The crowd at Mosaic Stadium whipped up a din as Riders’ kicker Brett Lauther lines up for a 60-yard field goal attempt.
Three seconds remain in the 59th Labour Day Classic between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The Labour Day Classic isn’t just any other game, it feels like the entire season is on the line. To the fans of both the Roughriders and Blue Bombers that fill the stadium, it is equivalent to good versus evil. Who is good and who is evil? Well, that depends on the colour of the jersey you wear.
The Riders trail the Bombers by two points, 35-33.
If Lauther puts it through, not only does he give the Riders the win, but he cements himself as a Rider legend.
The snap and hold go smoothly and Lauther swings his leg forward.
Fans in the stands at Lauther’s back begin waving their arms, frantically trying to give the ball an extra push over the uprights.
Alas, the ball comes up just short.
And the Bombers win, 35-33, to go to first in the CFL’s West Division. The Bombers earn their fourth consecutive victory to improve to 6-6-0. The Riders, who are 0-5-1 in their last six games, slipped to 5-6-1.
Riders have to convert close losses into wins
That final field goal attempt was a microcosm of the Riders’ recent stretch of games: just short.
During post-game interviews, players talked about how close this game was to going the other direction.
Although it is nice to see the team play competitive football coming off two subpar seasons, close only gets a team so far.
Near the end of the second quarter of Sunday’s contest, returner Mario Alford was “close” to fielding a Winnipeg punt.
Instead, the ball bounced off Alford’s hands, rolled into the end zone and was recovered by the Bombers for a Winnipeg touchdown.
Following a touchdown to bring the score within two points with 14 seconds remaining, the Riders opted to go for two points and tie the game.
Quarterback Trevor Harris dropped back and fired a pass into the end zone. The ball was knocked down by a Winnipeg defender.
Another close call that didn’t go the Riders’ way.
Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver Ajou Ajou runs the football as Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive back Terrell Bonds during the second half. (Heywood Yu/The Canadian Press)
The Riders were able to recover the ensuing onside kick attempt and give themselves one last gasp at a victory.
The paying customers who had begun to shuffle out of the seats following the missed two-point attempt came scrambling back in.
Fans lined up outside of section 523, hoping to see Lauther convert the final field goal.
Well, he was close.
The Riders were close last week, too — falling short to the Toronto Argonauts by a score of 20-19.
The week before that, they were close again — losing 27-24 to the defending Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes.
The Riders were close to a victory in Ottawa, but came out with a 22-22 tie.
When the team busted out of the gate to a 4-0 record, it was winning the close games.
The tide has clearly turned.
The players can talk about how they are close to turning a corner. But if some of these close losses don’t soon become wins, the cliches are soon going to start falling on deaf ears.
At the end of November, the Grey Cup isn’t awarded to the team that has the closest losses. It’s awarded to the team that wins the final game.
There’s still time for the Riders to turn these close losses into wins, but they better start soon.