While the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defense has been keeping opponents off the board at a good rate, taking the ball was a struggle through the first four games of the season. Preaching patience knowing their time was to come, the defense finally broke out – and in a big way. “The football gods said, ‘All right, we’ll start playing in your favour,” head coach Corey Mace joked after Sunday’s 38-7 win over Hamilton. “It’s not for a lack of effort or anything; we’ve been preaching it like crazy. I’m proud of the guys, we’ve been talking about it. It might not be an interception, we might have to force the ball out, punch the ball out.” That they did. Saskatchewan’s defense forced four turnovers – all in the second half – in their victory. The defensive output highlighted by a 107-yard interception return for a touchdown by Josh Woods, which helped seal the game in the fourth quarter. “We call it the ‘Hot boys at the boundary,” Woods said about the play. “When you have Kenny Lawler at the two, the ball’s probably going there.” Woods, a linebacker, leads the Riders in interceptions with two – catching both of the team’s picks so far in 2026. “I’ve been joking with Tevaughn [Campbell] and Marcus [Sayles] like, ‘C’mon y’all. Y’all gotta catch up.’ And I expect them too, both of them. They got more tackles than me,” he added. Flipping the script It had been a tough four games for a Saskatchewan team which was near the top of the league in most defensive categories in 2025 – including turnovers. However, through four games in 2026, Saskatchewan had generated just three turnovers – worst in the CFL. The Riders were also near the bottom of the league in turnover ratio and points off turnovers as a result. “Once they started to come it was going to be a storm of them,” said Woods. “And I mean, we should have even more honestly. But it was it was great and the energy it brought; that was that was good football we played tonight.” In addition to Woods’ pick-six, Saskatchewan added two forced fumbles – recovering one. The defense also racked up two turnovers on downs for their total four takeaways. Antoine Brooks forced the second fumble. It was recovered by Sayles and returned 40 yards, nearly for a touchdown, to the one-yard line. Former University of Regina Ram Jaxon Ford came up big in a third down situation, stuffing Hamilton pivot Jake Dolegala behind the line of scrimmage to force a turnover on downs. A late fourth quarter sack by Caleb Saunders of Tiger-Cats’ back-up quarterback Tre Ford also led to a turnover on downs. “We had one early in the game and it was like, ‘Man, we really aren’t going to get this ball,’ and we couldn’t jump on it,” Mace said. “I’m happy. This is something we’ve been waiting for as a defense.” Taking advantage Even more important for Saskatchewan, however, is the impact it made. With the four takeaways, the Riders scored 27 of their 38 points off those turnovers. “We have to take advantage,” defensive lineman James Vaughters told reporters after the game. “Turnovers have been something we’ve wanted to improve on over the past four games. It feels good going into the bye [week] to be able to put some turnovers together.” “Our defense created those turnovers and really set up the scores,” quarterback Trevor Harris noted. “With the pick six and the fumble down to the one, that’s essentially two defensive touchdowns. It was really complementary football and it was good stuff.” Keeping the ball in the offense’s hands and the pressure off their backs. “It makes the game easier, definitely,” receiver Sam Emilus said. “It allows our offense to rest a little bit more. But when you put up 14 points and you win the turnover battle, you’re most likely going to win the game. So, kudos to the defense for putting 14 points on the board.” “There’s going to be games where we lean into the passing game when you need to do a bunch,” added Harris. “There’s going to be games where we lean into the run game and we lean to the defense, and that’s kind of what team football is … I’m excited we were able to have defense really, really light it up today and do a great job.”
