Tiger-Cats rough up slumping Riders 38-13 in CFL mismatch

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats handed the Saskatchewan Roughriders their fifth straight loss with a 38-13 victory on Saturday at Mosaic Stadium.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats handed the Saskatchewan Roughriders their fifth straight loss with a 38-13 CFL victory on Saturday at Mosaic Stadium.

The victory improves the Tiger-Cats' record to 8-8-0 and moves them into a tie for second place in the East Division with the Montreal Alouettes. At 8-7-0, the Alouettes have a game in hand on the Tiger-Cats. Both teams have clinched playoff berths and are now playing for the right to host the East Division semifinal on Nov. 4.

The loss drops the Riders to 6-10-0. Saskatchewan is in third place in the West Division, four points ahead of the 4-11-0 Calgary Stampeders.

The Tiger-Cats dominated the first half, taking a 25-9 lead while rolling up 345 yards of net offence. Bo Levi Mitchell and Matt Shiltz combined to go 12-of-18 passing for 276 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.

Omar Bayliss caught two TD passes in the first half, a 10-yarder from Mitchell followed by a nine-yarder from Shiltz, who also connected with Sean Thomas Erlington on a seven-yard scoring pass.

Third-string quarterback Kai Locksley scored on a one-yard run with 25 seconds left in the fourth quarter to give Hamilton its final margin of victory.

Shiltz finished the contest 16-of-19 for 271 yards, combining with Mitchell to give the Tiger-Cats 400 yards passing on the night.