The Fifth Quarter

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/09/2009 (5860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

GAME BALLS:

OFFENCE

Saskatchewan’s Darian Durant put together a creative and

effective performance as he guided his club to an easy

win. The final line of 18-for-36 with one interception, one

touchdown and 225 yards wasn’t spectacular, but he made

few mistakes and extended drives with the right play at the

right time.

DEFENCE

Riders linebacker Sean Lucas had an afternoon to remember

with four tackles, a sack and an interception. Maybe

the Bombers offence is bad, but the Riders defensive dozen

kept them on the floor two weeks in a row.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Riders kicker Luca Congi was a human slot machine, ringing

up points all afternoon. Congi was a perfect 6-for-6

on field goals with a long of 40 yards and finished with 23

points.

CRITICAL NUMBER:

4

The Bombers turned the ball over four consecutive times,

on a failed fake punt, a Michael Bishop interception, an

Yvenson Bernard fumble and then an Adarius Bowman

fumble, in a disastrous second quarter. Winnipeg’s pathetic

play had the folks in the press box arguing if it was the

worst quarter of football to date this season. The Riders, to

their credit, took full advantage, scoring 18 points on those

transactions to turn a 7-7 tie into a 26-7 rout by the half.

FAN-O-METER:

QB Michael Bishop started the game hitting only one of his

first five passes and late in the first quarter, the boo-birds

said hello for the first time. Fred Reid won the house back,

however, with his 35-yard touchdown scamper late in the

opener that had the Bomber faithful shaking the stadium.

That noise didn’t last and by half-time the East side of the

stadium was a sea of empty blue seats while the tarmac

surrounding the end zone rum hut was bumper to bumper.

And it stayed that way the rest of the afternoon. Theory —

high rum sales equals Bombers loss.

SCORING SUMMARY:

Winnipeg 7 0 0 3 — 10

Saskatchewan 7 19 16 13 — 55

FIRST QUARTER

Sask — TD Cates, 10 pass from Calvillo (Congi convert)

9:56

Wpg — TD Reid, 35 yard run (Serna convert) 14:20

SECOND QUARTER

Sask — Boreham, 55 yard punt single 2:54

Sask — FG Congi 40 6:50

Sask — TD Durant, 10-yard run (Congi convert) 8:19

Sask — Boreham, 76-yard kickoff single

Sask — TD Cates, 4-yard run (Congi convert) 10:39

THIRD QUARTER

Sask — FG Congi 34 3:33

Sask — FG Congi 40 5:50

Sask — TD Fantuz, 34 pass from Armstead (Congi convert)

9:15

Sask — FG Congi 8 13:43

FOURTH QUARTER

Wpg — FG Serna 48 4:00

Sask — FG Congi 32 7:41

Sask — TD Cates, one-yard run (Congi convert) 8:50

Sask — FG Congi 29 13:06

"ö Attendance — 29,533

INDIVIDUAL STATS

"ö Rushing: Sask — Cates 12-83, Foord 7-45, Durant 3-24,

Szarka 4-19, Dressler 1-1; Wpg — Reid 11-72, Bernard 2-31,

Bishop 1-4, Ralph 1-(minus-1).

"ö Receiving: Sask — Walker 6-85, Bagg 3-79, Fantuz 2-64,

Dressler 4-50, Cates 3-18, Foord 3-8, Durant

1-(minus-6); Wpg — Bowman 3-52, Bryant

2-27, Edwards 2-12, Hargreaves 1-10, Reid

1-10, Bernard 1-9, Ralph 1-4.

"ö Passing: Sask — Durant 18-36, 225 yards,

1 TD, 1 int, Jyles 3-3-39-0-0, Armstead 1-1-

34-0-0; Wpg — Bishop 9-21-98-0-2, Randall

2-9-26-0-2.

Gary Lawless