The Saskatchewan Roughriders fell to the Stampeders 27-12 in their final game of the regular season

The Calgary Stampeders picked up their first road win of the season on Saturday, defeating the Saskatchewan Roughriders 27-12 in the final game of the season.

The Stampeders, who finished the CFL season in last place in the West Division with a 5-12-1 record, added some salt to an already disappointing day for Saskatchewan.

“I just didn’t feel like we had enough tonight and it showed,” head coach Corey Mays said after the game. “It’s a negative today, to be honest, because we really wanted this game. But me and everyone else, we have a lot to work on tomorrow.”

The Riders entered the game with an outside chance to finish first in the West. Saskatchewan needed the Montreal Alouettes to defeat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the first game of the day, which would have given the Raiders a chance to move into first place by beating the Stampeders.

Winnipeg beat Montreal 28-27 to claim first place. The Bombers will host the West Division final on Nov. 9, while the 9-8-1 Riders will host the BC Lions on Nov. 2 in the West Semi-Final. Winnipeg’s match was broadcast on the big screen at Mosaic Stadium before kick-off.

“To be honest, I was on the field, sat on the bench and just watched our specialists kicking (during the warm-up). So the fans let me know the reaction to what happened,” Mays shared. .

After the win in Winnipeg, the Raiders made a number of roster changes, removing wide receiver Roland Milligan, running back AJ Ouellette and receivers Key Sean Johnson and Samuel Emilus. They also decided to start Shea Patterson at guard over veteran center Trevor Harris.

“We thought about it during the week and mentioned it to the guys at the end of the week, potential lineup changes in situations and scenarios,” Mays said. “The timing was really good for us to warm up well and everyone understood the situation, so we had no excuses tonight.”

Patterson played most of the first half and struggled, completing just six of 13 passes for 62 yards. The Raiders were held to 104 yards of total offense in the first half. Rookie Jack Coan replaced Patterson on the final possession of the first half and played the rest of the contest for the Raiders.

“It was definitely tough emotionally because you come into the day knowing that maybe you’re going to play and of course it came down to the last second. But it was bittersweet because we would have liked to have a first-round bye, but again, I got to play,” Coan told reporters.

Coan finished the night 10 for 21 for 100 yards, including one touchdown pass to Jeret Stearns.

“It’s been a while since I’ve gotten live game action, not counting the preseason. But it was fun to go back there.”

Calgary quarterback Jake Meyer got off to a slow start, completing just one of his first seven passes. He got into the game late in the first quarter, connecting with Clark Barnes on touchdown passes of 40 and 33 yards, respectively. Barnes’ second reception resulted in a touchdown and the Stampeders led 7-3.

The Stampeders extended their lead to 14-3 midway through the third quarter when Meyer hit Cam Echols on a nine-yard touchdown reception.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Marken Michel caught a 67-yard pass from Meyer to make it 24-6.

Coan scored his first CFL touchdown in the fourth quarter, hitting Jeret Stearns on a 19-yard pass. A failed two-point conversion left the score 24-12.

Meyer completed 19 of 26 passes for 293 yards and three touchdowns. Dedrick Mills had 128 yards on 20 carries for the Stampeders.

Rene Paredes had two field goals for the Stampeders and Brett Lauter had two field goals for the Raiders.

Demerio Houston, Julian Housare and Justin Samba each had a sack for Calgary. Jayden Dalk and Benoit Marion had sacks for Saskatchewan.

The Raiders will return to the field on Tuesday to prepare for their West semifinal matchup against BC, and the team is already excited for the challenge.

“I think, of course, there is a desire for this. We have a lot of work to do,” Mace shared.

“We’re focused on moving completely away from what we have now. But at the end of the day, this is football. We’re hitting the ball, we’ve got a job to do and we didn’t do it tonight, so that’s the disappointing part. “

-With files from The Canadian Press