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Roughriders down Eskimos

Jul 9, 2012 - 3:55 AM Regina, SK (Sports Network) - Kory Sheets busted through the line, made one cut and was off.

His 34-yard touchdown run broke open a defensive battle in the final minutes Sunday night and the Saskatchewan Roughriders beat the Edmonton Eskimos, 17-1, for their second straight win to open the season.

It had been 6-1 since halftime when Sheets scored untouched with a little more than two minutes left for the game's only touchdown.

In a defensive battle, however, it was only fitting that a play on that side of the ball locked down the win for Saskatchewan (2-0).

Safety Craig Butler was in the right place at the right time to intercept a pass Kerry Joseph airmailed over Adarius Bowman's head on the ensuing drive.

Darian Durant was 20-of-32 for 203 yards passing for the Riders, who opened the season with a 43-16 rout of Hamilton last weekend.

Under new head coach Corey Chamblin, they are almost halfway to their win total from last season, when they went 5-13 and scored 30 points just three times.

"I told the guys it was gonna be a 42-man effort and it was," said Chamblin. "It was a defensive battle. I said they were gonna do ball control and they did. On offense, Kory Sheets, I told him to keep grinding, and he did."

Edmonton (1-1) was coming off a tight win over Toronto. Steven Jyles threw for just 91 yards on 10-of-19 passing against the Riders on Sunday and was spelled by Joseph in the first and second half. Joseph was 4-of-8 for 34 yards.

Defense dominated the game, leaving few opportunities to put points on the board.

Christopher Milo kicked a 32-yard field goal in the final minute of the first quarter to give Saskatchewan a 3-0 lead and the teams exchanged singles in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the second quarter.

Edmonton punter Burke Dales took a safety later on, giving the Riders a 6-1 lead at halftime.

Grant Shaw and Milo both missed field goals in the third quarter, Shaw from 58 yards and Milo from 46. The Riders had a single in the fourth and Milo kicked a field goal late.

Game Notes

Sheets ran for 89 yards on 14 carries and Chris Getzlaf had four catches for 74 yards...Hugh Charles led Edmonton with 45 yards rushing on nine carries. Bowman had four catches for 35 yards but was injured tackling Butler on the pick...The Riders had their home opener. They are 2-0 for the first time since 2010 when they won their first three games.