Riderville.com
“It was ahumbling experience”! That is how John Chick summed up what arguably was not a banner night for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Edmonton.
In what was a playoff-type game in late September, the Riders were completely dominated by the hometown Eskimos with the final score reading 24-0 for the Eskimos.
It all started going downhill early in the football game for the green-and-white when the team elected to gamble on 3rd and one only to see it fail. On the next play, John White scampered 36 yards for a touchdown to give Edmonton a lead they would build on throughout the contest.
“We weren’t consistent on first down and we weren’t consistent on stopping their run game,” a disconsolate Head Coach Corey Chamblin said. “We just didn’t have enough fire in the tank to get it done.”
Despite the final score, Chamblin felt it could have been worse.
“That game could have been a blow-out,” Chamblin told 620 CKRM’s Carm Carteri. “I thought we had a chance to make a comeback in the 2nd half, but we just couldn’t get anything going.”
Tino Sunseri struggled again and was replaced by Seth Doege in the 3rd quarter. While Doege seemed to be more comfortable under center, he had his difficulties as well. Chamblin said it’s a case of dealing with growing pains at the game’s most important position.
“We’ve got to find a way to get things going,” Chamblin uttered. “We’ve got some young guys in there who need to get some experience under their belt. It’s the wrong time to get that experience, but that’s the hand we’ve been dealt with so we have to find a way to make them better and be a good football team. I am confident we will be better because of the leadership and character in the room.”
Safety Tyron Brackenridge was one of many disappointed Riders when it was over, but he wasn’t making excuses.
“We didn’t stop them”, Brackenridge stated. “We gave up some big plays on the ground, we gave up some bad penalties including one on myself which was a stupid play by myself and we couldn’t contain their quarterback. At the end of the day, they had more energy than us and they were hungrier than us.”
Kicker Chris Milo wasn’t making any excuses after the game, but he did stress there were still many positives to look at when you look at the overall state of the team.
“We’ve got a good football team here,” Milo said. “We’re still tied for second, we have won nine games this year and only lost four. We’ve had a tremendous season so far. We let one get away tonight, but we are right back in front of our fans against a tough Calgary team and we still have five games left. This isn’t over yet despite what some might think.”
The Riders are now tied with the Eskimos with both teams sitting at 9-4. They will play two more times before the season is over with both games going at Mosaic Stadium. The next game for the Riders will be next Friday night when the first place Stampeders come to town in an 8 o’clock start.
GAME NOTES:
- It is the first time the Riders have been shutout in a game since Winnipeg defeated them 56-0 back in 1986
- Seth Doege went 5 of 11 for 61 yards and an interception in his first time directing the Saskatchewan offence
- The Riders are now 11-41 all time in the regular season at Commonwealth Stadium
- Macho Harris led the Riders defense with seven
