There is no joy in Riderville as the Saskatchewan Roughriders fail to put another full game together.
In Sept. 1's Labour Day Classic against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, which Winnipeg won 35-33, the Rider offence scored enough points to win but could not get the two point convert it needed to tie the game. The defence struggled when Zach Collaros was in the game. Special teams gave up points in the most bizarre fashions. Yet again a strange refereeing decision affected the Riders at the end of the game. Lastly, a heroic next man up effort was not enough.
Trevor Harris led the Rider offence to four touchdowns with three touchdown passes and a one-yard quarterback sneak in the last minute of the game. He bemoaned to Taylor Shire of the Regina Leader Post of a “lull” for the offence in the second quarter when they had three unproductive drives. In the second half the offence had two field goals and two touchdowns. Harris attributed the success to Marc Mueller dialling up the plays. He said it was a fun offence.
The play he regretted was the two point convert attempt. He also told Shire he was trying to look off the safety but did not get a good read on the lane to Kian Shaffer-Baker running a dig route. He held safety Brandon Alexander in place but he did not locate Bomber linebacker, Tony Jones, moving into the throwing lane and Jones knocked down the pass. Had Harris looked to the left, down the middle of the field, Shawn Bane Jr. was wide open.
The defence played well after Zach Collaros was knocked out of the game on a hit by Miles Brown. While Collaros was guiding the Bombers for the first half he was 12 for 18 for 218 yards. The Rider defence had trouble defending his accurate passes.
In the second half Rider defenders effectively stopped Chris Streveler who managed but four completions in six attempts for 46 yards. The Riders came hard blitzing often as they had little concern over Streveler passing.
While Brent Lauther brilliantly illustrated in the final minute that he is the best in the CFL at onside kicks it was not a good night for special teams because of a pair of plays involving returner, Mario Alford.
After the Bombers tied the game at 14 in the second quarter Sergio Castillo kicked the ball well into the end zone. By the time Alford caught up with the ball it was within five yards of the end line. He gave up a single. He said with a bit of wind behind him Castillo had kicked the ball further than he had expected. He said they had talked about, if the ball was going into the end zone, about not bringing it out. He said during the play he said he did not want to attempt a hero play and get stuffed at the one-yard line.
A few plays later he had a bouncing punt deflect off the top of his hands which was recovered by Winnipeg for a touchdown. He said it was a weird bounce and he did not know what else he could have done trying to field the ball.
The Riders had a chance at a last second field goal because of a pass interference call on the Bombers. What made the play strange was that the ball was spotted about the Bomber 46 and was then moved back to the Bomber 53. Corey Mace thought it should have been spotted further in Bomber territory than the final spot. He said the officials were talking to each other and he tried to get an explanation. Had the ball been put at the original spot I believe Lauther makes the field goal. Watching the replay I could not see interference at the Bomber 53. Even stranger the CFL game stats said the penalty was on Evan Holm who intercepted the ball at the Bomber 46. Holm was actually behind the play and could not have interfered with the intended receiver.
Micah Johnson was the Rider hero of the game having played almost the whole second half on the offensive line at right guard. He played well. Logan Ferland generously said he blocked better than some of the regular offensive line at times. I was struck that Johnson, in dealing with twists and blitzes, said he was just reacting to what was in front of him. In comparison, he said playing defensive tackle is pretty simple. No Rider has stepped up more than Johnson. I asked if he could have played defence as well. He said he was begging to go out on defence but the coaches were afraid to put him out on defence as they said the team could not afford to have him injured.
