Riders look to rebound against Elks following loss to Alouettes

The Saskatchewan Roughriders returned to practice on Tuesday following their second loss of the season to the Montreal Alouettes and the team is ready to move on from their poor performance in the final two quarters of last week’s game.

“There’s a couple of games where we’ve started off slow and then finished well. I thought we started fast and then not necessarily came out flat in the second half but just needed to either score once or twice more to help out our defence,” said quarterback Shea Patterson.

It was a strong start for the green and white as they lead 16-3 at the half but then failed to put any more points on the board in the final two quarters.

Montreal managed to come from behind for a 20-16 victory.

“It was just a tale of two different halves. I thought we executed at a pretty high level in the first half outside of just tackling and second half you know [quarterback] Davis [Alexander] came in and we expected it,” explained Head Coach Corey Mace.

“We talked about it at halftime. He’s a really good quarterback but we didn’t capitalize and we missed some opportunities.”

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One bright spot of the loss was running back Frankie Hickson, who rushed for 117 yards, including one touchdown.

It marked his first of the season and it was only his second game taking to the field with the green and white this year.

Hickson has been the backup behind A.J. Ouellete. However, Ouellette was sidelined with a hip injury and was ruled out against the Alouettes.

“It always feels great to contribute to the team in any way you can. Obviously my role has been a bit different for the start of the season but when they call on you, you better be ready,” Hickson said.

 

“He’s worked his tail off all camp, all year, and even last year as well. So I was really happy for him. You know I’m really happy to see guys who put in the work and then eventually get to show what they can do,” Patterson said, praising Hickson.

Coach Mace was also impressed with his performance but says it comes as no surprise.

“That’s Frankie man. People who have been fans of this team have seen his explosive ability and we’ve seen it since camp started and that’s why we feel comfortable going into any game with Frankie,” he shared.

Now the team is ready to move on as they prepare to face the winless Edmonton Elks at Mosaic Stadium this weekend.

Despite Edmonton sitting at the bottom of the league – the Riders know they cannot afford to underestimate them.

“There’s respect for that team, especially in the meeting rooms. A lot of their games have been decided in the last few minutes. They were up 21-8 against us when we played them [earlier this season],” Patterson explained.

“So they always seem to play us well and they’re a good team and they’re hungry. So we’re going to treat them like we would Montreal, B.C, Winnipeg, or Toronto.”

It was also announced that Canadian Tre Ford is expected to get his first start of the season at quarterback for the Elks this week.

Ford came in late in last week’s matchup against the Tiger-Cats and threw for three touchdowns in the fourth quarter alone.

“He’s an electrifying player, obviously with the limited time that he’s had, he is very effective throughout his playing career. He’s got the capability to put you on a highlight reel and everyone’s on how athletic he is and what he can do with his legs,” Mace said.

“It’s a test. We haven’t faced anybody, Vernon [Adams Jr.] maybe, athletically. But in respect to Vernon, I think Tre might get a little bit more nitro when he’s out there going. So a different test, we have to make sure we’re ready to handle.”