Willy, Sheets combine to lead Roughriders to 32-20 road victory over Ticats

GUELPH, Ont. – Backup Drew Willy threw three first-half touchdown passes while CFL rushing leader Kory Grant had a record fifth straight 100-yard game as the Saskatchewan Roughriders beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 32-20 on Saturday night to remain the CFL’s only unbeaten team.

Willy made just his second career CFL start and first this season with incumbent Darian Durant nursing a foot injury. But the sophomore quarterback was 14-of-25 passing for 269 yards before an Alumni Stadium gathering of 13,002 that endured intermittent rain but nowhere near the deluge that fell during Edmonton’s 30-20 win in Hamilton’s home debut here July 7.

The Riders (5-0) also got a timely defensive stop as Hamilton quarterback Henry Burris was halted on third-and-goal from their one-yard line early in the fourth to protect a 32-20 advantage. Then Willy marched Saskatchewan 62 yards on 11 plays, taking 6:01 off the clock before the Ticats regained possession at their 15-yard line with 3:39 remaining.

Saskatchewan swept the home-and-home series with Hamilton (1-4) following Sunday’s 37-0 victory at Mosaic Stadium. The Riders improved to 8-2 in their last 10 road games versus the Ticats.

The loss of Durant could have been huge for Saskatchewan. With him, the Riders led the league in scoring (37.8 points per game), total offensive yards (423) and rushing yards (168) and were third in passing (267).

Durant also had a league-best 12 TD passes without an interception as Saskatchewan won its opening four games by an average of 21 points. He threw for 347 yards and four TDs on Sunday and was named the league’s offensive player of the week.

But his injured right foot began to swell afterwards, prompting Durant to revert back to a walking boot. Durant originally hurt the foot in a July 11 road win over Toronto. He shed the boot and practised on a limited basis later in the week but was deemed a game-time decision.

However, with Durant sidelined, Sheets stepped up. The CFL’s rushing leader had a record fifth straight 100-yard game with 138 unofficially that would boost his total to 710. That would be the most yards through five games to start a season, surpassing the mark of 646 yards set in 1975 by Calgary’s Willie Burden.

Sheets ran for 130 yards against Hamilton last week.

Weston Dressler, Chris Getzlaf and Geroy Simon scored Saskatchewan’s touchdowns. Chris Milo kicked the converts and three field goals with the other points coming on a safety.

Greg Ellingson and Lindsey Lamar had Hamilton’s touchdowns. Luca Congi booted the converts and two field goals.

Willy’s three second-quarter TD passes rallied Saskatchewan to a 26-17 half-time lead. After hitting Simon on a 30-yard strike at 3:32 of the second, Willy found Getzlaf from 18 yards out at 10:24 to put the Riders ahead 19-17. He capped a 59-yard drive with a 24-yard touchdown pass at 12:52 to Dressler to give the West Division leaders their nine-point advantage.

Willy finished the first half 10-of-14 passing for 184 yards while Burris was 9-of-16 for 203 yards.
Hamilton led 10-0 before the game was seven minutes old. Congi’s 15-yard field goal capped the club’s opening possession at 3:23 before Burris’s 17-yard strike to Lamar at 6:46. Milo’s 17-yard field goal at 13:12 cut the Ticats’ advantage to 10-3.

NOTES — Linebacker Brandon Isaac, making his Hamilton debut, had an early sack but left later in the first half with a groin injury . . . Simon extended his consecutive games with a catch streak to 175 with his first-half TD grab . . . Riders offensive co-ordinator George Cortez was Hamilton’s head coach last season . . . A historic night for Burris. His 51-yard completion to Bakari Grant in the first moved him past former Ticats coach Ron Lancaster (3,384) into fifth in all-time regular-season completions. Burris’s touchdown toss to Lamar was the 307th of his career, moving him past Matt Dunigan into fourth all-time. Burris is also on pace to surpass the 50,000-yard plateau this season and become only the fifth player to do so.