Saskatchewan Roughriders wake up in second half, hold on to beat Toronto Argonauts (& other thoughts)

Photo courtesy: Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders found some rhythm in the second half after a disjointed first half to come back and beat the Toronto Argonauts 28-24 at Mosaic Stadium in Week 13 and improve to 7-4 through 11 games in 2026.

Corey Mace’s team snapped a two-game losing streak to record an important win, which puts the Green and White one game behind West Division-leading Edmonton with seven regular-season games left.

Punters are players, too

Oscar Chapman came up clutch for the Riders, and no, it was not with his leg.

With Saskatchewan trailing 24-21, Mace elected to kick a field goal from the four-yard line on third-and-goal with three minutes left on the clock. The rookie Australian punter used a hard count to draw veteran defensive back Tarvarus McFadden offside and give his team a first down. Tommy Stevens punched in his CFL-best 12th touchdown to help the Roughriders prevail.

Chapman’s quarterback-worthy hard count wasn’t his only standout play. In the second quarter, the 27-year-old stopped dangerous Argos return man Janarion Grant in his tracks with a bone-rattling tackle. Noah Gettman, take notes.

There was one mistake that nearly undid the key performance from Chapman. With less than 30 seconds to go in the fourth quarter, his punt flew out of bounds prior to the 15-yard line. That led to a 10-yard penalty and set Chad Kelly up on his own 34-yard line for three final snaps. Fortunately for the Auburn University product, the defence secured a win.

Secondary bends hard but doesn’t break

Kelly carved up Saskatchewan in the first half — 295 yards prove it — but the second half was much different. One hit seemed to be the turning point.

Toronto’s second offensive snap in the third quarter saw Kelly driven into the turf by two Riders defensive ends, James Vaughters and Derick Roberson. That same play, No. 12 made a bad decision to float a football over the middle intended for Damonte Coxie, which should have been intercepted by Nelson Lokombo. It was not picked, however, the damage was done.

Kelly stayed down but eventually left the field under his own power. After being pile-driven into the ground, the Argonauts’ franchise quarterback posted 98 passing yards the rest of the way, including another awful throw over the middle intended for Kevin Mital. That one was intercepted by Lokombo and led directly to a Saskatchewan touchdown.

The 2023 MOP finished 28-of-39 for 416 passing yards with three touchdowns and two picks. He leads the CFL with 17 interceptions in 11 regular season games and entered Week 13 with 22 turnover-worthy plays and 22 big-time throws, according to Pro Football Focus, the most in both categories.

Mace told 620 CKRM post-game the defence adjusted the game plan at halftime and played some more man coverage –that paid off.

Kee was key

KeeSean Johnson scored on a touchdown drive and kickstarted another in the fourth quarter.

Trevor Harris connected with the CFL all-star running a patented corner route to capitalize on one Kelly interception. Later in the fourth, Johnson casually caught a back-shoulder go ball down the right sideline for 37 yards and followed that up with a 38-yard catch-and-run play to produce 75 yards on back-to-back snaps.

Johnson saw 14 targets and recorded 10 receptions for a single-game career-high 146 yards with one major. The six-foot-one, 210-pound pass catcher registered his fifth 100-yard receiving performance in 2026. He’s second in the CFL with 112 targets and 77 receptions, third with 990 receiving yards, and tied for third with seven touchdown grabs.

Timely Trevor

It wasn’t a clean game for No. 7 in obsidian green, but Harris did enough to earn a win.

Despite the 40-year-old being known for mostly taking care of the football, he entered the game against the Argonauts with 21 turnover-worthy plays, tied for second-most league-wide. There were at least two plays to add to that number.

In the second quarter, Harris was trying to connect with newcomer Shemar Bridges on an in route from the left side; the throw was nearly picked by Toronto cornerback Benjie Franklin. Late third quarter, on third-and-goal from the four-yard line, he threw a panicked ball to Daniel Wiebe on the right-hand side running a whip route. McFadden nearly undercut the throw for an INT and might have had a pick-six, but the Saskatoon native fought back to the football to ensure it went incomplete.

There was one other error that could have been magnified if not for Harris putting his body on the line. With under 11 minutes left in the final frame, he uncharacteristically held onto the football for too long in his own end zone. That led to a Shawn Lemon strip sack and nearly a touchdown, although the veteran passer lunged and reached out with his right arm to bring the football back under possession. Six-foot-four, 275-pound defensive lineman DeWayne Hendrix landed on Saskatchewan’s franchise man, although he escaped without injury.

From there on out, Harris played mistake-free to do his part in a come-from-behind victory. He completed eight-of-15 passes for 113 yards with one touchdown in the first half and went 15-of-21 for 200 yards with one major in the final 30 minutes.

Harris sits third in the CFL with 3,531 passing yards, second with 23 touchdowns, but his 11 interceptions rank third-most.

Alex Hale adventures

It seems as though you never know what’s going to happen when Hale comes onto the field.

The 28-year-old CFL rookie missed his first field goal attempt wide left from 50 yards. He responded by knocking through a career-long 55-yarder to end the first half. In the third quarter, his 36-yard try was punched in.

However, Hale shanked a 32-yard extra point attempt way wide right in the fourth quarter. That would have tied the game at the time. Fortunately, he barely put through a point-after following the go-ahead touchdown with less than three minutes remaining to push the Riders’ lead to four.

If Saskatchewan had lost, Rider Nation would have been calling for Hale to hit the road.

Safety switch

Regina native Jaxon Ford was benched after struggling for multiple weeks and Lokombo appeared to stabilize the last line of defence.

The second overall pick in the 2021 CFL Draft moved from field cornerback to safety. He recorded four tackles and one interception, thanks to a poor Kelly decision. There was another terrible throw that was dropped by the former University of Saskatchewan star. Mace joked about it post-game, which is easy to do after a win.

Lokombo did not appear to give up any deep ball catches within his responsibilities and should stay as the starter at safety.

Rookie CB flashes

James Burgess Jr. made his first CFL start at field-side cornerback and looked more than comfortable.

The 24-year-old announced his arrival in the first quarter. He broke up a possible completion by driving downhill on a Jake Herslow comeback route. One play later, Burgess Jr. undercut an in route run by Nolan Ulm to snag his first three-down league interception. The six-foot-three, 200-pound cover man read Kelly’s eyes and movement while sitting in zone coverage and picked the throw.

If Burgess Jr. can be a steady presence in the secondary, it could help out a banged-up backend missing Canadian Tevaughn Campbell and all-star Rolan Milligan Jr.

Football insider, reporter and analyst.