Hamilton Tiger

Saskatchewan Roughriders' winning momentum halted by Hamilton Tiger-Cats comeback

Tiger-Cats went 26-19 against Roughriders on Saturday night

Keric Wheatfall wanted to do something special on Saturday night.

So when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats' 27-year-old wide receiver had an opportunity to haul in a slightly overthrown pass midway through the fourth quarter, he stretched out his six-foot-one, 187-pound frame to make a remarkable go-ahead touchdown catch that sparked Hamilton to a 26-19 win against the defending Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Wheatfall then took off his helmet and looked up into the evening sky. That important catch was for his Grandma Rose.

"I had a one-hand left-hand touchdown grab in college, but I'll say this one," Wheatfall said when asked if this was his greatest catch. "This one was kind of special to me because I lost my grandma last week [back in Texas]."

"I missed the funeral yesterday, and yeah, this one was special to me. You could see that I took my helmet off and I looked up in the sky. Yeah, this was all for her."

Wheatfall broke through for the slumping Tiger-Cats (4-6), who ended a three-game slide at Hamilton Stadium and defeated the Roughriders (6-3) for the first time since 2023.

He made nine catches for 108 yards and almost had a second touchdown in the fourth quarter, but Tre Ford overthrew him.

Ford, however, deserved full marks for the Tiger-Cats' strong start to the second half of the season. Starter Harrison Frost put Hamilton in front early with a touchdown pass to Myron Mitchell. But the Roughriders took control and led 13-10 at the half.

Frost suffered an upper-body injury. As a result, Tiger-Cats head coach Scott Milanovich turned to the Canadian quarterback. Ford. Milanovich was glad to see Ford come in and play so well after a "terrific week" of practice.

"Tre worked his ass off this week," Milanovich said. "He was in there early. I never said anything. Every time Frost was in there running plays, I could hear Tre behind me saying the play, doing the read. So he was prepared when the opportunity came up, and I thought he did an amazing job."

Ford connected on 13 of 17 passes for 151 yards and rushed for 38 yards on four carries. He kept the Roughriders league-leading defence off guard with his running ability.

"I think throughout my [five] years in the CFL the one thing you learn is to be professional," said the University of Waterloo product from Niagara Falls.

"I got benched, but I'm not gonna boo hoo or whatever," added Ford. "I go out there to practice with my teammates, try to give him the best looks I can."

"Something unfortunate happens to Harrison. I hope he's OK. I think he's gonna be fine, but I got my name called, and I have to be able to step up and help my teammates and other guys who were putting the work in, day in and day out. So I'm happy to get to win for them."

Milanovich hopes the impressive start to the second half of the season is a sign of positive things to come.

"We're not as bad a football team as y'all think we are," the Tiger-Cats head coach said. "Honestly, that's what I see, but that means nothing until you show it on game day."

"And we've had some adversity, obviously, but the guys haven't stopped believing. The guys are still playing hard and believe in what we can do. So I'm happy that they got that reward."

Roughriders: Visit the B.C. Lions on Sunday, Aug. 23.

Tiger-Cats: Visit the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday, Aug. 22.

Tim has covered the hockey landscape and other sports in Canada for three decades for The Canadian Press, CBC Sports, the Globe and Mail and Toronto Sun. He has been to three Winter Olympics, 11 Stanley Cups, a world championship as well as 17 world junior championships, 13 Memorial Cups and 13 University Cups. The native of Waterloo, Ont., always has his eye out for an underdog story.