ROUGHRIDERS DOWN TICATS
BRIDGE THROWS THREE TD PASSES IN SECOND START
Bridge first Canadian QB to pass for three TDs since Greg Vavra in 1984
Brandon Bridge made the best of a rare start. Bridge became the first Canadian quarterback in more than 30 years to throw three touchdown passes in a game as the Saskatchewan Roughriders defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 27-19 at Tim Hortons Field in CFL action Friday night.
“It feels pretty good,” said the 25-year-old from Mississauga, Ont. who was making just his second career start. “Obviously, it’s been such a long time ... I’m trying to just open up doors for the younger generation who actually (are) Canadian and want to play quarterback.”
Greg Vavra was the last Canadian pivot to throw for three TDs, back in 1984 for Calgary.
Bridge completed 21-of-31 pass attempts for 231 yards, three TDs and one fumble.
The Riders were up 27-10 in the third quarter, but the offence began to stall down the stretch, which allowed Hamilton to claw their way back to the point where they could have tied the game with time expired.
“It means a lot,” Bridge said about notching his first win as a starter. “Obviously, the ending is not how we’d like it, but we definitely liked how the outcome was. We were up by 17 points at one time and we definitely made it harder on ourselves.
“Obviously, it’s definitely on me. We gotta learn how to finish. I gotta learn how to play down the stretch and keep at a high level even if the game is tight or not.”
Bridge, who played college ball for South Alabama, got his first CFL start in 2015 when he was with Montreal (a loss against Saskatchewan). He is now in his third CFL season and second with Saskatchewan.
He took over for Kevin Glenn last week against Winnipeg when the veteran pivot injured his hand late in the third quarter. Glenn’s status against Hamilton was a game-time decision even though he hadn’t practised all week and Bridge had taken firstteam reps.
Saskatchewan head coach Chris Jones was having none of the negative talk when asked about the faltering offence down the stretch.
“It wasn’t slipping away,” he said. “We were two scores up. We couldn’t stay on the field. We won the ball game. We won the ball game, just for your information y’all. We won the football game.
“It was a tight, tough game playing with a backup quarterback and playing with nine guys injured. So we won the game. On the road. On the short week. So, we’re a good football team. So don’t get it twisted.”
Saskatchewan improved to 6-5 and temporarily ties B.C. for fourth in the CFL West and a possible playoff crossover spot. The Riders also hold a game in hand.
Hamilton fell to 2-9, last in the East Division.
Devon Bailey, Bakari Grant, and Naaman Roosevelt scored for the Riders, who lost their top receiver Duron Carter early in the game to an ankle injury. Jalen Saunders scored for Hamilton.
Hamilton quarterback Jeremiah Masoli completed 29of-49 pass attempts for 328 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions — both to Rider