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The Saskatchewan Roughriders arrived in Hamilton for Week 2 of the CFL season riding the high of a 31-26 win against Ottawa, and maintained their perfect start with a strong second half effort for a 28-23 win over the Tiger-Cats on Saturday night to improve their early season record to 2-0.
Another slow start for the Roughriders, that included an interception and missed field goal, resulted in a 7-0 deficit early through the second quarter. After the missed kick the Riders defense forced a 2-and-out to get the ball back, and for the second straight week the green-and-white turned it around nicely as AJ Oullette ripped off a 47-yard touchdown run complete with a stiff arm to get his team back in the game, though Lauther missed the extra point to continue a tough night up to that point.
The Roughriders started the second half with a bang as the Tiger-Cats first possession resulted in a Rolan Milligan Jr. pick six to put the Roughriders up 14-7 after a successful two-point conversion, and then Lauther got back on schedule nailing a kick for a 17-7 Roughriders lead into the fourth.
Lauther added another three points to the Riders lead in their first possession of the final quarter, before the Ti-Cats answered back with three of their own, but then Saskatchewan hit back with a long drive ending in Trevor Harris' second touchdown pass of the night to go up eight.
Hamilton added another field goal late to get back within five and got the ball back with under a minute to go, but in their final possession turned the ball over on downs with 17 seconds left as Saskatchewan kneeled out the game for their second win in a row to start the season.
The Roughriders will need another win out east if they want to improve their record to 3-0, scheduled to face the Toronto Argonauts in Week 3 on Friday at 5:30.