Roughriders 37 Lions 13
REGINA — Wes Cates and Darian Durant each ran in two touchdowns as the Saskatchewan Roughriders rolled over the visiting B.C. Lions 37-13 on Thursday.
Cates ran for 61 yards while quarterback Durant added 67 more with his legs as the Roughriders scored four of their five touchdowns on the ground in the win.
Saskatchewan’s defensive back Lance Frazier set up Cates’ first touchdown run of the day when he stepped in front of Geroy Simon to intercept Jarious Jackson.
Frazier returned it 25 yards to B.C.’s three-yard line, and Cates punched it in on the next play.
The ’Riders followed that up with a six-play, 51-yard drive that was capped by a nine-yard touchdown run by Durant on a quarterback draw. All six plays were runs by Cates or Durant.
Cates scored again 13 minutes later from one yard out, capping a 74-yard drive that gave Saskatchewan a commanding 21-6 lead.
B.C. came out strong in the second half as Yonus Davis, who rushed for 84 yards in the game, ran 51 yards to score on the Lions’ first offensive play of the third quarter.
Saskatchewan’s defence, led by a three-sack performance by Jerrell Freeman, shut down B.C. for the rest of the game.
Durant, who completed 18-of-27 passes for 223 yards, also ran for a seven-yard touchdown and connected with Chris Getzlaf for a 30-yard touchdown pass — the only TD pass of the game — in the fourth quarter.
Paul McCallum kicked two field goals in the first quarter and surrendered a safety in the fourth quarter to round out the scoring.
Jackson finished the game 18 of 32 for 194 yards and an interception.
The Riders improve to 5-2 on the season while B.C. drops to 1-6.
Both teams have a bye next week.