101st Grey Cup Full Report: Riders Win!!!

Well here is the full report from the 101st Grey Cup, which saw the Saskatchewan Roughriders beat the Hamilton Tiger Cats 45-23 in what was a game that made everyone in Regina celebrate. RezXMagazine was there reporting live from the game to provide exclusive Aboriginal Media coverage, considering RezX was the only Aboriginal media in Canada to cover the game. And what a game and experience it was. So here are the pics from the pre-game celebrations throughout the game and after. Later this evening, we will be posting pics of the Green Mile as well. Scroll down to the bottom to real the full report.

PICS FROM PRE-GAME TO GREY CUP CELEBRATIONS – FULL GAME STORY BELOW

RIDERS WIN, RIDERS WIN, RIDERS WIN!

In front of 44,710 mostly Rider fans in their home stadium, the Saskatchewan RoughRiders won the 101st Grey Cup, beating the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats 45-23 in what was mostly a dominating game by the Riders offence and defence. Cory Sheets won Most Outstanding Player rushing for 197 yards (a Grey Cup record) and Chris Getzlaf won Most Valuable Canadian in what was a true present to the rider faithful winning in dominating fashion.

The opening ceremonies of  the 101st Grey Cup featured the RCMP Mounties bringing out the Grey Cup, the Sheep Dogs singing a tune, Serena Ryder belting out the national anthem and Snow Birds flying over Mosaic Stadium – but after that it was finally time to get down to business.

The Saskatchewan Rough Riders and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats started off the game fast. After exchanging positions twice, the Tiger-Cats got on the board first with a 44-yard Field Goal attempt by Luca Congi, putting Hamilton ahead 3-0 at 9:44 in the 1st Quarter.

On the next possession, the Riders had the ball as QB Darian Durant was hit hard as the ball flew out of his hands and fell right into Cory Sheets who ran it to the Hamilton 40. Riders kept at it, with an impressive play by Durant with a 10-yard run to the Hamilton 15 yard line. Next play, the Riders finished the run as Durant found Geroy Simon in the end zone for the first touchdown of the game, becoming Simon’s first ever Grey Cup touchdown.

After a couple more exchanges which produced nothing for either teams, the Riders were leading 7-3 to the end of the first quarter.

2ND QUARTER: Riders lead 7-3 

To begin the 2nd Quarter, the Riders had the ball as Durant threw to Getlaz for a 38-yard gain to the Hamilton 15 yard line. The Riders couldn’t finish the run but did get close enough for Chris Melo to kick the 20-yard field goal to put the Riders up 10-3 at 12:46 in the 2nd Quarter.

After another failed run by the Tiger-Cats, the Riders got it back moving closer and closer to the Hamilton end zone. Durant found Rob Bagg for a 1st down, then he found Cory Sheets at the Hamilton 3 yard line, then on the last play, found Sanders for the touchdown putting the Riders ahead 17-3.  The 50 yard run that ate up almost 5 minutes of game time, proved the Riders offensive ability to keep the ball out of the Tiger-Cats’s hands.

After the touchdown, the Tiger-Cats got the ball back but failed once again and fumbled on a play with Saskatchewan recovering near the Hamilton end zone. The Riders took control with Durant being tackled on a run, but Hamilton challenged the play believing Durant wasn’t down on the tackle and won the challenge, giving the Tiger-Cats the ball back.

Another failed run by the Ti-Cats gave the ball back to Sask with a hopeless 3-yard punt. The Riders moved the chains with Durant finding Getzlaf with a 28 yard gain, giving them 1st and goal. At the goal line, Durant handed off the ball to Cory Sheets who rushed it in for the touchdown.

With 5:22 to go in the first half, the Riders had a dominating lead 24-3.

Hamilton got the ball back engineering a 6 play drive and finished with a field goal by Luca Congi with 2:29 in the 2nd Quarter making it 24-6.

But it didn’t take long, Riders took advantage of Hamilton’s weak defence as Durant later found Geroy Simons again in the end zone, making 31-6. Simon also became the first player in Rider history to score 2 Grey Cup touchdowns.

2ND HALF: Riders lead 31-6

The Hamilton Tiger Cats got the ball to start the second half and quickly lost possession. The Riders took over and couldn’t convert either. Back and forth they went until Hamilton finally scored late in the third quarter. Perhaps this was the TSN turning point, when the Tiger-Cats QB Henry Burris ran for an 18-yard touchdown, making it 31-13 with 2:39 left in the 3rd quarter.

The next possession, Sask couldn’t keep up the kind of explosive offence they had in the first half as the Ti-Cats kept the pressure on and taking control eventually scoring another field goal to get them closer making it 31-16 at the end of the 3rd quarter.

4th QUARTER: Riders lead 31-13

To begin the 4th quarter, the Tiger-Cats started to gain momentum with Henry Burris running the ball more and converting on more plays. But that didn’t last long as the Riders dominating offence was back after it was missing in the 3rd quarter.

Soon another record was broken as the Riders Cory Sheets ran the ball on one play, which would break the Grey Cup rushing record of 188 yards (finishing the game with 197 yards). On the next play, the Riders kept it going when Cory Sheets ran the ball in for another touchdown, making it 38-6. Rider fans in Mosaic Stadium erupted with chants of, “We want the Cup, We Want the Cup, We Want the Cup!”

On the next possession, the Tiger-Cats couldn’t convert again, as the Riders took over and Durant found Weston Dressler for yet another touchdown, making it 44-16, which pretty much guaranteed it. Durant would finish the game with 3 touchdown passes and no interceptions while the Tiger-Cats QB Burris finished 0 TD passes and 1 interception.

With time ticking down, whatever was happening on the field did not seem to matter anymore. The Rider football song started to play loud on the speakers in Mosaic stadium as fans were ready to celebrate. The Tiger-cats did manage one last touchdown, but it was too late, the party had already started.

After two failed attempts in recent visits to the Grey Cup, the Saskatchewan Roughriders finally won the Grey Cup, in their home arena, in front of their legions of fans, as would they celebrated well into the night.

After the game, the green mile was in full effect as thousand converged upon Albert street and Victoria Avenue.

A couple days later on Tuesday, the Riders would emerge again at the Grey Cup Parade, as Durant said, “We’re going to enjoy this one and once that’s done, we’re going to do it again next year!”

FINAL: Riders 45 Tiget-Cats 23

Story by Chris Tyrone Ross

Photos by Bill Stevenson