CFL Style

I stumbled into Canadian football over 40 years ago by reading about it in those national college/pro football magazines we’d check out every June or July as kids. I remember going as far as to save up money from chores to buy a portable short wave radio to pick up the games...alas, it didn’t work (though it never dampened my enthusiasm). When I learned the rules, I found the game fascinating because it was the antithesis of “three yards and a cloud of dust” football that as played in the States. The game values athleticism over brute strength and is 60 minutes of motion rather than stop and starts.

Prior to the internet, it was always hard to keep track of the comings and goings in the CFL, because it's never been given adequate coverage in the States, and it’s cheaper to program poker tournaments and infomercials on cable sports networks than actual sports. The coverage is hit or miss at best, but with internet, you can keep up with any team, any where at any time.

“Our” team has always been Saskatchewan Roughriders, a team with storied history and a devout and passionate fan base in the prairies they refer to as “Riderville” Just as A&M has “The 12th Man”, Riderville has “The 13th Man”. It’s certainly a long way from here to Mosaic Stadium in Regina, but that’s never stopped us from rooting for a team before.

The CFL season starts about two months prior to the NFL’s and teams will be starting their opening week of preseason play this week after having commenced training camp two weeks ago. Things move quickly in the CFL calendar; two exhibition games before an 18-week regular schedule. We’ll be following at the Riders in depth this year and hope that you’ll come along for the ride.

Exhibition Game “A” at Edmonton 6/17/09:

The first preseason game is a great opportunity to give the starters some live snaps for a quarter or half. The Riders traveled up to Commonwealth Stadium and got smoked by the Eskimos, 45-12. Despite the lopsided score, they only trailed 14-10 at half-time. New quarterback Darian Durant struggled in the first quarter. His backup, Steven Jyles strung together a scoring drive late in the second and scored the Riders lone touchdown on a seven yard bootleg. Jason Clermont also had a good night with four catches for 54 yards. Bam Childress fumbled the opening kickoff of the second half and it was all downhill from there as Edmonton poured it on in garbage time. While it was an embarrassing defeat, the game provided the coaching staff a good opportunity to determine the next round of roster cuts.

Exhibition Game “B” v. Calgary 6/23/09:

The Riders’ second preseason outing at home went much better than their first. Calgary Stampeders came to Regina before a packed house at Mosaic Stadium. Calgary scored first midway through the first when Joffrey Reynolds capped off a nine play, 79-yard drive by going off left tackle from the 5. As was the case in the first game, the Riders could muster no offense in the first quarter. Down 10-0 early in the second, the Riders scored when Justin Beaver capped off a nine play, 80-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run. Veteran OL Gene Makowsky went out with what appeared to be a knee injury and didn’t return. Henry Burris turned the ball over and the Riders capitalized on the next play as Durant hit Andy Fantuz with a 34-yard touchdown pass to put them ahead, but the lead was shortlived as Burris took Calgary back down the field and connected with Jabari Arthur on a 4-yard pass to put the Stamps back on top 17-14 at the half.

A Stampeder field goal was the only score in the third quarter, as both sides freely substituted in and out of the lineup. Early in the fourth, the Riders picked up a safety when Calgary’s punter Burke Dales ran out of the back of the end zone, to make the score 20-16. As the clock wound down, Luca Congi kicked a 32-yard field goal, and suddenly it was 20-19 with four minutes and change remaining. The Riders had one last chance to go ahead but Casey McGahee fumbled a punt at the five and Calgary’s Juwan Simpson picked up the ball and rumbled in to make it 27-19. So, the preseason ended on a much higher note from last week, to say the least.

Prior to Friday night’s game against BC, Coach Miller announced that Darian Durant won the starting quarterback’s job and also announced the final cuts.

Game 1 vs. BC Lions (7/3/09):

The story of Game 1 was turnovers, 15 of them in fact, including two picks by Omarr Morgan. Additionally, the Riders’ defense sacked Lions’ QB Buck Pierce nine times (two by Stevie Baggs) en route to a somewhat ugly 28-24 opening night win at packed Mosaic Stadium on Friday night. Darian Durant went 18-32-313-0TD-3INT in the win.

The Riders scored first, coming off a turnover, when Durant took the ball in from the ten to take a 7-0 lead early on. After the Riders picked up a single on the ensuing kickoff, BC came back and scored when Ryan Phillips picked off a Durant pass and returned it 60 yards to make it 8-7 Riders. Luca Congi capped off the first quarter scoring with a 37-yard field goal, set up by Hugh Charles’ 46-yard scamper.

Moving into the second quarter, Morgan picked off a pass from Pierce and ran the ball back to the BC 3, where Charles carried it in to make it 18-7, Riders. BC’s McCallum then muffed a punt and Stu Foord grabbed the loose ball at the 12 and ran it in to make it 25-7. All was right in Riderville…but (as with any Rider-Lion game), BC wasn’t giving up the fight. Charles fumbled on his 46, the Lions recovered and three plays later, Pierce hit Emmanuel Areceaux on a 23-yard TD Pass.

Morgan intercepted a pass from Pierce on BC’s opening drive, but Durant was also intercepted on the next two Rider drives, the second of which led to a BC touchdown as Pierce ran it in from the 6. BC went for two but the attempt failed and the score was bo 25-20 Saskatchewan. The Lions picked up a single on McCallum’s 38-yard punt that was not returned, putting BC within four points, but another turnover on a subsequent drive enable the Riders a bit of breathing room as Congi hit a 22-yard field goal midway throgh the quarter. As the quarter wound down, BC Blocked a Rider punt with two minutes remaining and were sitting pretty at the Riders’ 33. But the defense held and the best BC could settle for was a 38-yard field goal. BC got the ball back on their 34 with 1:25 on the clock down by four points and desperately trying to score. They were able to move the ball to midfield, but the Hail Mary pass was intercepted by James Patrick and the Riders came away with the 28-24 victory.