The Saskatchewan Roughriders are staying west for the playoffs after defeating the Edmonton Elks 16-9 to round out the regular season. Having secured their playoff position with a win over Montreal last week, Saskatchewan needed a win to clinch the third seed in the CFL’s West Division – a loss would have seen the Riders cross over to the East. Saturday’s victory means Saskatchewan readies for a rematch of last year’s West Division final with the B.C. Lions in this season’s semi-final. In a battle of back-up quarterbacks between the Riders’ Jack Coan and the Elks’ Taylor Powell, it was Edmonton’s pivot who impressed early – jumping the Elks out to an early 6-0 lead after the very first possession of the game. In his first career CFL start, it took Coan a few drives to find his footing under centre. The 27-year-old led his first scoring drive in the second quarter on a 62-yard march down the field, which ended in a Brett Lauther field goal. On the Riders’ ensuing drive, Coan threw the first interception of his career on a ball deflected off a defender. Saskatchewan bounced back with the defence forcing a turnover on downs on Edmonton’s following possession. Aided by Elks’ penalties, Coan and the Riders went 67 yards down the field – 62 of them due to penalty yardage – before Tommy Stevens dove across the goal line for a touchdown and a 9-6 lead. Late in the third quarter, and early in the fourth, Coan led a 12-play, 99-yard touchdown drive – once again capped off by a Stevens’ run – to get out in front by two scores. That was Coan’s final snaps of the game. The third-year Rider finished 15/26 for 178 yards and one interception while earning his first CFL win as a starter. Edmonton added a field goal from Vincent Blanchard with under 30 seconds left to make it 16-9. Rookie quarterback Brayden Schager also saw snaps as time wound down, his first professional football regular season appearance of his career. The former Hawaii Rainbow Warrior was 3/6, 27 yards in three series of work in the fourth quarter. In his first game as a Rider, running back Deon Jackson had 44 yards on nine carries to lead Saskatchewan’s rushing attack. Powell, in his first start as an Elk, finished 26/30, 236 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He did drop a fumble. The fourth-year CFLer was swarmed by Roughriders defenders all day. Saskatchewan sacked Powell seven times, with six different Roughriders recording at least one sack. Meanwhile, Elks running back ShunDerrick Powell had 101 yards on 11 carries. Saskatchewan is next in action on the road in Vancouver at B.C. Place against the Lions in the West Division semi-final on Oct. 31. Touchdown Tommy Short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens is a CFL record holder, breaking the league record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback. Stevens punched it across the goal line twice Saturday, notching touchdowns 16 and 17 on the season, surpassing the previous mark set by Caleb Evans (16) in 2022. The total also surpasses the Roughriders’ single-season rushing touchdown record - by any player - breaking the previous best (16) set by the late great George Reed. Finding the endzone twice, it is the sixth time this season Stevens recorded a multi-touchdown game this season. Altogether, Stevens has 301 rushing yards on 96 carries.
