The Saskatchewan Roughriders are preparing for a much-anticipated collision with themselves.
The Green and White intrasquad game, part of Coors Light Riders Training Camp, is scheduled for Saturday, 3 p.m., at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.
“The goal is to try to simulate the game so that the first pre-season game isn’t the first time they do it,” Head Coach Craig Dickenson said.
“The second thing is that it’s a chance to give back to the community.”
Gates are to open at noon, whereupon attendees will have an opportunity to enjoy an assortment of family-oriented activities as a complement to the football-specific features.
There will be appearances by the 620 CKRM Rider Cheer Team, 620 CKRM Rider Pep Band, and Gainer the Gopher.
A “State of the Nation” panel discussion is scheduled for 1 p.m., in the main hall of the Gordie Howe Sports Complex.
Dickenson, Craig Reynolds (President-CEO) and Jeremy O’Day (General Manager and Vice-President of Football Operations) will provide their perspectives and answer questions from fans. The event will be hosted by Daniella Ponticelli.
Following the Green and White game, an autograph session is to begin at 5 p.m. Fans are invited to line the fences and interact with their favourite players.
Saskatchewan’s pre-season opener is set for May 27 against the B.C. Lions (5 p.m., Mosaic Stadium). A June 2 road game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers is to follow.
On June 11, the Roughriders will oppose the host Edmonton Elks on the opening week of Canadian Football League regular-season play.
The Roughriders’ home opener is scheduled for June 16, 7 p.m., against Winnipeg. That game, to be played on the Friday of Father’s Day weekend, will have a Dad’s Night Out theme.
KICK START
The Roughriders have signed Adam Korsak, who in 2022 won the Ray Guy Award as the premier punter in NCAA football.
Korsak, a four-year standout at Rutgers, was selected third overall in the CFL’s Global Draft on May 2.
Last year, the Australian-born Korsak boasted a net average — factoring in the length of the punt and the return yardage, or lack thereof in his case — of 43.6 yards.
In collaboration with Korsak, Rutgers’ punt-coverage unit harnessed opponents to the tune of minus-11 return yards over the course of the 2022 season.
Korsak led the NCAA in punts downed inside the 20-yard line (32) last season.
Before signing with Saskatchewan, Korsak attended National Football League rookie mini-camps with the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I’m excited to work with him,” Dickenson said. “He’s coming in this weekend.
“We really liked his tape. He won the Ray Guy Award in NCAA football, so he’s legit. Now we’ve just to see if the Australian punting style translates up here, which I think it will.”
Korsak’s arrival will give Saskatchewan two Global punters. The incumbent, Norway-born Kaare Vedvik, averaged 44.5 yards per punt in 2022 during his first full season with the Roughriders.
Vedvik’s peak hang time on Friday was an impressive 4.42 seconds.
“He’s doing a nice job,” Dickenson said. “He’s got such a strong leg and he’s such a good athlete.
“We’re going to let them compete. The reality is that they’re both competing for that job.
“I told Kaare last season that we were going to bring in some competition and we have. Now we’re going to let them both fight it out and see what happens.”
TEAMMATE TALK
Trevor Harris offered an effusive appraisal of the Roughriders’ other three quarterbacks — Mason Fine, Jake Dolegala and Shea Patterson.
“What I love about each and every one of them is they know who they are and they’re not trying to be anything that they’re not,” Harris said.
“They’re authentically themselves as quarterbacks. They’re not trying to be the strong-arm guy that Jake is.
“Mason’s a little more my style. We take what the defence gives us and move the chains and stay on the field and be explosive when they give it to you. Shea is kind of a combination.
“They’re all kind of just being themselves and making plays and I think they’re all doing a great job.”
Fine, Dolegala and Patterson are in a too-close-to-call competition for the No. 2 job.
FRIDAY FACTOIDS
The defence took centre stage on Friday, one day after the Roughriders’ quarterbacks combined to complete 45 of 55 passes. For example:
- Veteran cornerback Nic Marshall had an interception — his second of the week — and a pass knockdown.
- Newly signed linebacker T.J. Brunson anticipated and disrupted a screen pass, displaying impressive closing speed.
- Defensive backs La’Andre Thomas and Jeremy Clark had pass knockdowns. Clark, however, felt that he should have intercepted the pass — hence the consequent push-ups. A number of teammates joined in.
- DeMarcus Christmas and Nicholas Dheilly shut down running plays. Fellow defensive lineman Lake Korte-Moore, whom the Roughriders drafted third overall on May 2, accepted the plaudits of his teammates following a quarterback pressure.
Not that the offence didn’t have its moments …
- Patterson zipped a ball through a tight window and into the hands of receiver Brayden Lenius.
- Dolegala’s oft-referenced arm strength was evident on a sizzler that was aimed toward Frankie Hickson, who is emerging as a downfield threat out of the backfield.
- Hickson has enjoyed an impressive camp in general, as underlined by this quote from Harris: “I watched him make a cut the other day, and I think I would have torn two ACLs in the same knee.”
- Harris and Derel Walker collaborated on a 30-yarder over the middle on Friday. The previous day, Harris had been asked whether he thinks a 1,000-yard season is ahead for Walker. “I do,” Harris responded. “I think we’ve got five guys who are capable of that — five or six.”
SHORT SNORTS
- Dickenson is impressed with kicker/punter David Solie, who comes to camp from the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. Solie is also an alumnus of the Prairie Football Conference’s Saskatoon Hilltops. His uncle, Dale Solie, was a linebacker with the Hilltops in the 1980s and, in fact, attended the Roughriders’ training camp in 1987 and 1988. He was named the Canadian Junior Football League’s top defensive player in 1986.
- Offensive tackle Jordan Tucker, who was injured in Tuesday’s practice, will be sidelined for the foreseeable future. “It’s enough where he’s going to miss significant time,” Dickenson lamented. “Unfortunately, he won’t be with us for a while. The doctors are trying to figure out what to do, but there was damage to the knee. It’s too bad, because he was having a great camp.”
- So was receiver Jake Herslow, a Week 1 sensation who is battling a knee injury. “He came down in the corner yesterday on a contested ball,” Dickenson said. “We’ll let the doctors tell us what is going on with that. We’ve got to figure it out.”
- Also on the limp: Javian Hawkins (ankle). Dickenson has been impressed with Hawkins and two other American newcomers at running back — B.J. Emmons and Rodney Smith. They are part of a crowded backfield, considering the talents of Hickson and fellow incumbent Jamal Morrow.
