Mitchell Blair
He may call Mosaic Stadium home now, but Geroy Simon goes back to the place where he spent so many years on Friday night as the Saskatchewan Roughriders make their first visit of the year to BC Place to take on the Lions in a huge Western Division showdown.
Simon spent over a decade wearing Lions colours and he admits it will be an emotional test for him when he steps back onto BC turf wearing the green and white.
“I don’t know what to expect,” Simon said with a chuckle. “This will be a real test of my cool and my calmness. I am excited though because I will have a chance to see my family for the first time in a few weeks and it will be the first time I’ve been back at BC Place so I am looking forward to it.
Simon is not the only member of the Riders offense looking forward to what amounts to a huge game when it comes to possible playoff seeding. After missing two weeks with a knee injury that has paralyzed what the team wants to do when they have ball, Kory Sheets gets back onto the roster. Despite missing most of the last three games, Sheets still leads the CFL in rushing and he says its great to be back contributing to the cause.
“It’s a work in progress right now, but I can do everything full speed right now,” Sheets said. “The last three weeks have been very frustrating for me. I’ve been yelling and screaming at the TV telling this guy to do this and this guy to do that. I can’t wait to get back in there.”
It’s safe to say Darian Durant is likely extremely very happy to see Sheets with him in the huddle again. The struggles of the offense have been well documented over this four game losing streak, but Durant is hoping that streak can come to a quick end with Sheets back in there.
“It’s going to be great. He’s a huge part of our offence. “Durant explained. “ We haven’t had much of a running game lately and to have him back will take that pressure off me a little bit. I don’t have to go out and throw the ball 50 times a game. I’m definitely looking forward to that.”
Durant is also looking forward to having a run game which can put some fear in the opposition. The defense has not respected the Riders run game since Sheets went out making Durant try to win a game with his arm. He says Sheets’ presence forces the defense to be a little more honest with what they do.
“No doubt about it,” Durant proclaimed, “Defenses can’t tee off and run at the passer. They have to sit back, stay in their lanes and their gaps and defend the run. It’s going to be huge.”
While Sheets is back, perhaps the biggest question is how well is the football team prepared for a Lions team they faced for the first time just two weeks ago. After returning from Montreal on Sunday following their loss to the Alouettes, the team only had one practice before leaving for Vancouver. Coach Corey Chamblin realizes his team might not be at their optimal best having had such a short time to recover from the Montreal game and then flying to the other end of the country, but he is confident his team will go out and give the Lions a hard-fought contest.
“How confident am I?, Chamblin asked “Like I told those guys, it’s not impossible. The biggest thing is we’ve won games on the road before. We’ve won in short weeks. Toronto has done it. B.C. has done it. It’s not impossible. It’ll be tough, but it’s not impossible.’’
The team is doing its best to battle through this four game losing streak and do what they have to do to get what has been an elusive 9th win of the season. Defensive lineman Ricky Foley knows what its like to play in October with your season perhaps hanging in the balance. He was with a Toronto team last year that turned things around after a win at Mosaic Stadium. While others might be moaning over the fact the Riders are playing two games in five days, Foley isn’t buying into that and says this is an opportunity for his team to perhaps have the same attitude as the Argonauts did last year when they walked into Mosaic.
“I don’t know if we were 500 when we came in here last year, but I do know it turned our season around.” Foley stated. “It would be a huge momentum builder if we can go in there and win and it could be something that turns our season around. We didn’t have time to watch the film in Montreal and that’s been good because the attitude in the locker-room has been more positive with an attitude of “move on because you can’t change the past”.
A win by the Riders would leave both teams at 9-5 and would even the season series at one with the tiebreaker going at Mosaic Stadium in a few weeks team. Game time is 8 o’clock with radio coverage starting on 620 CKRM at 530 with “Roughrider Gameday” and Michael Ball. That will be followed with the play-by-play with Rod Pedersen and Carm Carteri on the call . TSN will once again provide TV coverage.
GAME NOTES:
- While the Riders have not been in the win column, they have been just a play or two from turning a loss into a win having lost in the last three weeks by a total of nine points.
- With Kory Sheets in the lineup, the team was running the ball 26 times a game. Without Sheets, that number dipped to 11.
- Rider safety Tyron Brackenridge leads the CFL in forced fumbles with 4
- The Riders have won the time of possession in 11 of 13 games this year. They are second in the league in time of possession averaging 32 minutes 14 seconds a game trailing only Calgary.
