Takoby Cofield finally can forget about Florence and focus on football.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ offensive tackle hails from Tarboro, N.C., so his thoughts were with the folks back home as Hurricane Florence bore down on his home state.
The storm hit the coast late last week and through the weekend with devastating effect, so the cleanup efforts are continuing. But Cofield’s family has told him that things weren’t too bad.
“Everybody is safe and secure,” Cofield said after Wednesday’s closed practice at Mosaic Stadium. “My girlfriend lives in Charlotte, so they got hit a little bit more with water and flooding, but it’s clearing up now and it looks pretty good.
“I have some family in South Carolina that got hit with some flooding, but it didn’t really affect them. As far as my parents go, it’s perfect. It rained a few days, the power went out for about three or four hours and, when it came back on, everything was good.”
Cofield’s parents and one of his brothers live in Tarboro, as do several of his uncles, aunts and cousins. The storm dumped huge amounts of rain, high winds battered the Carolinas and there were some storm surges along the coast, but Cofield’s family members and their property fared relatively well.
“My girlfriend said the deepest the water got was two feet, which is not terrible,” Cofield said. “It can cause damage, but if that’s all you’re going to get from a hurricane, in my experiences, you can’t ask for more than that.”
In other words, Cofield’s loved ones and many others in Tarboro dodged a bullet.
“The good part is we thought it was going to be much worse,” the first-year Roughrider said. “Everybody in my hometown kept saying, ‘We don’t really think this one is going to be that bad.’ Sure enough, the storm took a turn and it wasn’t that bad.
“Another year and no hurricane really hit us, so that’s always a blessing.”
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Saskatchewan will face one of the CFL’s top dual threats Saturday, when the Roughriders are to tangle with the Toronto Argonauts at BMO Field (5 p.m., CKRM, TSN).
Argos running back James Wilder Jr., enters the week ranked fourth in the CFL with 617 rushing yards and 22nd in the league with 447 yards receiving. He leads all CFL running backs in receiving yards and receptions (45).
Asked if Wilder is better as a rusher or a receiver out of the backfield, Roughriders defensive tackle Zack Evans said: “He’s good at both.”
“That’s what makes him so dangerous,” Evans added. “You can hand him the ball or you can hit him in the flats or even hit him on an out-and-up. He’s got range and we’ve got to mitigate that as best as possible.”
Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones expects Wilder to be a workhorse for the Argos, just as he was when the teams faced off in the 2017 Eastern Final. In that contest, Wilder rushed 14 times for 52 yards and caught eight passes for 52 yards in the Argos’ 25-21 triumph.
When the teams met earlier this season — on June 15 at Mosaic Stadium — Saskatchewan limited Wilder to five carries for 16 yards and four receptions for 68 yards in its 27-19 victory.
“You have to do a great job of tackling because he’s a guy who, very much like the back we just saw, his feet don’t ever stop,” Jones in reference to Ottawa’s William Powell, who had 148 yards rushing in the Redblacks’ 30-25 victory over the Roughriders on Saturday.
Saskatchewan’s defence will have to contend with Wilder without linebacker/defensive back Matt Elam, whom Jones said won’t play in Toronto due to a hamstring injury.
During Tuesday’s practice, defensive back Crezdon Butler took snaps with the starting defence and he could be activated to replace Elam.
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Jones hasn’t pulled any punches since the game against Ottawa, suggesting the Roughriders’ defence didn’t hold up its end of the bargain.
Saskatchewan allowed 481 yards of net offence to the Redblacks, the highest total allowed by the Roughriders’ D in a game this season.
On Wednesday, Jones reiterated that he has high expectations for his defence and the players and coaches have to reach that high standard every time they take the field. Now, the question is: Will the defenders be more inspired to face the Argos?
“We’ll wait and see for the game,” Jones said. “We’ve had great practices and turned around and played poorly in games and we’ve had bad practices and played well (in games). We’ll hold that thought until we see how we play game day.”
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The Roughriders announced Wednesday that the jackpot for the 50/50 draw for their Oct. 8 game against the visiting Edmonton Eskimos will start at $100,000.
“Rider game days at Mosaic Stadium are always electric,” Anthony Partipilo, the Roughriders’ Chief Brand Officer, said in a media release. “Including a large 50/50 jackpot will add another level of excitement.
“We want to thank the University of Regina Rams for supporting the 50/50 initiative. One lucky fan is going to have very memorable Thanksgiving Monday with the Riders!”
The contest also is being billed as CFL Family Day. The festivities will include events for kids and young adults before and during the game.
