeg\u2019s lead to 13-6.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was crucial,\u201d Mace said. \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit different going into halftime down seven as opposed to 10.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought the execution and how we were able to get that done right before the half was major for us.\u201d<\/p>\n On top of that, Saskatchewan fielded a kickoff to begin the third quarter \u2014\u00a0the result of Saskatchewan\u2019s decision to defer after winning the coin toss.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you end up deferring and getting the ball in the second half, you can kind of steal a possession, where they don\u2019t get one,\u201d Harris noted.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were able to kind of do that and Brett hit a nice field goal as time expired. We were able to get to within one possession and then I thought we put together a decent drive at the beginning (of the third quarter). It\u2019s just that penalties got us.\u201d<\/p>\n Saskatchewan ran the first eight offensive plays of the second half. Factoring in a subsequent punt by Joe Couch, the Roughriders devoured 4:35 before the Bombers\u2019 offence first touched the football in the second half.<\/p>\n The tone was set for a third quarter in which Saskatchewan dominated the time of possession (10:17 to 4:43).<\/p>\n PIVOTAL PLAYS<\/p>\n Saskatchewan\u2019s lone touchdown \u2014 on a five-yard run by A.J. Ouellette \u2014\u00a0was preceded by back-to-back bursts by Harris.<\/p>\n He rushed for gains of three and seven to put Saskatchewan in a first-and-goal situation. Ouellette then barged into the end zone, with key blocks from centre Logan Ferland and right guard Jacob Brammer and a timely push over the goal line from right tackle Jermarcus Hardrick<\/a>.<\/p>\n The fifth and sixth rushes of the season by Harris led to the six points.<\/p>\n \u201cT-Mobile, baby!\u201d the 39-years-young quarterback said with a laugh. \u201cI can still do it when I need to.<\/p>\n \u201cI think in my later years, I\u2019ve been able to kind of move through progressions and get to (options) 4 and 5 when I need to.<\/p>\n \u201cI replaced those runs of four and six yards that aren\u2019t too exciting anymore. I can get the ball in the hands of Dohnte (Meyers) or A.J. or KeeSean (Johnson) and kind of just move through progressions, but it\u2019s there when we need it.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were dropping nine people in coverage. I needed to be able to navigate the pocket to be able to get them to stop populating outside the hashes and making it almost impossible to find completions on second-and-long. We were glad we were able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n The impact of the footwork by Harris was quickly referenced by analyst Paul LaPolice during TSN\u2019s telecast.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat football I.Q., because the coverage that the Bombers play voids the middle of the field,\u201d LaPolice said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got nobody in the middle so as everybody expands, there\u2019s all that space.\u201d<\/p>\n