Liam Richards/Electric Umbrella
CALGARY — The Saskatchewan Roughriders are on the verge of clinching a spot in the CFL playoffs.
The Roughriders can wrap up at least a crossover playoff berth if they defeat the host Calgary Stampeders tonight at McMahon Stadium (7 p.m., CKRM, TSN).
Saskatchewan (8-7-0) also can lock up a playoff spot if the B.C. Lions (6-9-0) lose to the Edmonton Eskimos (9-6-0) on Saturday. Calgary, meanwhile, can lock up first place in the West Division with a victory tonight.
The Stampeders (13-1-1) have defeated Saskatchewan in both of the teams’ previous meetings this season, winning 27-10 on July 22 and 15-9 on Sept. 24. In fact, Calgary has won 10 consecutive regular-season games against the Roughriders.
To set up tonight’s game, here’s one man’s list of five things (or people) that bear watching:
1. Duron Carter: All eyes will be on the Roughriders’ receiver tonight — mainly because he’s set to do double duty. Saskatchewan plans to start Carter at cornerback due to a dearth of options; other players who could play there are injured, sick or too new to the system. Carter has seen action on the corner this season when starters have been injured and he has held his own, but that was in limited playing time. Tonight, he’ll get plenty of opportunities against the Stampeders’ starters. National Elie Bouka, who was a corner during his time with the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, is to back up Carter on defence. National Joshua Stanford is to play wide receiver when Carter isn’t available to go on that side of the ball.
2. Bouncing back: The Roughriders got a taste of their own medicine during a 33-32 loss to the Ottawa Redblacks on Oct. 13. Saskatchewan went into the game riding a two-game winning streak, having rallied from a 17-0 deficit in Ottawa on Sept. 29 and from a 16-3 deficit in Toronto on Oct. 7 to post back-to-back victories. Last Friday, the Roughriders led the Redblacks 32-20 with 5:49 left in regulation time, but the home team surrendered 13 straight points to lose. Recovering from a stunning defeat like that can be difficult for a team, but the Roughriders are convinced that they’ll be able to rebound against the Stampeders.
3. Cameron Marshall: After starting Saskatchewan’s first nine games at tailback, Marshall injured his left knee during the Labour Day Classic against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He spent six weeks on the injured list but now has been cleared to play. In Marshall’s absence, the Roughriders failed to rush for 100 yards in a game and neither Kienan LaFrance nor Trent Richardson rushed for more than 60 yards in a contest. Marshall has a 5.6-yard average this season — Richardson’s average is 4.2 and LaFrance’s is 3.9 — so Saskatchewan is hoping to get more production at tailback. Richardson also will get carries tonight.
4. Drawing a line: Saskatchewan’s offensive line struggled to protect quarterback Kevin Glenn in both previous games against Calgary this season. On July 22, the Stampeders had five sacks — all in the first half — and kept Glenn from getting into any kind of rhythm. Charleston Hughes had three sacks in that contest, while James Vaughters had two. On Sept. 24, Hughes had two sacks and Ja’Gared Davis added three as the Stampeders again won the battle in the trenches. Those are the only two games this season in which Saskatchewan has given up more than four sacks.
5. On the run again: Calgary’s offence recorded 141 yards rushing against the Roughriders on July 22 and 148 yards along the ground versus Saskatchewan on Sept. 24. Tailback Jerome Messam did most of the damage, rushing for 135 yards in the teams’ first meeting and 127 yards in the rematch. The Roughriders expect to get a healthy dose of Messam tonight, especially since they’ve surrendered more than 100 yards rushing in four of their past six games. Calgary has rushed for more than 100 yards just five times this season — and two of those were against Saskatchewan.
