Saskatchewan Roughriders chop Redblacks with second-half buzzsaw (& other thoughts)

Photo courtesy: Saskatchewan Roughriders/Electric Umbrella/Liam Richards.

It took the Saskatchewan Roughriders a while, but the Green and White took the Ottawa Redblacks to the woodshed at Mosaic Stadium in Week 10.

The Riders avoided becoming the first team to lose to Ottawa in 2026, dominating the fourth quarter on the way to a 42-20 win. The Redblacks dropped to 0-8, and the Roughriders improved to 6-2.

Long snapper drama

With less than two minutes and 30 seconds left in the first quarter and Saskatchewan leading 3-0, Canadian linebacker Nick Wiebe came free off the line and blocked Noah Gettman’s punt. American rookie linebacker David Gbenda eventually secured the football and scored a touchdown. However, there was a penalty flag thrown on the play.

Third-year defensive lineman Devin Adams drew an unnecessary roughness infraction for running over Redblacks’ long snapper Peter Adjey after he snapped the football. Adjey needed attention from athletic trainers; the cart came out on the field, but he walked off under his own power to the locker room with an air cast on his left arm.

Head coach Corey Mace was visibly upset on the Roughriders’ sideline.

“There’s a rule on special teams with long snappers; they gotta be able to snap the ball, get their head up and be able to accept a block, essentially. They felt that our guy attacked him before he got his head up, which we were disputing,” Mace said on the 620 CKRM Rider broadcast network post-game show.

“Ultimately, that was the call. They looked at it because it was a scoring play, because we ended up recovering it, and they called it a touchdown. The replay booth said that they took an extra long look at it, and they deemed that it was a penalty. Unfortunate; at the time, we didn’t see it as that. We’ll look at the tape; we gotta coach to be better off it, if that wasn’t up to standard. It sucks; these guys work so hard to make a play like that. The guy got injured as well, so that’s also unfortunate. We gotta play it clean.”

According to the 2026 CFL rulebook, “delivering an unnecessary blow to the long snapper while they are in a vulnerable position and unable to protect them self” can result in a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty.

Even though it seemed as though Mace wanted to challenge, he was not allowed to do so. Following the penalty, Ottawa drove the football the other way for a touchdown, which gave the Redblacks a 6-3 lead.

Near misses

Two key plays stuck out in the second quarter; both could have turned the game even more in the visiting team’s favour.

First, on third-and-four, Jake Maier spotted American rookie receiver Cade McDonald open running a corner route on the left-hand side of the field, but his pass came up short. If Maier made a better throw, McDonald might have scored, or at the least set Ottawa up inside the five-yard line. The incompletion led to the Redblacks coming away with no points on the drive.

Second, Trevor Harris released a throw he wished was on a string to pull back. It was second-and-six from the seven-yard line; Dhel Duncan-Busby ran a whip route from a trips formation on the right-hand side. Harris let the football go late, and American rookie defensive back Shadwel Nkuba II undercut the route, but he could not haul in a would-be pick-six. That play was arguably a 10-point swing as Alex Hale kicked a 15-yard field goal, but Ottawa could have scored a major and taken a 13-3 advantage. Instead, the game was tied at six.

Healthy No. 3

Entering Week 10, the Roughriders’ big three — KeeSean Johnson, Kian Schaffer-Baker and Samuel Emilus — accounted for 1,733 of Saskatchewan’s 2,254 passing yards in 2026, 77 percent.

With Schaffer-Baker and Emilus placed on the six-game injured list, Johnson saw a single-game season-high 14 targets, which he turned into 11 receptions for 133 yards plus one touchdown. That marks his fourth 100-yard game in 2026 in eight outings.

Johnson added a two-point conversion catch as well.

However, two balls went through the 29-year-old’s hands, and he admitted those need to be cleaned up. The six-foot-one, 201-pound target told the 620 CKRM post-game show both were lack-of-concentration drops.

The 29-year-old has 81 targets, 57 receptions, 714 yards, and six touchdowns. In two regular season games versus Ottawa in 2026, he has registered 20 catches for 270 yards plus two majors.

Another Canadian receiver flashes upside

General manager Jeremy O’Day and his football operations staff have selected receivers all over the CFL Draft board.

Since 2020, Saskatchewan has picked one receiver in each round during the CFL Draft, one through eight: Kian Schaffer-Baker (2020 fourth round, 30th overall), Samuel Emilus (2022 first round, seventh overall), Dhel Duncan-Busby (2024 third round, 23rd overall), D’Sean Mimbs (2024 sixth round, 50th overall), Ajou Ajou (2024 seventh round, 59th overall), Daniel Wiebe (2025 eighth round, 69th overall), and Dylan Djete (2026 second round, 18th overall).

Djete was listed as the Riders starter at X, the wideout into the boundary, which is rare for a Canadian. He looked spry in his first career CFL start with the Green and White. The 22-year-old caught an in-breaking route on a great timing throw from Harris, broke a tackle and burst into the end zone to score his first professional football touchdown from 18 yards out.

Djete finished with four receptions for 53 yards with one major.

Defensive back on the board

Put your hand up if you had Jonathan Edouard recording Saskatchewan’s first interception by a defensive back in 2026. No one? Thought so.

Not Tevaughn Campbell, who tied for the league lead with six interceptions last year. Not Rolan Milligan Jr., who won Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 2024. Not veteran Marcus Sayles, who has a penchant for getting his hands on the football. Instead, it was Edouard who was signed after the team’s first regular-season game.

The 30-year-old Carleton University product has become a key contributor in the secondary with Milligan Jr. possibly suffering a season-ending injury. He produced five defensive tackles and one special teams stop to go along with his INT.

Tommy Stevens touchdowns — and doughnuts — keep coming

When Tommy Stevens imitates Stone Cold Steve Austin, you know it was a fun game at Mosaic Stadium.

Following his second touchdown against Ottawa, the six-foot-four, 245-pound QB grabbed two water bottles, stood up on the bench facing the crowd, smashed them together and poured them in his mouth like the former WWE star used to do with one beer in each hand.

Stevens put the finishing touchdown on the blowout over the Redblacks. That was his 41st career CFL touchdown since entering the three-down league, the most by any player in that span.

Shoutout to ace CFL statistician Steve Daniel for confirming my observation.

Stevens — cue the Stone Cold music — continues to break the plane of the end zone for Saskatchewan. He led the Riders with nine carries for 45 yards while scoring three touchdowns for a second week in a row.

TH7 40K

Harris completed 30-of-38 passes for 401 yards with two touchdowns and one interception against Ottawa. There were some notable completions and drives, including four straight possessions ending with touchdowns to end the game, which was impressive.

In the process, Harris became the 12th player in CFL history to cross the 40,000 passing yards mark. He did so with a hitch route completion to D’Sean Mimbs for 23 yards on second-and-12 midway through the first quarter.

Harris (40,352) continues to climb the three-down league’s all-time passing yardage list. Tracy Ham (40,534) is in his crosshairs.

Knockout blow

Canadian defensive lineman Liam Hoskins provided the TKO shot at the end of the fourth quarter. He beat Ottawa left tackle Dino Boyd around the corner and kept hustling. The University of Windsor product blasted McLeod Bethel-Thompson, causing a fumble which was recovered by fellow national Benoit Marion.

Conley concern

Quali Conley carried the football one time for three yards in the second half, after recording five for 20 in the first half.

“He’s a little dinged up. Something honestly that we were looking at from last game. We felt confident that he’d be able to get through,” Mace said post-game.

“Ultimately, was bugging him a little bit, but we got so much trust in Thomas (Bertrand-Hudon) as well. He should’ve scored; Tommy’s happy — I swear Tommy’s paying these guys.”

Thomas Bertrand-Hudon posted seven carries for a team-high 63 yards. However, Conley’s status is worth monitoring as he’s been a revelation for the Roughriders.