Stampeders, Roughriders searching for elusive victory

Two CFL West teams whose seasons went sideways meet Friday night in Calgary when the Stampeders host the scuffling Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Calgary (4-8-1) is 0-4-1 in its last five games and Saskatchewan (5-7-1) is 0-6-1 over its last seven. The Stamps could have snapped their winless streak on Saturday but instead settled for a 19-19 tie at home with Montreal.

“You don’t really have anything, to be honest,” said quarterback Jake Maier of his feelings after the tie. “There’s no feeling of failure from losing or joy from winning — it’s somewhere in between. This is kind of new for me.”

Maier did his part to earn the win, completing 29 of 37 passes for 236 yards and a touchdown. But Calgary couldn’t get it done, mixing in enough dropped passes and crucial penalties to keep it from earning the result.

“Nobody likes ties,” said Stamps coach Dave Dickenson. “I get it, though. I mean, how many overtimes are you going to play?”

While Calgary has to bounce back on a short week, Saskatchewan had a bye week that appears to have come at the right time. Its 26-21 defeat at Winnipeg on Sept. 7 kept its recent run of futility going, erasing a 5-1 start that had it atop the division.

Frustrations boiled over this week for the Roughriders. Coach Corey Mace threw the team out of practice on Tuesday for what he considered a sub-standard effort, punctuating his action with a profanity-laced speech.

Mace was feeling much better after a Wednesday workout produced the desired result.

“It’s a total team thing,” he said. “Everybody’s got to buy into what is being said and certainly I thought whatever was said worked because today was excellent.”

Calgary has not won a game since Aug. 4 while Saskatchewan is looking for its first victory since July 19.

The Roughriders will host the Stampeders in the regular season finale on Oct. 26 in Regina.

–Field Level Media