OUT OF THE TUNNEL: PLAYOFF TIME!
BY: RODPEDERSEN.COM STAFF
Rider fans, take the time to enjoy the two weeks ahead and celebrate the lead up to just the third West Final in Saskatchewan since 1976!
It was a great team effort that got the Green and White past the Edmonton Eskimos 23-13 on Saturday afternoon. The football club rallied around a rookie quarterback (making his first pro start) and helped Isaac Harker to his first CFL victory.
It wasn’t a pretty game by any means. The two teams combined for just 511 yards of total offence as both offences kept things incredibly conservative.
Harker thrived under the simple offence, completing 80% of his passes and recording an efficiency rating of 102.2. The run game had its problems with just 3 yards per carry but it didn’t matter. They kept mistakes to a minimum and dominated the time of possession.
The Roughrider defence continues to improve as the season progresses. Other than Zack Evans missing significant time, the unit has rolled out pretty much the same group since week one of the season.
This has allowed defensive coordinator Jason Shivers to continue to add new wrinkles and diversify the defence. A prime example is the implementation of the ‘walk-around’ defence. It happened in the second quarter and midway through the third. It’s where none of the defenders in the front seven are set in position and are walking around until the ball is snapped. This is difficult to block because without a defensive lineman with his hand in the dirt, it’s hard to nail down who is blocking whom.
This defence is a staple of LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda. It’s something he started while at the University of Wisconsin and has implemented with the number one ranked Tigers. This is a defence that is well-suited to the CFL game because of the smaller, athletic defensive linemen teams tend to use.
The Roughrider coaching staff, as a whole, performs well as a unit which has really come into their own under head coach Craig Dickenson.
Like we’ve said before, Dickenson is the right temperament for the athletes currently in the CFL and will easily be the West nominee for the Annis Stukas award for CFL Coach of the Year.
The East nominee is an easy one as well and that’s Khari Jones. He has the same type of temperament and it has carried over into an incredible turnaround for the Montreal Alouettes. Don’t be surprised if these two men lead their teams to the Grey Cup in Calgary.
Of course the biggest story around here for at least the next will be the status of star QB Cody Fajardo who missed Saturday’s game with an oblique muscle injury. With the team fighting hard to earn a bye in round one of the playoffs, you likely won’t hear – or see – much of Fajardo until the team returns to the practice field after the semifinals have been played. Clearly the team made the right decision in resting Fajardo against the Eskimos.
Fajardo’s injury status will be the most closely-guarded secret in Riderville since … last year’s playoffs.
BOLD PREDICTION: Next week the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will knock off the Calgary Stampeders in the West Semi-Final while Montreal will roll over the Eskimos in the East.
With the success on the field things were a little bleak in the stands. The announced crowd of 29,156 was the second-lowest crowd of the season and with the number of empty seats, the scanned tickets could have been around 20,000.
This isn’t a good sign for a team that had one of their best seasons in franchise history and is getting ready to host just their third West Final in 50 years.
The average crowd (according to CFLdb) in 2019 is 30,723 which is the lowest since 2014. The shine of the new stadium seems to have fully worn off and seeing averages between 32,000 and 33,000 are more than likely out the window.
The ticket goal will look more like 29,000 and 30,000 for the next few years to come.
As for the complete CFL attendance story, it’s even worse but more on that next week.
This Week in Canada West:
The Calgary Dinos and the Saskatchewan Huskies will meet in the Hardy Cup final for the second year in a row. Both had to grind through a pair of nail-biting semi-finals to get there.
The Huskies needed a huge comeback to knock off the Alberta Golden Bears at Griffiths Stadium. Late in the second quarter the Golden Bears held a 22-12 lead but the Huskies offence got in gear in the second half and eventually pulled the game out of the fire in the fourth quarter.
Huskies running back Adam Machart went off again with 232-yards rushing while Mason Nyhus threw for 334-yards and a touchdown.
It was a miserable day for Golden Bears quarterback Brad Launhardt, throwing three interceptions and getting sacked three more times in the loss.
The Calgary Dinos escaped by the skin of their teeth.
The Manitoba Bisons hit on a miraculous Hail Mary touchdown catch by Trysten Dyce on the last play of the game and cut the score to 47-46. Head coach Brian Dobie decided to go for the two-pointer but it failed and the Dinos are off to their 12-straight Hardy Cup final.
Defence was optional in this one as the teams combined for almost 1,000-yards of offence.
Next week’s Hardy Cup final will be at 1:00pm at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.
This Week in the Prairie Football Conference:
The Saskatoon Hilltops easily disposed of the London Beefeaters on Saturday night 51-1 and are off to the Canadian Bowl with their sixth straight national championship in sight.
It will be a rematch of last year’s Canadian Bowl as the Hilltops will face the Langley Rams with the title on the line. Saskatoon won 58-21 last year and beat Langley in the 2012 and 2014 championships.
Canadian to Watch in the NCAA:
DE – Mason Bennett (RS.-Sr.)
North Dakota (FCS Independent)
6′ 4″ 258lbs.
Winnipeg, Manitoba
High School – Vincent Massey High School
Bennett has been on the field with the Fighting Hawks defence since his redshirt freshman season in 2016. He has played in 40 games with North Dakota starting 18.
2018 was a breakout season for Bennett with nine sacks and 14 tackles for a loss. So far in 2019 he has one-and-a-half sacks and 10 solo tackles.
Bennett is pegged as one of the top defensive prospect in the upcoming 2020 CFL Draft.
(RODPEDERSEN.COM STAFF)
