Rod Pedersen
The Saskatchewan Roughriders (9-8) were home to the Edmonton Eskimos (12-5) Saturday evening to close out the 2014 CFL schedule. The Riders were out to snap a five-game losing streak and if they did, Saturday’s game would be a playoff preview of the Western Semi-Final in Edmonton on November 16. Here’s the game log from the broadcast booth:
– It was overcast and minus-4 degrees Celsius at the 6:00 pm kickoff. With a northwest wind at 15 km/h, it felt like minus-11.
– The Riders wore their home green uniforms with green pants and helmets while the Eskimos were in their road white jerseys with green pants and gold helmets.
– The scratches for the Riders from their 46-man roster were RB Jerome Messam and LB Weldon Brown.
– Rider great Matt Dominguez introduced the team on the SaskTel MaxTron for the Bring ‘Em Out video just as snow flurries set in.
– The Riders won the coin toss and elected to defer. Edmonton chose to take the football to open the game. The Riders got the south endzone in the first quarter, going into the snow and wind.
– Matt Nichols started at QB for the Eskimos as their opening series began at their 36. He easily moved them down to the Saskatchewan 30 before settling for a 37-yard Hugh O’Neill field goal attempt. However it was wide, and went for a rouge. 1-0 Edmonton at the 3:32 mark.
– The Riders took it at their 35 for their opening series with Kerry Joseph making his third straight start at QB. First downs came courtesy of WR Rob Bagg (2) and RB Anthony Allen (2) as they moved it into the redzone. Allen came into the game 151 rushing yards away from 1000. They got to the Edmonton 16 before settling for a 23-yard Chris Milo field goal attempt. However he was wide right and it was returned out to the five yard line for no points. 1-0 Edmonton with 7:34 to go in the first.
– Edmonton’s second series began at their 5. 2-and-out.
– The Riders’ second series commenced at the Edmonton 51 after a Tristan Jackson punt return. 2-and-out and Joseph was sacked for 10-yard loss.
– Edmonton’s third series began at their 33 after a no yards penalty on the Riders’ Diamond Ferri on the punt return. They got as far as their 54 before punting.
– The Riders got it for a third time at their 14 with 2:35 to go. Back-to-back runs by rookie RB Steven Miller got them to their 42. Then he ripped off a 29-yarder to the Edmonton 31. The series carried over into the second quarter.
AFTER ONE: ESKIMOS 1 ROUGHRIDERS 0
– 2:12 into the quarter Kerry Joseph scored on a one yard plunge to give Saskatchewan a 7-1 lead. It was a 12-play, 96-yard drive.
– Edmonton’s fourth drive began at the Rider 51. The Riders’ Mark Legree and Chris Milo were injured on the kickoff cover. On the second play of the series Rider DB Rod Williams picked off Matt Nichols at the Rider 24. TURNOVERS: ESKIMOS 1 RIDERS 0
– The Riders took over at their 24. 2-and-out.
– Edmonton’s fifth series began at their 42 with 10:32 to go in the half. In one play Tyler Thomas rushed it to the Rider 40. The series ended with a 20-yard Hugh O’Neill field goal. 7-4 Riders with 6:43 left in the half.
– The Riders’ fifth possession began at their 41 after a short Edmonton kick. A 29-yard pass to Chris Getzlaf got them to the Eskimo 46 and a facemask penalty on the Eskimos set them up at the Eskimo 31 on the same play. They ended the series with a 38-yard Chris Milo field goal with 3:11 to go. 10-4 Riders.
– Eskimo ball at their 35 following the FG. 2-and-out.
– Rider ball at their 46 with 2:37 remaining. 2-and-out. That was their third.
– Edmonton took over at their 16 after a 46-yard Josh Bartel punt with 2:11 left. They recovered a fumble on first down at their 5 for a loss of 11. Then Rider DB Marshay Green recovered a Tyler Thomas fumble at the Edmonton 40 with 1:24 to go. TURNOVERS: ESKIMOS 2 RIDERS 0
– The Riders promptly raced down the field and scored a touchdown on an 18-yard Korey Williams run with 0:45 to go. The Riders went for a two point convert but the Joseph pass to Dressler was incomplete and Saskatchewan came away with a 16-4 lead.
– After the kickoff the Eskimos started from their 19 with 0:33 to go. They ran out the clock on the half.
AT THE BREAK: ROUGHRIDERS 16 ESKIMOS 4
– The Riders opened the second half with the ball starting at their 35. They appeared to be 2-and-out but an Eskimo penalty prolonged the drive and they got a first down at their 47. However they ended up punting from there.
– The Eskimos’ first series began at their 24. 2-and-out.
– The Riders got it for a second time at the Edmonton 48 after a 25-yard Marshay Green punt return and a no yards penalty moved them up to the Edmonton 40 to start out. Tino Sunseri came in at QB and aired out a 40-yard touchdown toss to Rob Bagg on the very first play. 23-4 Riders at the 3:52 mark.
– Edmonton got it for a second time at their 31 with 10:55 to go in the period. Nicholls and back-up Pat White confidently moved it down to the Rider 15 before White went down for an extended period with injury. After he was helped up, the Esks’ Hugh O’Neill hit a 22-yard field goal cutting the Riders’ lead to 23-7 with 5:18 remaining in the third.
– Riders took over at their 35. 2-and-out with Sunseri at the helm.
– Edmonton got it at their 13 with 3:43 to go. 2-and-out.
– Rider ball at their 52 with 2:18 left on the clock. Tino got drilled by Almondo Sewell as he delivered a 20-yard pass to Korey Williams. He had to check out in favour of Seth Doege for a few plays. They ended the series with a 42-yard Milo field goal attempt. He was wide right and it went for a single. 24-7 Riders with 0:02 to go in the third.
AFTER THREE: ROUGHRIDERS 24 ESKIMOS 7
– 2:52 into the fourth quarter Woody Turrenne picked off Matt Nichols and returned it 11 yards to the Rider 32. TURNOVERS: ESKIMOS 3 RIDERS 0
– So the Riders’ fourth possession of the half began at their 32 with Doege at quarterback. They got one first down on a nice 12-yard fingertip catch by Brett Swain but they punted from their 50 with 10:10 to go.
– Edmonton took over at their 41. The windchill dipped to minus-14 at this point. Nichols got them down to the Rider 18 with 6:38 remaining and O’Neill stroked a 24-yard field goal to cut the Rider lead to 24-10.
– The Riders took it at their 35 with 6:20 to go. By this point they’d been using young Canadian receivers Alex Anthony and Alex Pierzchalski in most series. 2-and-out and Doege was sacked on 2nd-and-10. Eskimos blitzed on back-to-back plays.
– Edmonton ball at their 49 with 5:02 to go. 2-and-out for a fifth time.
– With 4:10 to go the Riders started from their 10. Anthony Allen fumbled on first down and the Esks’ Willie Jefferson recovered at the Rider-3. TURNOVERS: ESKIMOS 3 RIDERS 1.
– Two plays later Matt Nichols scored on a quarterback keep on 2nd-and-goal from the two. 24-17 Riders with 2:53 to go.
– With 2:45 left, Doege and the Rider offense took over at their 35 after a 20-yard Steven Miller KO return. 2-and-out after back-to-back Miller runs.
– With 1:49 to go, Edmonton returner Kendial Lawrence fumbled the punt and the Riders’ Tristan Black recovered at the Edmonton 43. TURNOVERS: ESKIMOS 4 RIDERS 1
– Saskatchewan was 2-and-out again and they punted from the Eskimo 36 with 1:18 to go.
– With 1:04 left, the Eskimos started from their 5-yard line. Nichols passed for a pair of first downs to their 32 with 0:18 to go. With 0:00 remaining the Eskimos punted it downfield out-of-bounds and that was the ball game.
GAME OVER: RIDERS 24 ESKIMOS 17
POSTGAME COMMENTS
HEAD COACH COREY CHAMBLIN
– It was a good game. We didn’t even play all the starters but I thought all the guys played like starters. We look pretty good injury-wise but I’ll check on it after meeting with the medical staff. I had some guys that were only going to play for a half and we stuck to it.
– We had guys hustling and we believed. We had a dip and I was ticked but I told them to be a championship team you have to stay up. It’s about consistency and continuity.
– A lot of things have gone against us but I think the tide is turning for us. I think it helps with prep playing Edmonton again but I’m excited to get there and we’ll have our fans with us there.
– It’s awesome to win it but I told the guys it’s not the championship. It didn’t matter to win because we lost the last game last year and came back to win it all. But it was good for the guys to feel a win because they hadn’t had that feeling in awhile. We worked so hard for so many weeks and get the win. A team win.
– Whether it was East or West, the team was prepared to go either but it’s always nice to stay in the West. For us we’ve played Edmonton the most the past few weeks and there are some known strengths and weaknesses in the opponent. In terms of prep, it’s good to know the opponent you’re playing. There are some base things to study from this game and they put their best foot forward to win this game.
– There were some penalties and for a time it looked like a preseason game but we came out with enough points to win the game.
– I think the last couple of weeks I’ve been tuning guys for the playoffs. That’s how we approached this game. It was a tune-up game for the playoffs.
– Milo? It was a bit of a scare there but he got back up and I was pleased to see that.
– Kerry did a good job. When he broke the run, he looked like Darian. He’s starting to look like a playoff quarterback. Whether it’s #4 or #5 going in the playoffs, or both, we’ll be ready.
– We moved some guys around on defense and the guys played strong. Kerry stabilized some things on offense and allowed the defensive guys to just play their game.
– Our quarterback was really hurt. Regarding Mike Reilly, I think that’s just a ruse. It doesn’t matter who their quarterback will be. We’ll have to be ready to play.
– Our final record won’t matter until I’m 68 or 69 years old. What counts are championships.
– We’re a cold weather team. There are some guys getting used to the cold but they’ll be ready.
• The Riders visit the Edmonton Eskimos in the 2014 Western Semi-Final next Sunday on TSN and 620 CKRM.
