Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Corey Mace knows how much he’ll play his starters in his team’s regular-season finale against the B.C. Lions on Saturday, though he declined to share those details publicly.
“We’ve got a plan in place and similar to last week, we identified what we want to do and we stuck to it. We’ve got a different one set in place this week and we’ll stick with that,” Mace told the media in Regina.
“After last week, guys were a little bit upset. We didn’t get the job done and truthfully, whoever was out there wears the same jersey — it’s the same expectation and we fell short. For us this week, it’s a narrow focus again. We have a really good team coming into our building and we’ve got an opportunity to fix some of the things we need to get better at, and go out there and try to get the win.”
The Roughriders kept most of their offensive starters out of the lineup against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers last week. A.J. Ouellette, Samuel Emilus, KeeSean Johnson, Dohnte Meyers, and Jermarcus Hardrick didn’t dress, while Trevor Harris, Kian Schaffer-Baker, and Logan Ferland were moved to depth roles.
The results weren’t pretty. Saskatchewan managed only 169 yards of net offence with their lone touchdown coming after the Blue Bombers committed a turnover and 42-yard penalty on back-to-back plays. The Roughriders left almost their entire defence intact — Micah Johnson was the lone healthy scratch — and the unit kept the contest close in a 17-16 loss.
The Lions can still finish as high as second or as low as fourth place in the West Division. If the Calgary Stampeders defeat the Edmonton Elks on Friday, the Lions will need to beat Saskatchewan in order to clinch second place and host the West Semi-Final. As such, it stands to reason the Roughriders will likely play against a B.C. team that’s at full strength this weekend as they look to clinch a home playoff game.
The Roughriders will be on a bye next week as they wait to host the winner of the West Semi-Final. With so many players sitting out last week and another break upcoming, Mace has had to manage how many reps his veterans get in practice this week.
“You can’t mimic live reps, so I think it’s crucial for our guys to be able to go out there and do that,” said Mace. “At the same time, you’ve gotta make sure you’re putting a vision on for the future but also trying to maintain the balance of having the right guys on the roster to still go win a game.”
When asked if he has a checklist of things to accomplish this week, Mace indicated that he does — though it’s awfully short.
“It’s just one box: it says ‘win,'” said Mace. “I don’t care who it is that’s doing it, everybody works hard and the best way to give everybody a smile on their face and kinda solidify their work is to do it in winning fashion. We do celebrate small things, but ultimately it’s a performance-driven business.”
The Saskatchewan Roughriders (12-5) will host the B.C. Lions (10-7) on Saturday, October 25 with kickoff slated for 7:00 p.m. EDT. The Lions are coming off a win over the Edmonton Elks and can clinch second place in the West Division with a win over Saskatchewan, while the Roughriders lost a sloppy affair in Winnipeg.
The weather forecast in Regina calls for a high of 19 degrees with sunny conditions. The game will be broadcast on TSN in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on 730 CKNW in Vancouver and 620 CKRM in Regina.
