Roughriders looking to win season series against Lions in B.C.
When the Roughriders face B.C on Friday, the Lions will look a lot different than when Saskatchewan faced them in Week 1 of CFL action.
Lions’ quarterback Michael Rielly is healthy after suffering an early-season elbow injury. Lions’ backup QB Nathan Rourke hasn’t thrown the football since starting against the Riders in the season opener.
“He’s been slinging it for sure,” Riders’ Micah Teitz said of the opposing pivot. “He’s definitely gotten his mojo back and he looks healthy as ever.”
Teitz currently leads the Riders with 34 tackles in his first year as a starter. He was credited with the tackle on both of Saskatchewan’s goal-line stops in their 30-16 win over Toronto in Week 7.
“I know the boys get excited to play someone that’s just got the legend status behind him like Michael Reilly,” Teitz said.
The Lions have won four of their last five games, which has launched them to second in the CFL’s West Division standings.
“You can just sense they’re starting to play with a lot of confidence,” Riders head coach Craig Dickenson said. “Michael Reilly is playing as good as I’ve seen him play in a long time.”
Reilly is leading the CFL in five statistical categories. He has the highest completion percentage (75.6), the best touchdown to interception ratio (eight), the most yards per attempt (9.8) and has thrown for over 300 yards four times. Rielly also has the highest quarterback rating in the CFL (119.5).
“Definitely got to call the game a little different versus him,” said Riders defensive coordinator Jason Shivers. “He’s on the upper echelon where he studied you as a coordinator and he knows how you like to think so you got to be able to throw him some curveballs here and there.”
The Riders are still banged up defensively, missing Mike Edem and Garrett Marino. Blace Brown was limited at practice on Wednesday, meaning the secondary continues to shuffle due to injuries.
“You got guys running here there and everywhere we have to be able to communicate but also keep our eyes all on the same page,” Shivers said.
The Lions and the Riders are tied in the standings (4-2). While Dickenson said they aren’t thinking about the possibility that this game is a tiebreaker or that home-field advantage in the playoffs might be on the line, he does know exactly how many points Saskatchewan needs to win the season series with B.C.
“I think it’s four of five, so I’ll know it,” Dickenson laughed. “And I will be aware of it. Trust me, if we got to kick one late, we will.”
Saskatchewan plays B.C in Vancouver on Friday at 8:30 p.m local time.
Injury update:
Wednesday was a closed practice, but defensive coordinator Jason Shivers said defensive back Ed Gainey was full-go during training. Gainey sat out versus Toronto with a toe injury, but is expected to play on Friday.
Offensive Lineman Andrew Lauderdale is injured and won’t play against B.C., Brett Boyko is expected to replace him.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Large numbers of New York City police officers begin entering Columbia University campus
Large numbers of New York City police officers began entering the Columbia University late Tuesday as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters remained on the campus.
Poilievre kicked out of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko'
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
CSE says it shared information on Chinese hacking of parliamentarians in 2022
While several MPs and senators say they were only recently made aware of China-backed hackers targeting them, the Communications Security Establishment, one of Canada's intelligence agencies, says it shared information about the incident with parliamentary officials in June of 2022.
WATCH Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted filming in Elora, Ont.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Eviction for landlord's use was legitimate, despite owners' partial move, B.C. court rules
A B.C. judge has upheld the eviction of a family from their North Vancouver townhouse, finding that the landlords did not take an unreasonable amount of time to move into the home after the tenants vacated it.