Mitchell Blair
The Saskatchewan Roughriders have had better days.
The green-and-white saw their seven game win streak come to end with a thud as they were beaten 28-3 by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Sunday afternoon.
Head Coach Corey Chamblin says it was just one of those days and he knew early on, it could be a day they would rather forget.
“There were a lot of ugly things that happened early on and I thought it might be one of those days. When we didn’t get an interference call on Getzlaf overturned, we pretty much knew it was going to be a bad day so we just dug our heels in and tried to fight our way out”
Tino Sunseri’s first professional start was a rough one as he completed just nine of 21 passes for 88 yards and an interception. Chamblin admitted it was a rough afternoon for Sunseri, but it was also a learning experience.
“Tino had a few jitters in his first game, but I don’t think Darian’s first game was that great either.” Chamblin told 620 CKRM’s Carm Carteri. “We just have to learn from this and move forward and protect him. We had some ideas as to what we wanted to do, but we didn’t get them.”
While Sunseri struggled, no one was going to point fingers especially offensive lineman Brendon Labatte.
“I wouldn’t put anything on Tino,’’ said guard Brendon LaBatte to Murray McCormick of the Regina Leader-Post. “There are 11 guys who are surrounding him out there. I don’t think consistently we had 12 guys on the same page and everyone was taking their turn getting beat or not completing their assignments.’’
Chamblin wasn’t going to make any excuses about his team’s lackluster play, but he was also quick to give credit to the Tiger-Cats team. He says he wasn’t just being nice when he said Hamilton was much better than their record indicated going into the game.
“They are a good football team and they showed it today.” Chamblin said. “When we played them the first time, we took advantage of a young quarterback by getting a lot of sacks and today it was their turn to get some sacks and take advantage of a young quarterback. We aren’t the only team they will beat before the season is over.”
The loss leaves the Riders with a record of 8-3, which is good for a second place tie in the West with Edmonton. The next action for the Riders will be at home next Sunday when the expansion Ottawa REDBLACKS visit Mosaic in a 2 o’clock start.
GAME NOTES:
- The Riders had a season low 170 yards in total offence
- For the 4th time in the last 5 games, the special teams gave up a return touchdown as Terrell Sinkfield returned a Chris Milo punt for a touchdown
- Brian Peters and Macho Harris each had 8 tackles and a sack to lead the defence
The win by the Ti-Cats was only the 4th one the East has had against a Western opponent. The Riders have taken two of those losses as they were also beaten
