In the final week of the regular season in the Canadian Football League, Sayville native Jack Coan went under center for the Saskatchewan Roughriders vs. the Calgary Stampeders. Coan, who is the Roughriders’ third-string quarterback, got the nod to call the signals in Week 21 of the CFL ,as playoff implications were already intact just prior to gametime.

In the evening contest vs. Calgary, Coan encapsulated his name in the CFL record books when he stepped on the field with 1:37 to go until halftime with his team trailing 14-3. In Coan’s first CFL toss, he slung a pass to Mitchell Picton for a gain of six yards, then on the subsequent play found Picton again for a gain of nine and a first down.

On the Roughriders’ first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, the field general handed the ball off to Hickson followed by a completion to Jerreth Sterns for 17 yards and up to the Calgary 50-yard line.

A couple plays later, the former Notre Dame quarterback evaded the sack and scampered for a gain of eight yards to set up an ensuing Saskatchewan field goal. Coan was sacked late in the third quarter. In the fourth period, the Sayville product handed the ball to Hickson for a gain of nine; then on second and one he plunged his way for a first down on a QB sneak and a gain of one yard on the ground to move the chains.

Coan threw a laser over the middle to Picton for a gain of nine, then launched another dart to Picton gaining four yards to once again move the chains. With seven and a half to go in regulation, Coan heaved a 19-yard touchdown strike over the middle to Jerreth Sterns for six points to cut the Roughriders’ deficit to 24-12.

The two-point conversion fell incomplete. In the waning minutes on third and five, the former Wisconsin Badger scurried for a five-yard rush to convert a first down. Coan then completed a pass to Joe Robustelli, the grandson of the New York Giants Hall of Famer who attended LaSalle Military Academy in Oakdale, for a seven-yard gain.

Coan threw a missile into traffic that was caught by Stearns first a down and on the next play threw a perfect pass right to the chest of Stearns that he snagged for another Saskatchewan first down.

On the following play, Coan flung a pass to Dhel Duncan-Busby, who held on for a circus catch deep in Calgary territory. The Roughriders fell 27-12, but Jack Coan went 10 for 21 in his CFL debut for 100 yards, throwing his longest pass for 19, threw a touchdown toss, carried the ball three times on the ground and never turned the ball over.

The Roughriders will play postseason football on Saturday night for the Western Division semifinals.