REGINA — The Saskatchewan Roughriders won the CFL's first game of the 2025 season, but it was a costly 31-26 victory over the Ottawa Redblacks on Thursday.
The Roughriders lost four starters to injury, including three in the first 17 minutes.
Receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker appeared to injure his left ankle, tailback A.J. Ouellette suffered a suspected head injury and defensive back Rolan Milligan left the game with an apparent neck injury.
Offensive lineman Payton Collins was injured in the third quarter of his CFL debut when an Ottawa player rolled up the back of his right leg. None of the four injured 'Riders returned to the game.
The Roughriders dealt with injury issues last season and focused on a next-man-up mentality. Thursday’s game took that to another level, and one that head coach Corey Mace expects from his players.
“The next-man-up mentality, that certainly that has been our experience in the past, but the expectation is you’ve got to get the job done," Mace said.
"You're on this team; you're a professional athlete. We're not going to change too much stuff up just because somebody else is in there. If you're on the active roster, things keep rolling. I’m extremely proud of the guys who had to step up and double duty, because a lot of those guys also are on special teams, having to suck wind in Week 1."
Saskatchewan took a 31-17 lead into the fourth quarter, but the Redblacks, behind the impressive play of quarterback Dru Brown, cut the deficit to 31-26 with four minutes left in the game.
Brown, who completed 34 of 41 passes for 413 yards with two touchdowns, had the Redblacks on their own 41-yard-line with 1:11 left to play.
After an incompletion, Brown was sacked for a 16-yard loss by Saskatchewan’s Malik Carney. Facing a third-and-26 situation, Brown connected with William Stanback on a 14-yard completion that turned the ball over on downs.
“It sucks to lose," Brown lamented. "I wish it was different but at the end of the day, it’s one game. It’s a game we felt we could’ve won. Great teams still thrive in this type of environment and there were some encouraging things going on.
"We’re on our way, we’re not there yet but we’ll get there."
When Ouellette went down, Thomas Bertrand-Hudon stepped into the void and rushed for 57 yards and one touchdown on 14 carries. He also gained 17 yards and one touchdown on two receptions.
Betrand-Hudon benefited from the blocking of Samuel Emilus on his rushing touchdown, which gave the Riders a 31-14 lead.
“He blocked his tail off the entire game, and he helped me out score a couple of times, so I’ve got to give props to him. He actually swung me into (the end zone),” said Bertrand-Hudon.
It was the second two-touchdown game of Betrand-Hudon’s CFL career. He scored twice in a 33-26 loss to the B.C. Lions on Sept. 29, 2023, during his rookie season.
Despite some big offensive numbers by Ottawa — Brown's 413 passing yards and Justin Hardy and Bralon Addison with 133 and 112 receiving yards respectively — Mace felt Saskatchewan's defence answered the bell when it mattered.
“This is what I do understand about this defence, and it has been this way since even I played — I don't care how many yards, just tell me if it's a W or an L," the coach stated.
"As far as the defence being able to stand up when we needed it, to make a big play, yeah, they made them when we needed them."
Roughriders starting quarterback Trevor Harris also wasn’t concerned about how the victory looked.
“It's early in the season and we've got to understand that these are full 60-minute football games," Harris said. "It's tough to win in this league.
"Our defence stepped up, our specials did a great job. We’re going to be all right. We’re going to be a different team when it comes to Week 15 and playoff time and Labour Day.
"We're going to be improved from where we are right now. But make no mistake, these wins matter at the end of the year, so a win is a win."
Ottawa scored a touchdown on their first possession of the season. The Redblacks drove 87 yards on 10 plays with backup quarterback Dustin Crum reaching the end zone on a one-yard sneak. Brown was seven-for-seven passing for 84 yards on the drive.
Harris completed 19 of 26 pass attempts for 277 yards and two touchdown throws in the game.
His backup Tommy Stevens scored on a one-yard run 13 seconds into the second quarter and Emilus hauled in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Harris seven minutes later to increase Saskatchewan’s lead to 14-7.
A 17-yard field goal by Brett Lauther with 17 seconds left in the quarter gave the 'Riders a 17-7 halftime lead.
Emilus had an impressive first half with six receptions for 106 yards and one touchdown. He finished the game with eight catches for 133 yards.
Geno Lewis, on an eight-yard reception, and Stanback, on a two-yard run, also scored second-half touchdowns for the Redblacks.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025.
Jeff DeDekker, The Canadian Press
