Roughriders pull away from Tiger-Cats

The Saskatchewan Roughriders took control in the third quarter on Saturday at Mosaic Stadium to down the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 37-24.

Saskatchewan (4-1) was in the red zone often, but could only manage a pair of short Wes Cates touchdown runs. Luca Congi made all seven of his field goal attempts, but the longest was 42 yards, reflecting the fact the Riders could have put several more points on the board.

The Riders outscored Hamilton 13-0 in the third, and have now beaten the Ticats in nine of their last 10 meetings.

The win followed Saskatchewan's first loss of the season, a 40-20 road defeat at the hands of the Calgary Stampeders.

"We made steps," said Saskatchewan head coach Ken Miller.

"Some of the steps seem to be like baby steps instead of giant steps, but we got better on [special] teams and we got more consistency out of our offence and defence."

Hamilton (1-4) once again couldn't put together a complete 60-minute game. The Ticats were ahead by a touchdown in the second quarter, but have been outscored 93-55 in the second half of games this season.

Hamilton quarterback Kevin Glenn threw two touchdown passes to Arland Bruce and one to Dave Stalla, with Bruce tying a CFL single-game record with 16 receptions. Over the years, only Terry Greer, Brian Wiggins, and Derrell Mitchell have caught 16 in a game.

Bruce accounted for 272 of Glenn's 425 passing yards. Glenn was intercepted twice, but both of those went off his receivers' hands.

"We had two turnovers and two interceptions but we got ripped apart by Arland Bruce," said Saskatchewan's Frazier. "The secondary members … they've got to get better."

For the second straight week, Hamilton's Justin Palardy had a punt blocked, with Neal Hughes of the Riders crashing through on the third-quarter play.

Hamilton's lowest rated rushing attack managed 67 yards, a total unlikely to help the club win many games.

The first quarter has been Hamilton's best by far through four games, and that held to form at Mosaic.

Glenn hooked up with Bruce three times for 52 yards on a drive that ended in a touchdown, with the receiver getting into the end zone on a nice second effort.

"[The fans] was talking bad about me so … it was actually giving me energy," Bruce said. "[The record] was a great feeling but I wish we would have won today."

The Ticats limited the Riders to just four points in the first quarter, but on the final play of the stanza Maurice Mann couldn't hang on to a Glenn pass, with Luc Mullinder of the Riders swooping in for an athletic interception.

The turnover led to Congi's second field goal and a 7-7 tie.

Glenn marched the Ticats 75 yards for another major. Glenn completions to Bruce and Marquay McDaniel set up an 11-yard Stalla touchdown reception.

The Riders looked like they would respond in kind, spurred by a 30-yard kickoff return from Dominique Dorsey. But Durant was picked off in the Hamilton end zone by Hamilton's Jamall Johnson.

The Riders would get another three from Congi before the half, with the Ticats leading 14-13 at the break.

Durant shook off a pass that should have been intercepted on the first possession of the third quarter to lead the home side to their first touchdown.

Cates punched it in from the one-yard play just after Andy Fantuz made a 35-yard catch with Jason Shivers draped all over him. Cates now has 466 rushing yards this season, just 18 off the CFL lead held by Cory Boyd of Toronto.

Hamilton was extremely fortunate Saskatchewan could only add two more Congi field goals on a pair of big turnovers.

Palardy, who also had one blocked against Montreal, saw his punt attempt eventually land in the hands of Saskatchewan's Jerrell Freeman.

Glenn saw another catchable pass deflected to a Saskatchewan defender on the other Hamilton miscue. Veteran Lance Frazier returned the pass 83 yards to the Hamilton two-yard line.

Durant nearly fumbled away the ball but the Riders held on for another three points.

Hamilton could only muster a Sandro DeAngelis field goal through the first 25 minutes of the second half, and the Riders all but ensured the win with a second Cates touchdown with just under four minutes left in the fourth.

Cates has five rushing touchdowns on the season.

Bruce tore through the Saskatchewan defence like a man possessed to help Hamilton reply with a TD with just over two minutes left, but an onside kick attempt was recovered by the Riders.

Saskatchewan has won seven straight home games, dating back to a Sept. 20, 2009, loss against the Edmonton Eskimos.

Durant completed 21 of 35 passes for 270 yards. He has just 11 fewer passing yards than CFL leader Anthony Calvillo of Montreal.

Durant and Calvillo will go head-to-head in Regina on Friday, while Hamilton plays in Winnipeg on Aug. 7.