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MILLER TO RESIGN

Following Monday's Rider practice at Mosaic Stadium, Ken Miller announced he is stepping down as Riders head coach and VP of Football. His last game will be Friday at Edmonton.

“Upon the completion of my duties after the end of the season, I am going to enter retirement,” stated Miller. “I thank my wife Maureen for her understanding, friendship and support in my coaching endeavors. I’m thankful to Roger Brandvold and our Board of Directors. I especially thank Jim Hopson for his supportive work environment, his cooperation and friendship we have shared.”

“Thank you to our coaching staff who have been unwavering in their support of me and our common cause. I am also extremely thankful for the opportunity I have had to work with the men who wear the Roughrider uniform and occupy our locker room. Finally, Maureen and I thank our personal friends across the province and the fans of Rider Nation wherever you are.”

Miller joined the Roughriders in 2007 as the offensive coordinator and helped lead the team to their first Grey Cup championship in 18 years. He was named head coach in 2008 and over the next three years led the team to three straight home playoff games and two Grey Cup appearances.

A three time Coach of the Year finalist, Miller’s 36 regular season coaching victories rank fifth on Saskatchewan’s all-time list.

“It’s difficult to put into words how much Ken Miller has meant to the Rider organization,” stated Riders President/CEO Jim Hopson. “I can’t begin to thank Ken for his passion, commitment and contributions to this team and to our province over his time here. Ken and Maureen have embraced this community and will definitely be missed.”

Hopson said he will answer all questions about the future of GM Brendan Taman and the organizational structure next week, once the season is completed.

Miller also announced Ryan Dinwiddie will be the Riders' starting quarterback this Friday at Edmonton.

Welcome to an Up week

RAMS PLAYOFF BOUND

WINNIPEG, Man. – The University of Regina Rams punched their ticket to the Canada West playoffs after holding on for a 31-22 road win over Manitoba on Saturday afternoon at University Stadium in Winnipeg.

The Rams (3-5) finish in fourth place in the conference standings with the victory and will now prepare for a Canada West semifinal game at top-ranked Calgary next Friday at McMahon Stadium. Manitoba finishes with an identical 3-5 record, but end up in fifth place and out of the postseason.

The Rams will face Calgary on the road in the Canada West semifinals for the second consecutive season and the third time in the last four years. The Dinos won all three of those postseason contests and have an eight-game winning streak overall against Regina. The two teams will kick off on Friday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. in Calgary.

 

Riders 19 TiCats 3

REGINA -- The Saskatchewan Roughriders won their final home game of the 2011 season, 19-3 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Saturday afternoon at Mosaic Stadium. The Riders led 7-0 after the first quarter, 17-0 at halftime and 17-3 going into the fourth quarter. The game was not announced as a sellout and the club's sellout string likely ended at 19 games. As you can tell by the photo, there was nowhere 30,000 on hand although close to that many tickets were sold for the contest.

Quinton Porter played the first half at quarterback for Hamilton while Kevin Glenn played the second half and threw four interceptions. The Riders won the turnover battle 5-0. Ryan Dinwiddie saw most of the action at QB for Saskatchewan with Cole Bergquist rotating in at times. Tailback Brandon West had 96 yards rushing for Saskatchewan.

The Riders improve to 5-12 with the win and will finish their season Friday at Edmonton while the Ticats fall to 8-9.

Phone your postgame comments into the Sports Cage After Hours Hotline at 546-CAGE and we'll replay the best calls on Monday's show.

Baseball is over

I used to play and coach baseball, but with all the problems that major league baseball has had with drugs and out of control spending, I lost interest. I did watch the last 2 innings of game 6 to see the Rangers win, but was disappointed. I didn't bother watching game 7. St. Louis won . Congratulations, but I watched CFL instead. Come on Winnipeg , quit playing like the Riders !

Reggie Hunt

The Reaper Retires As A Rider

The Saskatchewan Roughriders announced today that import linebacker Reggie Hunt has signed a one-day contract with the team and will subsequently retire as a Roughrider.

Hunt played six seasons with the Roughriders (2002-2007) before leaving the team to sign as a free agent with the Montreal Alouettes and Edmonton Eskimos.

“Reggie was very athletic, made big plays and was always all over the field,” said Defensive Coordinator Richie Hall. “He was very quiet and caring off the field and had a great sense of humour.”

In his time with the Green and White, Hunt tallied 452 defensive tackles, 45 special team tackles, 27 quarterback sacks, 26 tackles for a loss, eight fumble returns, seven forced fumbles and five interceptions in 106 regular season games.

The Texas Christian product was named a West Division All-Star in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, a CFL All-Star in 2007 and was a member of the 2007 Grey Cup Championship team.

Nicknamed “The Reaper”, Hunt has recently moved back to his hometown in Texas after spending the last few years working for SaskTel in Regina.

4-12

CALGARY -- The Riders' worst fears were imagined at McMahon Stadium Friday night. Not only did they lose 25-13 to the Stampeders (their fifth straight loss), but quarterback Darian Durant left the game in the fourth quarter with injury.  

Making his first pro start at quarterback for the Stamps, Drew Tate engineered three touchdown drives and was in control all game long as the Stamps led 17-10 at halftime and 24-13 after three quarters. Starting behind centre for the Riders, Durant ended his team's 18-quarter touchdown drought with a 5-yard endzone run in the second quarter. However he was knocked out of the game in the fourth quarter and backup Ryan Dinwiddie was unable to put any points on the board.

The win upped the Stamps' record to 9-7 while the Riders dropped to 4-12 as they return home to host Hamilton on Saturday.
Thanks to Rod Pederson for these articles.

Just a few notes from the Riders' 1:30 pm arrival at Regina Airport on Saturday following a 25-13 loss in Calgary the night before:

• We may have seen the last of QB Darian Durant for the season. He was knocked out of last night's game in the fourth quarter and sees no sense in continuing to play in the remaining two games.

"I'm a football player so of course I want to play," Durant told us. "You only get 18 cracks at this and that's why I trained all off-season; to be in that position. But given what happened last night, I know Coach Miller and I agree the best thing for me is to shut it down."

• Although Durant took a heckuva shot from Stamps safety Demtrice Morley which left him on the turf for quite some time, there are no lingering effects. He is suffering no concussion symptoms although TSN reported that he had suffered one.

• Durant is unbelievably tough and durable.

• Coach Ken Miller said right now they don't know what their roster will look like for Saturday's home game against Hamilton (1:00 pm on TSN and CKRM), nor who will start at quarterback. Miller said he'll discuss the next two games with Rider GM Brendan Taman and President Jim Hopson this weekend.

Game Day , episode 16

Riders are in Calgary to play the Stamps tonite. Tate starts instead of Burris. However the hobbling DD starts still for the Green.

Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be. -John Wooden

Next Year Country

Riders couldn't score a td for the 4th straight game and lost a 4th quarter lead to BC ,losing 27-18. The loss eliminates the team from being in the playoffs. Here is the postgame press conference with Coach Miller.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjXQU1-K8RQ

Game day

As most of you know, the Riders playoff hopes are really thin. With 4 games remaining, any Hamilton win or Riders loss eliminates the Green. Ham plays at Mtl this morning, so it could be all over before we step on the field vs BC.

Rams lose to UBC

VANCOUVER, B.C. – The University of Regina Rams had a chance to tie it up on the last play, but UBC's defence prevailed to secure a 23-16 win for the Thunderbirds on Saturday afternoon in Canada West football action at Thunderbird Stadium.

Trailing by seven points, the Rams forced a late two-and-out and got the ball back on their own 24-yard line with 1:33 left. Lifted by four receptions by Jared Janotta, the Rams marched all the way down to UBC's seven-yard line. They had time to run two plays from the seven, but both Zach Oleynik passes fell incomplete to give the win to UBC.

The win clinches a postseason berth for UBC (4-2) for the first time since the 2006 season, while the Rams fall to fifth place in the Canada West standings with a 2-4 conference record.

Billy Greene completed 19 of his 37 passes for UBC and threw for 273 yards and two touchdowns. Both of Greene's touchdown passes were to running back Dave Boyd, while Billy Pavlopoulos accounted for UBC's other points with three field goals. Jordan Grieve led the Thunderbirds with 87 receiving yards, while David Scott had five catches for 70 yards.

Vivie Bojilov had two interceptions for UBC.

Oleynik ended up with 53 pass attempts for the Rams, one short of the school's single-game record of 54 shared by Mark Anderson and Teale Orban. Oleynik completed 29 of those passes for 388 yards and two touchdowns. Brenden Owens had seven catches for 120 yards, while Janotta had seven receptions for 87 yards and Mark McConkey caught six passes for 63 yards and a touchdown. Running back Adrian Charles rushed 18 times for 67 yards.

Jamir Walker and Mike Kerr both had interceptions for Regina, with Kerr also registering six solo and three assisted tackles.

The Rams held a 7-3 lead at halftime after Owens caught a touchdown pass with 15 seconds left in the second quarter, but UBC scored 20 of the first 22 points of the second half to take a 23-9 lead. McConkey caught a five-yard touchdown pass with just under two minutes left in the fourth quarter, setting up the UBC two-and-out and the final drive of the game.

The Rams will be back in action at home next Saturday against Saskatchewan (3-3). Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium.

BC in First

VANCOUVER -- Paul McCallum capped of a record-breaking night by kicking a 53-yard field goal on the last play of the game to give the B.C. Lions a 33-31 victory over the Calgary Stampeders in a thrilling CFL game Saturday night.

McCallum fell on the ground and was mobbed by his teammates on the winning kick, which improved the Lions' record to 8-6 and moved them into first place in the CFL West. B.C. has now won seven games in a row and eight of their last nine.

The Lions were given a chance to win when quarterback Travis Lulay hit Arland Bruce with a 17-yard pass on a third-and-10 play with time running out on the clock.

McCallum was also good on kicks of 47, 46 and 20 yards to give him 30 consecutive field goals.

That broke the record of 28 set by Dave Ridgway of the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1993. The record-breaking kick of 46 yards earned a standing ovation from the crowd of 30,622 at B.C. Place Stadium

The Stampeders looked to have taken control of the game when Larry Taylor returned a missed field goal 122 yards for a touchdown at 10:33 of the fourth quarter.

McCallum was attempting his 31st field goal in a row when his kick sailed wide.

Taylor took the ball deep in the end zone, then sliced his way untouched through the Lions defence to give Calgary a one-point lead. The Stampeders failed on an attempt to score a two-point convert.

It was a wild game with both teams taking advantage of turnovers and big plays.

The Stampeders trailed 14-0 early in the first quarter but battled back. Their record fell to 8-6. The Lions and Stampeders both have 16 points but B.C. has won the season series between the teams.

Calgary quarterback Henry Burris threw an 81-yard touchdown to Landon Tally early in the third quarter to tie the score 24-24. Taylor also had some long kickoff returns to give Calgary good field position to start drives.

Calgary running back Jon Cornish scored on a five-yard run while backup quarterback Drew Tate scored on a one-yard plunge.

Rene Paredes kicked a 36-yard field goal for Calgary, while punter Burke Dales boomed a 67-yard single.

Lulay threw two touchdown passes for the Lions.

Bruce caught a 20-yard touchdown pass and Geroy Simon a 14-yard strike. Andrew Harris scored on a six-yard run.

B.C. linebacker Solomon Elimimian, the CFL's leading tackler, left the game in the third quarter with an injury and did not return.

The Lions led 24-17 at half time.

Both teams scored touchdowns off turnovers in the opening 30 minutes.

On the first play from scrimmage Burris was sacked by B.C.'s Keron Williams, forcing a fumble. Khreem Smith recovered the ball on the Calgary 31.

That resulted in Lulay finding Bruce alone in the end zone.

The Stampeders repaid the favour in the second quarter.

Paredes missed on a 41-yard field-goal attempt. Instead of giving up the point, the Lions' Tim Brown tried to run the ball out of the end zone.

Calgary's Jon Gott hit Brown, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Devone Claybrooks on the B.C. nine. The Lions sacked Burris on the next play, but B.C. was called for illegal contact, giving the Stampeders first down on the five-yard line.

When Cornish scored, it was the first points the Lions had allowed on a turnover in six games.

Raider Nation Mourns

Al Davis Is Dead

Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, whose rebellious NFL legend began 60 years ago as an assistant with the Baltimore Colts and was punctuated with a 1992 Pro Football Hall of Fame induction in Canton, has died at 82.

The team's website released the news Saturday morning, posting a simple tribute with his name in large silver letters above "July 4, 1929-October 8, 2011."

The Raiders said the team will issue a statement later Saturday. No cause of death was released, and it was not immediately clear when and where he died.



"Based on personal achievement, team achievement and contributions to the game, no one has had a more profound and lasting impact on professional football," Davis' biography says on the team's website.



It was Davis' willingness to buck the establishment that helped turn the NFL into THE establishment in sports -- the most successful sports league in American history.



Davis was charming, cantankerous and compassionate -- a man who when his wife suffered a serious heart attack in the 1970s moved into her hospital room. But he was best known as a rebel, a man who established a team whose silver-and-black colors and pirate logo symbolized his attitude toward authority, both on the field and off.



Davis was one of the most important figures in NFL history. That was most evident during the 1980s when he fought in court -- and won -- for the right to move his team from Oakland to Los Angeles. Even after he moved them back to the Bay Area in 1995, he went to court, suing for $1.2 billion to establish that he still owned the rights to the L.A. market.

Reports surfaced in April that Davis had been hospitalized, but the team dismisssed them then as rumors, saying Davis was in good health and was preparing for the NFL draft.