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CALGARY — When two teams with a combined 12-game winless stretch meet, you can expect drama.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders and Calgary Stampeders delivered plenty of that on Friday night, with the Riders’ complete offensive performance lifting them to their first win since July 19, over two months ago. The win ensures that the Riders will hold onto third place in the West Division through this week and gives them a boost as they enter the final stretch of the season, where the West Division remains wide open.
Here are CFL.ca’s three key stats from the Roughriders’ win over the Stampeders in Week 16.
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88.8 — TREVOR HARRIS’ COMPLETION PERCENTAGE
Harris’ 16-18 passing feels almost like an oversight of some sort. Despite his modest numbers — he had 248 passing yards and a touchdown on the night — his precision on some key touchdown drives had TSN’s Glen Suitor talking about a Ricky Ray-like presence on the field at points on Friday. Harris helped KeeSean Johnson to a 90-yard night and Kian Schaffer-Baker to an 80-yard, one touchdown showing. The Stamps got close a couple of times in the second half, but Harris and the Riders’ offence never really let the game feel like it was in doubt; even with their recent troubles over the past two months.
244 — ROUGHRIDER RUSHING YARDS
Led by Ryquell Armstead’s 2024 single-game high 207 rushing yards, the Riders exposed the Stamps’ inability to bottle up the run game. Having just joined the Roughriders this week after being released by the Ottawa REDBLACKS on Sept. 3, Armstead was a literal plug-and-play in Marc Mueller’s offence, providing the Riders something they’d sorely missed with AJ Ouellette on the six-game injured list.
1 — WIN
The value of this win can’t be overstated. Head coach Corey Mace may have been able to keep the negativity out of his head and his locker room, but Rider Nation was very tepidly heading down a dark and familiar road, watching their team go on a late-season slide for the third year in a row. Their unfortunate and at times unbelievable slide is behind them and the Riders come out of it holding onto the third and final playoff spot in the West Division. A lot of peoples’ favourite team is suddenly — and finally — back in the mix in what promises to be a fascinating finish in the regular season’s final five weeks.