If Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris has his way over the last two games of the CFL regular season, kicker Brett Lauther isn’t going to have a whole lot to do.
That’s because the veteran pivot has one goal in mind for his offence: finish what they start way more than they have in recent outings.
Harris chatted with the Voice of the Roughriders Dave Thomas after practice on Wednesday and expressed his frustration with the team’s inability to find the end zone as of late. And while field goals are better than nothing, getting those majors on the board will go a long way to creating the reversal of fortune the team so desperately needs.
“We're moving the football, but last week we had two drives where we didn't score and the score went from 17-16 to 38-16 just like that,” Harris said. “The game unraveled and all of a sudden, it's like, ‘Whoa, what happened?’
“We can't have those. We've got to make sure that we're putting points on the board every drive and understanding that we need to possess the football, convert second downs, get in that red zone and score touchdowns. That's who we want to be and those lulls can't happen.”
The key will be sorting out any missing details and making sure that if something comes up, it’s dealt with and repaired immediately.
“I can tell you this: There's no going to be no stone unturned in terms of the way we prepare, the way we put forth effort,” Harris said. “It's all fine and dandy to say those things, but we have to do it.”
Harris admitted that talking the talk and not walking the walk is rather bothersome, especially amid the four-game losing skid.
“It's about action and it's about doing it and frankly I get tired of sitting here saying these certain things,” he said. “You lose this many in a row, it freaking pisses you off and you get tired of talking. So just do it. Whatever we're talking about, whatever the culture is, the things that we're trying to focus on for the week, do it and do it well. That's really been the focus of the conversation.”
The Riders have had some good news in practice this week, as for the first time in ages they have all three of their most lethal receiving weapons on the field. Kian Schaffer-Baker and Sam Emilus were both full speed on Wednesday, while KeeSean Johnson saw limited reps but was still in action as he works his way through his tweaked knee.
Having all three in action for the rematch against Montreal would go a long way to finishing those drives.
“It's strange just to see them all in the huddle at the same time,” Harris said. “Obviously whenever you get three all-star calibre receivers that can be in the huddle with you, it's something we've haven't had the good fortune of in terms of keeping them healthy the last two years. If that happens, that'd be great.”
Regardless of who's in the lineup, the goal over the final two games of the regular season is to find the win column and take their fate into their own hands.
“This is not like an unprecedented story to go through a lull late in the season, turn it on and go make some noise happen,” Harris said. “We win and we take care of our business. That's what we need to do.”
The Roughrider Broadcast Network will have all the action from Saskatchewan’s meeting with the Montreal Alouettes at Mosaic Stadium beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Teagan Witko and Wes Cates will have plenty of special guests, and Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder will have the game call at kickoff at 1 p.m.
