EDMONTON — Heading into their game against the Edmonton Elks on Saturday night, the Saskatchewan Roughriders had a pretty good idea of what they needed to do for an improved performance against the CFL’s West Division leaders.
Plenty of work and preparation went into preventing the big plays that were so damaging in their previous meeting last week, and all that effort paid off with a 28-26 win at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.
But there was one factor beyond the Riders’ control, one that head coach Corey Mace was even more proud of his team for overcoming — a raft of injuries that decimated the team’s top players.
Running back A.J. Ouellette and defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. were both out before the game, receiver Sam Emilus was a game-time decision and ruled out and defensive back Tevaughn Campbell went down with an injury early in the game.
And yet, Saskatchewan prevailed.
“For us to be able to stick together, we came into the game missing important pieces, that was huge,” Mace told the Rider Broadcast Network’s Luc Mullinder after the game. “We had guys have to step up and make plays, just lean on each other and then we go through the game and it was just kind of bodies dropping everywhere. So I'm just so proud of these guys.”
Mace was especially impressed by the legion of players who had seen little to no live game action this season but still stepped up and performed when their number was called.
“Guys like our rookie [receiver Dylan] Djete, he had to come out there and play today. [D’Sean] Mimbs had to step up in the receiving core. [Running back Quali] Conley obviously, and [offensive lineman] Eric Anderson got some snaps tonight. [Defensive back] James Burgess had to play.
“We had to call on guys to get us through the game, and these guys stepped up and got it done, man. So it's gonna help us in the long run.”
As for how the game played out, the Roughriders did successfully shut down the Elks’ big play mechanism, only giving up a 51-yard pass-and-run to Justin Rankin in the fourth quarter.
“We didn't get taken off the top too much defensively but obviously there's gonna be other stuff to clean up,” Mace said.
As the stats would indicate, things certainly weren’t firing on all cylinders for the Riders offence, as they put up only 319 yards in total. That was in no small part due to Edmonton’s solid showing on defence, but also featured a bit of bad luck that even affected standout receiver KeeSean Johnson, who had a couple of dropped balls on the night.
The Riders didn’t let those miscues alter their plans one bit, though, as quarterback Trevor Harris would find Johnson in the back of the end zone for what would stand as the game-winning touchdown with 6:43 remaining in the game.
“Those are inevitable in football, guys are gonna have mistakes,” Mace said. “But we know who our guys are, man. We're gonna go right back to them. We don't lose trust just at one play. We've got a full meal deal of trust that's gained within each other.”
One thing that’s for certain is the importance of the victory, not only in the standings but for team morale. The loss the week earlier was one of the toughest in recent history, and Mace and crew were more than happy to have a night of celebration after their win in Edmonton.
“We’ll worry about our next opponent when we wake up in the morning, but you can hear the boys, they're gonna enjoy this one,” Mace said. “They definitely deserve that.”
The Roughriders are back in action on Friday night when the winless Ottawa Redblacks make the trip to Mosaic Stadium.
