THE CANADIAN PRESS

REGINA -- Coming off their worst performance of the season in last week’s Banjo Bowl, the Saskatchewan Roughriders relished the role of the plucky underdogs Friday.

Faced with the prospect of losing two straight games for the first time all year, the ‘Riders rode two Wes Cates touchdowns, including the overtime winner, and 255 receiving yards from Andy Fantuz to a 43-37 come-from-behind win Friday night over the Calgary Stampeders.

Cates ran into the endzone from five yards out for the deciding score in overtime. Calgary’s Dwight Anderson knocked down Darian Durant’s two-point convert attempt but Stamps quarterback Henry Burris, faced with a must-score third-and-three situation, threw an incompletion into the end zone to end the game.

“It shows that we’ve got a lot of character for sure,” said Fantuz. “We felt like a few of the calls weren’t going our way, but we kept fighting and it really shows how resilient we are.”

Victimized by penalties, injuries, and dropped passes, the Roughriders never led at the end of a quarter.

But a series of big plays swung the momentum in their favour starting in the second quarter. With Calgary leading 10-0, Fantuz caught a 36-yard pass from Durant, dropped the ball, and recovered his own fumble deep in Calgary territory. Stamps head coach John Hufnagel challenged what was deemed an unreviewable play, costing Calgary a 10-yard penalty, and the Stamps’ Dwight Anderson was then flagged for illegal contact, setting up Cates’ eight-yard touchdown run.

The big plays continued on Saskatchewan’s next possession when Durant threw a 77-yard touchdown pass to Weston Dressler, giving the Roughriders the lead for the first time.

Saskatchewan slotback Jason Clermont set up a 30-yard touchdown rush by Hugh Charles with a 35-yard reception of his own, before Fantuz really made his presence felt.

The fifth-year Roughrider closed out the third quarter with a 57-yard catch that set up Luca Congi’s first of two field goals. Then, with 4:56 to play, he scored on a 60-yard catch-and-run from Durant to bring the ‘Riders within three points of the Stamps.

“Some of those catches were really tough catches and talented catches that he made, so it was a tremendous job of receiving tonight by (Fantuz),” said Saskatchewan head coach Ken Miller.

Calgary seemed to have caught a break, though they couldn’t capitalize in overtime, after Congi tied the game at 37 with a 44-yard field goal. With no time on the clock and the ball on the Stamps’ 28, Saskatchewan elected to let Johnson try and punt the ball through the end zone for a single point, instead of letting Congi kick a 35-yard field goal attempt.

Johnson’s punt fell short and Deon Murphy ran it out of the end zone to send the game to overtime.

“There are times when you kick a field goal and it goes off the pipe and no points,” said Miller. “We have worked on situations where we punt or kick for a single and we felt like certainly Eddie had the leg to boot that out of the end zone, and he probably would 99 times out of 100.

“He just didn’t hit the ball well and it caused us to not get the points to win the game in regulation.

“I was about ready to figure out a way to get out of town before daylight,” Miller added with a chuckle.

The ‘Riders (7-4) seemed frozen early by the unseasonably frigid weather, with a temperature at kickoff of 5 C. Calgary linebacker Milt Collins returned a Durant interception for a touchdown on the game’s opening drive and the Stamps (9-2) added a Rob Maver field goal to take a 10-point lead after the first quarter.

Joffrey Reynolds and Drew Tate contributed rushing touchdowns for Calgary, Jon Cornish ran in a 30-yard reception from Burris, and Maver finished the game with three field goals.

Johnson booted two singles to round out the scoring for the Roughriders.

Burris finished 29 of 40 for 348 yards. Durant completed 23 of 39 passes for 500 yards.

NOTES: Cates’ overtime touchdown gave him 34 rushing majors for his career with the Roughriders, tying him with Kent Austin for second on the team’s all-time list ... A win by Calgary would have clinched the Stamps’ sixth straight playoff spot ... Saskatchewan lost defenders Brent Hawkins and Daniel Francis to injury during the game and Miller said he expected to have an update on the condition of both players Saturday.