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TORONTO — Stepping onto the field before a sea of green to begin the 95th Grey Cup game, the Saskatchewan Roughriders must surely have felt the responsibility of not letting their enormously loyal fans down.
And while some of the Roughriders' faithful may have been worried by much of what they witnessed during the first half of the game Sunday, those who'd travelled so far in hopes of a celebration got what they wanted in a 23-19 Saskatchewan win.
Saskatchewan's first Grey Cup win in 18 years won't go down as one of the great championship games, unlike the one it captured on the same field against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1989. But fans who've lived through much misery since then, including their team nearly folding in the late 1990s, aren't concerned about style points.
"I'm proud of my guys, I'm proud of my staff and words are inadequate to describe how I feel about those guys," said head coach Kent Austin, who became the first person to win a Grey Cup championship as both a quarterback and a head coach with the same team. "One of the reasons I wanted to come back is there's no greater place to win a championship in the CFL than with the Saskatchewan Roughriders."
Scott Schultz celebrates with the Grey Cup after defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 95th Grey Cup. (Mike Cassese/Reuters)
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Like much CFL action the past two seasons, this Grey Cup game was dominated by strong defences and underwhelming quarterback play. Neither team completed 50 per cent of its pass attempts, and the ball was punted 18 times.
But an often sloppy game produced a dramatic ending when the Bombers wound up with the ball at their 36 yard line, down by four points and with 1 minute 19 seconds to play. But one completion later, Saskatchewan defensive back James Johnson snared his third interception of the game, setting a Grey Cup record, icing the win and grabbing the award for outstanding player.
"It's a great feeling and I'm not trying to cry up here," Johnson said on the field after the game. "I'm trying to hold back."
The Roughriders led 16-14 early in the fourth quarter when quarterback Kerry Joseph hit Andy Fantuz over the middle inside the Bombers' 20. Fantuz, the game's outstanding Canadian, broke three tackles on his way to the end zone and Saskatchewan's first offensive touchdown of the game.
"We were a little stagnant at the start," Fantuz said. "Their defence came to play and we missed a couple of opportunities in the first half, but got things going in the second half."
With a 23-14 lead and just less than 12 minutes to play, the Roughriders appeared to be on their way to a comfortable win. But a safety and field goal later, the Bombers pulled to four points behind with 3:41 to play.
Joseph spent much of the first half buried under piles of Blue Bombers as the Winnipeg front four overpowered its opposition on nearly every passing down. Perhaps that's why he appeared so unsettled during most of the first half, overthrowing open receivers on one play, then throwing low on the next play. He connected on only three of his first 15 pass attempts.
"They got a great push with their defensive line and disrupted what we were doing," Fantuz said. "It's hard to play like we do in practice with that going on."
The Bombers had built a 7-0 lead on a Troy Westwood field goal and two safeties conceded by Saskatchewan.
Winnipeg quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie looked occasionally awestruck during the opening half, but played well enough to complete some key throws, including a 42-yard pass to Milt Stegall that led to the game's first three points. His one critical mistake of the first half occurred when Johnson picked him off, hit the turf, then got up and dashed 30 yards along the sideline to tie the score 7-7.
"I thought Dinwiddie would play within the offence," Winnipeg head coach Doug Berry said. "He took a couple of risks, but they didn't result in the turnovers. Ultimately, that's what kills you in a close football game. I still believe Ryan Dinwiddie is going to be a fine quarterback in this league."
But what may have undone the Bombers' chances as much as anything was their inability to run the ball. Running back Charles Roberts, who had rushed for more than 100 yards in each of Winnipeg's playoff wins, carried 13 times for just 47 yards against a tough Saskatchewan front.
"They did a lot early and knew what we wanted to do in terms of establishing Roberts and they did a good job initially of taking him out of the game as much as they could," Berry said. "When you're trying to take away the run game, they make you want to throw the ball, and that's not exactly the way we wanted to come into this."
