Riders Remain Winless; Fall to Lions

The Saskatchewan Roughriders continue to look for answers after dropping their fourth straight game to start the season on Friday night.

The Riders made a late charge in the fourth quarter, but ended up on the losing end for the second straight week against the BC Lions, falling 27-24 at a wet Mosaic Stadium.

Saskatchewan never led in the game.

“It’s tough having a game like that and towards the end thinking that we were going to make the comeback in the fourth quarter this time,” said quarterback Kevin Glenn.  “We fought, but it just didn’t turn out the way that we wanted to.”

Some players tried to get the team going, like Weston Dressler, who popped up after a first down in the fourth quarter and gave an emphatic first down signal, which you don’t see from him too often.

He said he felt like the team needed some more fire in the second half.

“We needed some energy and try to get things going,” said Dressler.  “Offensively we didn’t do a whole lot in the first half, so just tried to bring a little more energy, get the fans into it a bit more, get everybody into it and create that energy.”

Dressler finished with his second straight 100-yard receiving game, hauling in six passes for 125 yards in the loss.

It was an uninspiring effort the Riders all around however, despite the late charge.  They scored just four points in the first half, trailing the Lions 9-4 heading into halftime.

While the offence struggled to get momentum, the defence didn’t do them any favours by failing to make a big play.  For the second straight game, the Riders’ defence went without an interception, fumble recovery or sack.

“We just need to play better ball, we need to tackle better,” said linebacker Jeff Knox Jr. after the loss.  “But turnovers are going to come, as long as we do our job and play our parts, turnovers will come.”

They haven’t been there for the Riders over the past two weeks and it didn’t allow them to swing the momentum in their favour at all.

BC really put a nail in the coffin for Saskatchewan on the opening drive of the second half.  Shaq Murray-Lawrence returned the kickoff 61 yards and a 15-yard horse collar tackle put the Lions at the 15-yard line.

On the very next play, Andrew Harris walked into the end zone for the touchdown to give the Lions a 17-4 lead on the Riders.

Saskatchewan did answer right back with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 17-yard touchdown catch for Chris Getzlaf, but it never seemed to spark the team.

BC would put together a lengthy drive of their own on the next possession and go up by nine with a 15-yard field goal by Richie Leone.

After A.C. Leonard scored his second touchdown of the game on the opening play of the fourth quarter, the Riders had their work cut out for them to come back, now trailing by 16.

Field goals from 24 and 50 yards out by Paul McCallum pulled the Riders within ten and one-yard touchdown run by Anthony Allen with 36 seconds to go made it a three-point game.

A failed onside kick try ended any hopes of a comeback for the Riders.

“I missed a couple of throws that I wished I could have had back, I wasn’t as efficient as I usually am,” said Glenn.  “Those things are going to happen in a game and it’s about how you come back from that stuff, we did a good job, but were just a quarter too late.”

There really wasn’t too many bright spots for the Riders outside the play of their two running backs, Dressler and halfback Tyree Hollins.

Jerome Messam went over 100 totals yards for the fourth straight game, finishing with nine carries for 62 yards and seven catches for 75 yards, while Allen added 80 yards on seven carries.

Penalties continued to haunt the Riders in the loss as they committed 14 infractions for 159 yards, many of them extending drives.

“The other things I’ll work with and I can coach, but the penalties come down to the individuals,” said head coach Corey Chamblin.  “They have to make smarter decisions when they’re on the football field.”

With all four losses this season coming by 12 points, the Riders continued to wonder what could have been after the game, but they’re now at the point where they need to start converting those close games.

Many of the players preached sticking together after the game.

“Whether 18-0 or 0-18, whatever this team’s destiny is, we’re going to be in it together and nothing anyone on the outside says is going to tear this locker room apart,” said Dressler.

“Each loss seems to hurt a little bit more because it’s consecutive and they keep piling up, but you’ve got to watch the film and really digest what we could have done better to find a different outcome.”

The Riders are now 0-3 at home to start the year.  They’ll try to end that streak and get their first win overall when they host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats next Sunday.

Injury Bug Bites Again

The Riders continue to lose key Canadian talent as they saw national receivers Rob Bagg and Seydou Junior Haidara both leave the game in the first half and not return.

Defensive back Tristan Jackson was also knocked out early on a horse collar tackle that went uncalled.  Jackson is expected to be out with a sprained ankle, while Chamblin said Haidara would also miss some time.

Bagg tweeted after the game that he should be back next game.