Music: {allcanada} ROUGHRIDERS LOOK TO KEEP MOMENTUM AGAINST STAMPEDERS ON TSN

Saturday, July 30, 2011

{allcanada} ROUGHRIDERS LOOK TO KEEP MOMENTUM AGAINST STAMPEDERS ON TSN

Regina, SK (Sports Network) - After losing the first three games of the season, the Saskatchewan Roughriders slipped by a then undefeated Montreal squad on Sunday, and are now aiming for their second straight victory as they challenge the Calgary Stampeders at home in Mosaic Stadium tonight.

The game can be seen live on TSN and TSN.ca tonight at 9:30pm et/6:30pm pt.

It wasn't easy by any stretch, but the Roughriders gave themselves a chance to win against Montreal last weekend when they knocked quarterback Anthony Calvillo out of the game with an apparent eye injury. Saskatchewan weathered a total of 11 penalties, setting them back 120 yards, as signal-caller Darian Durant connected on 14-of-20 passing for 177 yards and a score and running back Wes Cates checked in with 14 carries for 69 yards and a major of his own.

Kicker Eddie Johnson tallied the first seven points of the game for the Roughriders and finished the meeting with 15 points overall.

As for the Stampeders, they were downed for the second time in four tries on Saturday night with their 24-19 setback against the Edmonton Eskimos at McMahon Stadium.

The Stamps were paced by Henry Burris who connected on 28-of-46 passing for 372 yards and two TDs in the setback. It was the 58th 300-yard passing game for Burris, but still the Stampeders had a two-game win streak snapped as they bowed in the first installment of the ""Battle of Alberta".

Nik Lewis registered a game-high seven receptions, leading to 105 yards, as he extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one catch to 126, but still Calgary saw a six-game win streak versus Edmonton come to an end just the same.

Lewis is currently fourth in the league in receptions with 21, leading to 299 yards, but he still has just one major to show for all of the hits he's taken to this point. Kenyon Rambo and Romby Bryant are slowly getting it together for the club with 19 and 11 catches, respectively.

Hitting nearly 60 percent of his pass attempts, Burris has a quarterback efficiency rating of 85.6 as he tries to keep the offense moving for Calgary.

Durant has had some problems finding his own receivers so far in the early going, notching just four TD strikes while tossing a league-high six interceptions. Last season Durant threw for a league-high 5,542 yards and a personal best of 25 TDs, but there were also countless setbacks, as he was picked off 22 times.

While still early in the season, Calgary has to be pleased with the fact that it has the top pass defense in the league, allowing opponents to convert just 49.2 percent of their attempts. Over on the other side, the Roughriders are far too forgiving when it comes to even trying to stop the pass, giving up 11 aerial TDs which is tied with British Columbia for the most through four games. Add that to a league-high five rushing TDs permitted and it is no wonder that Saskatchewan is giving up a league-worst 34.5 ppg at this stage.

These two teams have a history that dates back to 1945 and when taking into consideration only regular-season matchups, Calgary holds a 113-87-9 mark in the relationship. The Stamps, who posted a 34-26 win in the most recent encounter in Regina last October, have taken two of the last three meetings.

The squads are set to play each other three more times this season, the next encounter coming the second week of August at Mosaic again.