The former University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors standout threw a three-yard, game-winning touchdown pass to University of Saskatchewan Huskies alumnus Daniel Wiebe with 42.9 seconds remaining<\/a>. Alex Hale\u2019s convert provided what proved to be the final point as the Roughriders won 31-27.<\/p>\nMeeting the media after the game, Schager looked as though he had just emerged from a prize fight \u2014 and not necessarily as the victor. The area around his right eye was puffy, bruised and lacerated.<\/p>\n
After being poked in the stricken eye early in the fourth quarter, he left the game for a few plays before returning to action just in time to have a pass intercepted and returned for a touchdown.<\/p>\n
But guess who was celebrating at the end, battered but not beaten?<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a lot of adversity throughout the game,\u201d Schager said. \u201cI got poked in the eye pretty bad and could hardly see out of my right eye for the rest of the game. That was tough, not being able to see, and there was obviously the pick-six.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I just keep fighting. That\u2019s what I do. I\u2019ve had a lot of adversity with football in my life and I just keep fighting, no matter what. I\u2019m never going to quit.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same could be said of the Roughriders, who weathered two interception-return touchdowns and shrugged off an early 10-point deficit.<\/p>\n
The second pick-six, thrown by Schager, was followed by a Brady Lidster field goal that gave Winnipeg a 27-21 lead with 4:25 remaining in the game.<\/p>\n
Schager responded by marching the Roughriders into field-goal range, whereupon Jonathan Kim split the uprights from 35 yards to narrow the gap to three points with 2:30 left.<\/p>\n
Saskatchewan\u2019s defence then forced a two-and-out. Following a punt, the Roughriders were backed up to their 11-yard line.<\/p>\n
Schager ignited the game-winning drive by finding Abdul Janneh Jr. for a 39-yard gain.<\/p>\n
It was an impressive response under any circumstances, but especially so when you consider the swollen eye.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the last drive, I couldn\u2019t see great out of the right eye,\u201d Schager said. \u201cIt\u2019s coming back a little bit now, but there were some times when I just had to close my eye and throw the ball using the left eye only.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was his little secret.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told the coaches I was good,\u201d Schager said with a grin. \u201cI\u2019m always going to tell them I\u2019m good.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t want to come out of the game in the first place, but they made me sit out for a couple of plays. That\u2019s just my mindset. I want to stay in there. I\u2019ll close my eyes and throw it if I have to.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to stay in there for my guys. I don\u2019t want to quit. I don\u2019t want to show any weakness. I want to show them that I\u2019m always ready to play, no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schager put on quite a show for a standing-room-only crowd of 7,654 fans, completing 14 of 19 passes for 179 yards. The overflow crowd included his parents, who made the trip to Saskatoon from Dallas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re pretty worried about me,\u201d Scott and Ginger Schager\u2019s 22-year-old son. \u201cMy mom\u2019s trying to make sure I can still see, but I\u2019m all good.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was great to have them here and experience this with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schager wasn\u2019t the only Saskatchewan quarterback to experience a rollercoaster on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Jack Coan, who assumed the reins after 2025 Grey Cup MVP Trevor Harris briskly guided Saskatchewan to a touchdown on its first possession, threw a pick-six and later responded with a touchdown pass.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one play, one life,\u201d the third-year Roughriders pivot said. \u201cThat\u2019s what one of my old college coaches used to say.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce one play\u2019s over, you move on to the next one. You play each play in the present moment and that\u2019s all it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coan finished with 10 completions in 18 attempts for 100 yards, 12 of which resulted from a TD pass to newcomer Johnny Johnson III at 5:04 of the third quarter. Johnson III\u2019s touchdown, which gave Saskatchewan its first lead of the game, was followed by a Hale convert that put the Roughriders ahead 21-17.<\/p>\n
Winnipeg responded with a touchdown and a field goal before Saskatchewan closed out the game with a 10-point run of its own.<\/p>\n
Over 60 minutes, the Roughriders enjoyed a decided advantage in first downs (29-13) and net offence (431-257).<\/p>\n
The victorious team\u2019s plays were called by Offensive Co-ordinator Marc Mueller \u2014 whose legendary grandfather, Ron Lancaster, threw the most interceptions in CFL history (396).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen the greatest quarterbacks in this league have to bounce back from an interception,\u201d Roughriders head coach Corey Mace noted. \u201cIt\u2019s part of football.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really pleased with how both guys responded after those plays and put together drives that were crucial in order for us to win.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in a good spot, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n
That could also be said of the venue. The atmosphere at Griffiths Stadium was electric during the first Saskatoon-based CFL pre-season game since 1991.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very similar to the Halifax games,\u201d Mace said, referencing the CFL\u2019s Touchdown Atlantic games that were played in Nova Scotia. \u201cAlthough the crowd might be smaller in terms of numbers, it was still loud. It definitely felt like a home game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just happy we could come out with a win for Rider Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SASKATOON \u2014 The Saskatchewan Roughriders\u2019 offence operated out of the eye formation during the climactic stages of Saturday\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":691458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-691457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=691457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/691458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}