Minus a few missed interceptions — the Saskatchewan Roughriders dominated in every facet of Saturday's 34-6 win against the Montreal Alouettes.
The Roughriders jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter and didn't look back. The offense was humming behind quarterback Trevor Harris' 289 yards and two touchdowns, Dhonte Meyers his favourite target hauling in five catches for 136 yards, KeeSean Johnson and Tommy Nield yielding the scores. The run game was strong on the night too with A.J. Oullette picking up 74 yards on 15 carries, and Mario Anderson impressing in relief with 48 yards on only 5 totes of the rock.
The defense was the biggest story on the night, however, holding Montreal to only 169 yards of net offense in the game. The Roughriders had two sacks, another two tackles for loss, and disrupted things all game long as the Als didn't move past the Riders 45-yard line.
Kicker Brett Lauther also had a strong game, hitting 4/5 kicks with a long of 48, and also nailing three extra points. Saturday's performance had to feel good after some early season struggles for Lauther, with eight misses to go along with one extra point miss already.
Entering Week 10 the Roughriders have their second bye week of the season, and a healthy lead at the top of the CFL's West Division. The now 7-1 Roughriders are two wins clear of Calgary for first place, and then Winnipeg is in third after finally climbing back over .500. BC is fourth at 3-5, Edmonton last at 1-6.
Week 10 starts on Thursday with BC in Hamilton and then continues Friday with Edmonton visiting Montreal. A Saturday doubleheader will close things out with Ottawa in Toronto, and Winnipeg visiting Calgary.