CFL game between Roughriders and Elks decided by 1 point thanks to peculiar Canadian football rule

Trevor Harris was challenged to come up with the right adjective to describe the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ 12-11 CFL victory over the Edmonton Elks on Thursday.

Foreign? Bizarre? Unusual?

Harris settled for guts as the Riders scored nine points in the final 66 seconds of the fourth quarter to register the victory and end a seven-game regular season home loss streak.

So how weird was the ending? The Elks went into the final three minutes with a seemingly comfortable 11-3 lead.

However, Harris managed to lead the Riders on a successful ride. He connected with Mitchell Picton on a five-yard touchdown pass, then followed with a successful two-point conversion to Kendall Watson to tie the game at 11-11 with 1:06 remaining.

With overtime appearing to be imminent, play took one final twist when on the ensuing kickoff, Edmonton’s CJ Sims decided to bring down the ball in the end zone instead of playing it back.

That rouge, the fifth basehit of the game between the two teams, broke the deadlock to give the Riders a 12-11 lead.

“He knows (he made a mistake),” Elks head coach Chris Jones said when asked about Sims’ mistake. “The moment was big and he’s a good little player. More people will probably talk about it than when he played a great game recently.”

Unique finish: Riders QB

Harris, who joined the Riders as a free agent in the offseason after playing for the Montreal Alouettes the previous season, admitted the finish was unique to the CFL.

“It was one of those lonesome in the CFL moments,” said Harris, who finished 19 of 29 passes for 289 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

“Last year in Montreal we lost when they missed a field goal and our returner stepped on the boundary catching the ball. We lost when they missed a field goal and this one was new to me.”

“I didn’t even celebrate after the two-point conversion, I just thought about extra time. We finally got some traction and made the plays we needed to make. It’s a big win, 3-1 is a great time for us.”

The Riders entered the game with 13 players on their injured lists, including receivers Jake Weineke, Derel Walker, Brayden Lenius, Juwan Brescacin and Kian Schaffer-Baker. The shortfall in receivers gave Picton a chance to get into the starting lineup for Friday’s game.

The 28-year-old, who is in his fourth CFL season, did not disappoint as he caught four passes for 76 yards and one touchdown.

Harris understands Picton’s role on the team and believes in his ability to help the Riders.

“I feel like he’s a starting receiver in this league,” said Harris. “Unfortunately for him, he’s so damn good in every position that they feel like he can back up anywhere. That’s how he’s become so valuable to us.”

“He only got one day of training in that position this week and I didn’t get too many reps with him in training camp, so the fact that he was able to do what he did shows what type of professional he is .”

Riders improve to 3-1

Friday’s win improves the Riders to 3-1 as the Elks fall to 0-5.

All three of Saskatchewan’s wins came in close games and Harris is confident that the Riders will develop all the essentials needed to win consistently.

“That’s the hallmark of teams that are connected and have good character and have a good culture,” Harris said. “It’s important to find ways to win games rather than find ways to lose games. I feel like this team is always trying to find ways to win games.”

“As ugly as the win tonight may be, it’s two points in the win column and we’ll take it.”

Friday’s game concluded a five-game streak in 25 days for the Elks.

While acknowledging the challenge of the early schedule, Jones felt the Elks still had a chance to win, but fourth-quarter errors opened the door for a Saskatchewan comeback.

“That’s a lot of football. We brought in 28 kids who are either freshman or sophomore boys and at one point it was three games in 12 days with two trips. That’s a tough road,” said Jones.

“We worked extremely hard, but we just didn’t execute in the fourth quarter.”

Taylor Cornelius returned as Elks’ starting quarterback after Jones went with Jarret Doege in last week’s 26-7 loss to the Ottawa Redblacks.

Cornelius completed 17 of 29 passes with one interception. He also rushed 11 times for 58 yards and one touchdown.

In addition to Lauther’s last-minute single, the Elks got three rouges from punter Jake Julien and one from kicker Dean Faithfull.

Each team got a touchdown called back in the first half.

Elks receiver Steven Dunbar scored on a 36-yard reception early in the second quarter, but was nullified by a holding penalty.

Saskatchewan’s Mario Alford returned a missed field goal for a touchdown 125 yards later, but a holding penalty nullified the score.

The Elks return to action on July 13 when they host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, while the Calgary Stampeders travel to Regina on July 15 to play the Riders.