Riders send Lions to 6th straight loss

Wally Buono, the all-time leader in coaching victories in the Canadian Football League, will probably spend his team's bye week wondering when he might record No. 237.

Buono's B.C. Lions, hoping to receive a much-needed boost by the return of quarterback Jarious Jackson from injury, suffered their sixth loss in a row Thursday night, 37-13 to the hometown Saskatchewan Roughriders in the CFL Hall of Fame game.

Jackson, though, felt pressure from the outset — literally — from the Roughriders defence and received little support from his offensive line.

The Lions' third starter of the season took over from rookie Travis Lulay, who was ineffective in three starts in place of injured No. 1 signal caller Casey Printers. Jackson, who had off-season shoulder surgery, struggled to get into a rhythm and completed only 18 of 31 passes for 192 yards and two interceptions.

Having allowed the most points in the CFL so far this season (196), the Riders smothered B.C.'s anaemic offence, despite often rushing only three or four players.

Linebacker Jerrell Freeman led Saskatchewan's attack, sacking Jackson three times while Mike McCullough and Barrin Simpson added singles. The Roughriders lead the CFL in takedowns with 19, one more than the Lions.

"We've been trying to execute and do everything we can all week," said Freeman. "I guess everything started clicking and hopefully it can continue."

Harassed by teammates

Freeman was harassed by teammates leading up to the game for not having a sack this season.

"I think he had his best game as a [Roughrider]," said Saskatchewan head coach Ken Miller. "He was special on special teams and he was just as present on the defence as well."

At 5-2, including a 4-0 mark at home, Saskatchewan moved into a share of first place in the West Division with the 5-1 Calgary Stampeders.

Printers is expected to return for B.C.'s next game against Calgary on Aug. 27. After that, the Lions — who have scored a league-low 135 points this season — face two other teams with winning records in the defending Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes (5-1) and Toronto (4-2).

The quarterback position has hardly been a concern in Regina this year as Darian Durant entered Thursday's contest with the most passing yards in the CFL this season at 2,040.

But the fifth-year CFLer, who has already battled food poisoning and a bruised thumb this season, didn't need to launch an aerial attack on this night.

Touchdown leader

Durant had touchdown runs of 10 and seven yards and rushed for 67 yards on nine carries. Running back Wes Cates added 61 yards on the ground and ran for two majors to give him a CFL-leading eight this season.

"It was good play-calling and just execution," said Cates. "We knew we needed to go in and get sevens after we had a couple weeks of too many field goals. We wanted to go out and get sevens this week and we did that."

Durant did pass for one touchdown, connecting with Chris Getzlaf for a 30-yard pass-and-run to complete an 89-yard scoring drive. He connected on 18 of 27 pass attempts for 223 yards and two interceptions.

The Roughriders defence was largely responsible for the team's first score. Defensive back Lance Frazier intercepted Jackson and returned the ball to the B.C. three-yard line to set up Cates's first touchdown to make it 7-3 for the Riders.

The Lions closed to within 7-6 on Paul McCallum's second field goal of the night after Jackson failed to find the end zone from inside the 20-yard line.

Durant made it an eight-point game on a 10-yard quarterback draw before Cates scored his second major of the game to give Saskatchewan a 21-6 advantage at the half.

Yonus Davis, who rushed for 84 yards, cut the lead to 21-13 with a 51-yard scamper 2:09 into the third quarter.

But the Riders scored 16 unanswered points to cement their second win of the season over B.C. On July 10, they notched 17 fourth-quarter points on the way to a 37-18 triumph at Empire Field.

"We wanted to bounce back after that loss last week [at Montreal] and we did that," said Cates. "We just wanted to come out and get the win and we did that pretty convincingly. We have a lot be proud about and just gives us some things to smile about on our way home to see our family and go on vacation."