Arthur Ward/CFL.ca
SASKATCHEWAN – The Saskatchewan Roughriders notched a win to remember on OK Tire Labour Day Weekend.
Giving up a late lead and forcing overtime, the Riders scored on their first drive of overtime as Jake Dolegala threw for over 300 yards in just his third career start.
But the Winnipeg Blue Bombers responded immediately, and it all came down to the Riders’ defence getting a stop on the two-point conversion.
In front of a sold-out crowd at Mosaic Stadium, the Riders did just that.
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“It’s joy, obviously going into overtime on a Labour Day classic, you can’t dream it up any better,” Dolegala told TSN’s Brit Dort after the win.
“We played a hell of a team today, they fought us tough, but we came out on top.”
The Riders led the Bombers all game, leading by as many as nine points as they held the West Division leaders to just 14 points through three quarters, but a monster fourth quarter from Zach Collaros saw the Bombers grab their first lead of the game late in the fourth quarter.
Saskatchewan stayed collected, and a solid drive from Dolegala put Brett Lauther in perfect position to put one through the uprights to send the game to overtime, and the Riders got the chance to strike first.
“We just stayed grounded, we knew we had it in us, make the plays when we need to and got the job done,” said Dolegala.
While the Riders pulled off the upset and held off the comeback attempt at the top team in their division, they will have to re-tool for Week 14 as they will face off against the Bombers again, this time in Winnipeg’s house.
For now, while the next week and next potential win are certainly on Dolegala’s mind, taking in his second career win for a second is first on the agenda.
“I expect the same thing, just a battle for 60 minutes,” said Dolegala. “But holy crap – I’m gonna go celebrate this one.”
