PRESEASON: ESKIMOS 19 RIDERS 14
REGINA (CP) – Edmonton’s Tyler Thomas and John White, and Saskatchewan’s Keith Toston, will do their best to find holes while plugging them at the same time.
Thomas and White ignited a punchless Eskimos offence Friday night by combining for 153 yards rushing in Edmonton’s 19-14 victory over the host Saskatchewan Roughriders in CFL exhibition action at Mosaic Stadium.
Thomas carried the bulk of the load for Edmonton and registered 96 yards on 12 carries. White added 57 yards along the ground, including a 41-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that gave the visitors a 16-14 advantage.
Hugh Charles, in his seventh season in the CFL, is the lone veteran on the Eskimos’ depth chart in the backfield. Charles had two catches on Friday for 13 yards.
“It has been a crazy ride for us during training camp,” said White, who added one catch for 22 yards. “It’s a friendly competition with all of us. I want Tyler to do well, I want Hugh to do well and I want to do well.
“Ball out – that’s all we have to do.”
It was the Eskimos’ backups that spurred Friday’s second-half comeback. Second-string quarterback Matt Nichols threw for 155 yards, most of which came in Edmonton’s 14-point third quarter. Nichols, the backup to starter Mike Reilly, found Adarius Bowman for a 20-yard touchdown strike and later handed off to White for his long touchdown burst.
Thomas showed his versatility the previous week when he led the Eskimos in rushing with 24 yards and tacked on 38 yards on three receptions.
Eskimos head coach Chris Jones wouldn’t tip his cap to which running back has the inside edge for the starting job.
“(Thomas) was hanging on to the football,” Jones deadpanned. “We’ll find out in a few days (who our starter will be).”
CFL teams have to make final cuts before 10 p.m. Eastern time Saturday.
Toston finds himself in a similar position as his Eskimos’ counterparts. He’s battling Anthony Allen and Jermaine Thomas for the Riders’ No. 1 running back spot. With the departure of Kory Sheets to the NFL’s Oakland Raiders, the defending Grey Cup champions have a big hole to fill in the backfield this season.
Toston’s 67 yards rushing on seven carries Friday night helped his cause in that tight race. Allen had 39 yards along the ground on 10 carries and Thomas was held to eight yards.
“At this point, we have all battled as brothers for this job,” Toston said. “Whoever is blessed with the opportunity to be that number one guy is going to ride with it and I’m sure the next man will cheer him on.”
Roughriders head coach Corey Chamblin hinted the job might be one accomplished by committee.
“I think there’s still something that needs to be proven at that spot,” he said.
Darian Durant looked sharp for the Riders. He was 7-for-11 passing for 113 yards and two touchdowns, both to Taj Smith. Reilly completed nine of 15 pass attempts for 60 yards.
Edmonton opens the regular season in B.C., while Saskatchewan will play host to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on June 29.
Is it true that Prince Miller is selling his 2013 Grey Cup ring ?
There sure were a lot of empty seats if that picture can be believed.
What has happened to the greatest fans in the world? They all said we would be there next week after the Ottawa game. LIES!!!!! It would seem complacency has set in somewhat. Shame Rider Nation, shame!
Awww Shaduuupp! It's preaseason and rainy…
The Rock
Awww Shaduuupp! It's preseason and rainy for a second straight lowly attended home game. They still don't/won't believe In Saskatchewan that a dome stadium should be built for such events with the inclement weather that province has to put up with. Look at the picture cap attached to this article, pathetic with all the empty seats. Ring those phones will be back soon In the future, approximately 2 to 3 years after new stadium settle in.
A perfect night for Friday night football – it seems that the weather gods always play nice when game time starts (Grey Cup and the 2 pre-season games). Time for a hot weather game on June 29! Hope some more fans show up!
maybe saving their pennies for 150$ a game tix in the new stadium. blackout the season opener that will teach em lol
I was at the game last night. There seemed to be lots of empty seats until the rain quit at half time. After that, the stadium seemed to be fuller. What is up with Tino Sunseri? He plays with no confidence and seems to be worse than Doege and Weber.
all the INTEREST here too……
all the INTEREST here too……
Went to Rider store to buy a seat cushion. Lady said we don't have any, I'll check the tent outside. She comes back and says these are the last two anywhere. Kinda surprised they wouldn't have any anywhere.
Ah yes, too bad the Sask oil industry would not just step up and donate $200 or so million to enable the addition of the dome and then pay the upkeep and maintenance for the next 50 years. Then all the fans not up to buying a rain cape at the dollar store will show up to watch the Riders like in the old days.
We should have built an overpass on the Ring Road at the Winnipeg exit so the bloody trains wouldn't interfere with traffic.
But no, we build a useless stadium that is going to only look amazing to the idiots who agreed to build it. Not to the public that would have destroyed the idea if actually taken to a public vote.
It's funny how that fire happened exactly where the stadium is being built.
I thought the Ones looked pretty good on both sides of the ball. The backups and rookies- not so much. A few stone handed receivers for sure.
Very excited for season opener. As long as we stay relatively healthy, we are going to be just fine.
Bring on Hamilton.
People work. I love Friday Nights but its near impossible to make. Not everyone lives in the Regina area. Same with this BS 5pm game this Sunday. Makes getting up Monday brutal.
Hi Rod, I realize you are trying to monetize your blog and best wishes in that regard, I know you work hard at it. But there are very few websites or blogs, however heavily monetized, that when you call them up the entire first screen is nothing but banner ads. As a loyal reader, this annoys, and makes me inclined to go elsewhere for my football fix rather than scroll down in the hope of finding some actual content. Could a balance of some kind perhaps be struck? (e.g., sling some of the ads down the sides, perhaps?). Keep up… Read more »
WAAHHHHHH!!! WAAHHHHHHH!!!!! Hey you part timers making excuses are just making you look more and more stupid. You said you would be there for the Edmonton game after rattling off one excuse after another as to why you weren't at the Ottawa game. EPIC FAIL!!!
Rider fans are laughable. Just laughable with their undying support of the club. What a joke you;ve become!
It's not as annoying as the pop-up ads at the Leader Post's website and at least Rod isn't charging like the Sun media chain. Heck, some bloggers beg for donations. It's called capitalism.
Reason for weak attendance…it's preseason. End of story. Move on. There will be 30000+ for the home opener.
Who could possibly complain about this site. (Especially after a Sat game on a long weekend when other media are at the lake) I operate websites providing information for free. Huge challenge to break even and not have ads appearing for visitors to actually see them. If visitors complain there are ads it's tempting to suggest … but I don't.
I had to attend a graduation for my grandson. I choose priorities. However I do own season tickets and I gave them to someone who, presumably, attended. I wonder how many more had graduations to attend.
Ron
Season ticket sales are 26500 so who cares if there are empty seats for pre season there paid for. I don't know why people make a big deal about a pre season game, spending money to watch 20-25 guys who won't ever play in the cfl.