Inside the CFL: Riders, Stamps going in opposite directions

By Graham Kelly on August 19, 2021.

As Hank Williams, Jr. sang on Monday nights, “Are you ready for some football?”

Clearly the Saskatchewan Roughriders are. Last Saturday at Mosaic Stadium, before 27,076 rabid fans, they played with great enthusiasm and intensity, especially on defence, where they are truly a fearsome physical force to be reckoned with.

The week before against the other felines in the league, they led 31-0 before hanging on to win 33-29. This time they kept the pedal to the metal for sixty minutes in declawing the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 30-8.

“The biggest thing for us was finishing,” said quarterback Cody Fajardo. “We did a great job finishing with the ball in our hands on that last drive. And our defence did a great job of not even allowing the Ti-Cats to get close.”

Fajardo was 17/21, 222 yards, 2 TDs, no interceptions. He also ran for a major. He has the highest pass-efficiency rating in the league at 111.2. Mike Reilly is second, Zach Collaros third.

The team has done a great job recruiting. Assistant GM Paul Jones spent 20 years as Edmonton’s personnel guy and has five Grey Cup rings to show for it. Signing him was a recruiting coup for Saskatchewan GM Jeremy O’Day.

Particularly effective was rookie defensive end Jonathon Woodward with three sacks and a forced fumble. A.C. Leonard added a couple of sacks and Gary Johnson,Jr. had one. Rebuilding the defensive line and linebacking corps was a real concern for Rider Nation. On the other side of the ball rookie Andrew Lauderdale stepped in at left tackle at the last moment. A sign of depth, Regina Junior product Logan Ferlund replaced perennial all-star Brendon Labatte at guard. Both rendered yeoman service.

Offensively, the Green and White lost their star receiver Shaq Evans in the second quarter. Regina boy Mitch Picton stepped up with his first ever pro touchdown, Kyran Moore was 4/5, 61 yards and rookie Brayden Lenius was 5/5 and 62 yards.

Head coach Craig Dickenson explained why they won.

“The biggest indicator of wins and losses is the turnover ratio. As bad as we were on penalties and sloppy play, winning the turnover battle was key.”

The other Dickenson, Dave – who heads up a reeling Calgary Stampeders group – agrees with his brother.

“We can’t win with that many turnovers, we just can’t do it. We’ve gotta fix our green zone deficiencies. We can’t fault our effort. It’s not enough, I get it, but they’re still playing hard. It’s just not a good product right now.”

It’s about to get worse. Calgary’s starting QB Bo Levi Mitchell has been placed on the six-game injury list.

Bo played badly in the season opener against Toronto and worse in last week’s loss to B.C., throwing four interceptions. That was a career first, as was losing the first two games of a season.

We discovered that a dirty hit by Toronto Argonaut Charleston Hughes broke Levi Mitchell’s right fibula. He later injured his right thumb and was playing with a strained groin.

No wonder he was bad.

But he got little support from his supporting cast, including a listless, indifferent receiving corps, a sieve-like secondary and a D-line that exerts little pressure on the quarterback. Calgary’s MVP at this point is place-kicker Rene Paredes who has tallied all but six of Calgary’s points in their losses to Toronto and B.C., predicted league doormats.

Dickenson said he didn’t fault his players’ effort, that they were all playing hard. Compared to the way the Riders were throwing themselves around against the Ti-Cats, the Stamps looked like they were playing in slow motion. Even if Bo had remained healthy, they weren’t going to win many games with the effort they displayed against the Lions.

After pecking the Elks to pieces in Edmonton, the Montreal Alouettes are in Calgary tomorrow for the Stamps’ third straight home game. Als QB Vernon Adams, Jr. is a rising star and their defence is tough – a challenge for any opponent.

Dickenson will counter with Canadian Michael O’Conner who saw limited action with Toronto in 2019. The 6-foot-5, 223-pound UBC grad has a good arm and can run, something Bo Levi refused to do.

Dickenson has raved about his other backup, 6-foot, 212-pound Jake Maier from UC-Davis. In my preseason report I said a Calgary weakness was lack of an experienced backup pivot.

Montreal tomorrow, on the road at Winnipeg next week.

Ouch!