Roughriders win crucial game over Eskimos

What a difference a week makes. 

After losing a nail-biting game to the Edmonton Eskimos last Saturday, the Saskatchewan Roughriders rebounded to beat their CFL West rivals in another close affair Saturday in front of a record crowd of 62,517 in Edmonton.

Steve Jyles ran one yard for a touchdown in the fourth quarter and Saskatchewan quarterback Darian Durant completed a two-point convert to Andy Fantuz to put the Roughriders ahead 23-20, a lead they never relinquished.

"It's a big win on the road," said Durant. "It's a big western win and it keeps us in first place. We want to finish the season in first place and to do that we need to take care of the games that we need to win to control our own path. We definitely didn't want to lose all three to Edmonton this year."

The win puts the Roughriders (7-5) in a tie atop the ultra-tight West Division with the Calgary Stampeders, who beat the B.C. Lions 27-18 on Friday.

Saskatchewan head coach Ken Miller admitted the game was far from perfect, but his team will take it.

"There were a lot of mistakes," said Miller. "The weather was a big factor in some of the errors. There is some room for improvement off of that game. But it's a big win for us. It keeps us in first place. It keeps us away from the pack at second place or worse."

The win comes despite the Eskimos (6-6) defence giving Durant all kinds of trouble, sacking the North Carolina product five times and intercepting him on three occasions.

"It just wasn't meant to be today," said Eskimos head coach Richie Hall. "We battled but we just didn't make enough plays.

"Saskatchewan did a good job out there and in many ways I thought we did too, but we just didn't make enough plays to win the football game. It was an opportunity that slipped away on us."

"We made a lot of plays on defence and did a lot of things well today," added defensive back T.J. Hill, who had a sack and two interceptions, one of which went back for a touchdown. "Stats don't mean anything when you lose, though. They made the big plays when they needed to and we didn't."

Early troubles

Durant's troubles began early with an interception to Hill, who returned the pick 59 yards for the major and an early 7-0 lead. 

Saskatchewan looked to have tied it up four minutes later, but an illegal formation penalty erased a 14-yard TD pass to Fantuz and the Riders were forced to settle for a 26-yard Luca Congi field goal.

Edmonton conceded a safety shortly after and the Riders were looking for more points late in the first, but the Eskimos came up with another big pick as Bradley Robinson's interception on the Edmonton nine kept it 7-5.

Robinson replaced Lenny Williams after the defensive back hyperextended his knee.

Saskatchewan took the lead with two minutes to go in the second after seemingly putting itself out of a position to get points. A pair of sacks, followed by two ill-timed penalties, took the 'Riders out of field-goal range, but the subsequent punt slipped through Robinson's fingers where Saskatchewan's Renauld Williams was able to fall on it in the end zone to put the Riders ahead 12-10 at the half.

"That was an unusual play," Miller said. "It was really an example of our team taking advantage of an opportunity. That was a very big play for us."

After the teams exchanged field goals, Edmonton took the lead 1:05 into the final frame as Arkee Whitlock found a seam in the middle and blazed 55 yards for the touchdown and a five-point Eskimos lead.

The see-saw scoring continued with 10 minutes left in the game as the Riders capped off a long drive with a one-yard plunge by backup QB Jyles. Durant came back in to toss a two-point convert to Fantuz and send the hordes of visiting Rider fans home happy.

Both teams return to action next Friday as the Eskimos travel to Winnipeg and the Riders are in B.C.