Dan Plaster
It was a penalty filled and mistake filled preseason opener as the Saskatchewan Roughriders took on the Edmonton Eskimos in the Northern Kick-Off in Fort McMurray, Alberta.
Darian Durant saw his first action since going down with a season ending elbow injury on September 7th of last season. The veteran quarterback played the first three series of the game that saw his offence put the ball on the ground a trio of times, but never lost possession on any of the fumbles (two recovered, one reversed on a coach’s challenge). All of the questions on Durant’s health were answered as he went 4-8 for 42 yards, was sacked once and knocked down a pair of times.
All of the first half scoring took place in the second quarter with the Eskimos scoring on a pair of short TD’s courtesy of quarterback James Franklin and running back Etauj Allen. The Riders Alex Pierzchalski had the lone score with a three-yard TD catch while Chris Milo punched through a short field goal and a Ray Early punt single made it 14-11 Eskimos at the half.
The big stat of the half saw both teams combine for 269 yards in penalties.
The 3rd quarter saw the debut of Brett Smith at quarterback for the Riders, he led them on an eight play 79 yard drive finished with a 32 yard strike to Greg Hardin in the back of the end zone. Ray Early hit back to back field goals with the second one helped by a 54 yard Nic Demski punt return then the Eskimos stroked through a late field goal to make it a 24-17 Rider lead into the 4th quarter.
Tino Sunseri went into the ball game in the fourth and was picked off early. That interception led to a short James Franklin touchdown. Justin Goltz went in for the Eskimos later in the quarter and he hit Derel Walker on a 42 yard touchdown strike and all of a sudden it was a 31-24 Edmonton lead.
Sunseri tried to drive the Riders late in the quarter, but he was sacked back to back times to end the game on offence and the Riders fell to the Eskimos 31-24.
Penalties ended up an even 225 yards pinned on both teams. There were a total of 55 penalties assessed for 550 yards between both teams
Head Coach, Corey Chamblin
“It’s going to be tough, but that’s what the game is. I told them I would reserve and keep it for game. My judgement was weighed before the game, some guys did some things and we saw it. We wanted to see our guys play in the game and this is what all of this is about. It’s not about practice, it’s about the game. We may think we don’t have penalties in practice, but they showed up tonight. So we just have to increase our tempo in practice and get ready for the next game.”
Next Rider action is next Friday, June 19th as the Riders host the Calgary Stampeders. It’s a 7:30pm kickoff, you can get your tickets here!
Box Score:
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Saskatchewan 0 11 13 0 24
Edmonton 0 14 3 14 31
SASKATCHEWAN STATS EDMONTON
15 First Downs 22
9 Passing 1st Downs 7
3 Rushing 1st Downs 10
3 Penalty 1st Downs 5
0/0 3rd Down Efficiency 0/0
51 Total Plays 50
228 Total Yards 360
5.6 Yards per Play 7.4
21/30 Passing 19/29
7.8 Yards per Pass 8.7
52 Rushing 120
4.0 Yards per Rush 6.3
0 Rushing Touchdowns 0
0/0 Red Zone 0/0
26/225 Penalties 29/225
0 Fumbles Lost 0
33:27 Possession 25:48
