The Saskatchewan Roughriders are poised to play in Ottawa for the first time in 1,555 days.
The Roughriders’ most-recent CFL game in the nation’s capital was on June 20, 2019, when the Ottawa REDBLACKS won a 44-41 shootout at TD Place Stadium.
That was the second and final time linebacker Micah Teitz was sidelined during the 2019 season. He missed the first two games with an ankle injury.
Therefore, he has not played in Ottawa since June 21, 2018, when he suited up for only the second time as a professional football player.
“Yeah, it has been a while,” Teitz said with a chuckle.
“It’s always cool to play out there. I really like that hotel behind the stadium. It’s a cool stadium.”
After the REDBLACKS’ inception as an expansion franchise in 2014, the Roughriders made annual visits to Ottawa through the 2019 season.
COVID-19 resulted in the cancellation of the 2020 CFL campaign and a shortened 2021 season.
When the league again rolled out a full schedule, in 2022, some East-West matchups were scratched in order to emphasize divisional rivalries.
Therefore, the Roughriders’ only game against Ottawa in 2022 was played at Mosaic Stadium. The teams met again in Regina this past Aug. 6, when the Roughriders won 26-24, and now a rematch is imminent.
Saskatchewan’s current roster includes only seven players who were in the lineup when the Roughriders and REDBLACKS last collided in Ottawa — kicker Brett Lauther, long snapper Jorgen Hus, defensive tackle Micah Johnson, linebacker Derrick Moncrief, cornerback Nic Marshall, fullback Albert Awachie and offensive lineman Philip Blake.
Post 2019, Johnson, Moncrief and Blake all played elsewhere before returning to the Roughriders.
Evan Johnson, a guard with the REDBLACKS from 2017 to 2019, started against Saskatchewan on June 20, 2019. He signed with the Roughriders as a free agent in 2021.
TD PLACE = FIELD GOAL PLACE
More from June 20, 2019: Lauther, then a second-year Roughrider, established a career high by kicking a 57-yard field goal — a peak distance he matched on July 2, 2022 against the host Montreal Alouettes.
“I remember my dad thought I had missed,” Troy Lauther’s proud son said with a laugh when asked about the 57-yarder in Ottawa. “He was in the crowd at that game, so it was kind of funny.
“He told me afterwards that he was recording it and turned it off, because he thought it had missed.”
Was it really that close?
“No, it wasn’t even that bad on film,” Lauther replied. “I think it was more like left-middle, but the vantage point in the crowd is kind of deceiving sometimes, and that was when the old hash marks were a little bit wider, too.
“I don’t know. He didn’t believe in me, I guess.”
MORE FROM JUNE 20, 2019
That evening at TD Place, quarterback Cody Fajardo made his first CFL start.
He threw for 360 yards and two TDs in addition to running for a Saskatchewan major after taking over from Zach Collaros, who had been concussed in the Roughriders’ 2019 season opener.
Shaq Evans was Saskatchewan’s busiest receiver in its second game of 2019, catching seven passes for 113 yards — including a 44-yard TD bomb that was his first major in the CFL.
Evans has 18 receptions for 257 yards in seven games with the REDBLACKS this season.
Saskatchewan has gone 61 games between appearances in Ottawa.
BATTLE BREWING
What does Craig Dickenson expect to see on Friday against the REDBLACKS?
“A big fight,” the Roughriders’ Head Coach responded. “They’re a desperate team and they’ve got everything to gain, nothing to lose, in this game, so we expect their best effort.
“We expect them to empty the clip, so to speak, and give us everything they’ve got, so we need to be on our game.
“In my opinion, we need to play our best game of the year.”
Ottawa enters the game with the CFL’s worst record (3-10) and a seven-game losing streak.
Saskatchewan, which is third in the West, is 6-7 after back-to-back losses.
“There’s five games left,” Teitz said. “It’s crunch time for us.
“We definitely need this one to position ourselves really well going into the final four games of the year. This one will be critical for us in the standings.”
Especially with the end game in mind.
“We’ve got to win out these next five games, get to the playoffs, and hopefully win a Grey Cup,” defensive back Kosi Onyeka said. “That’s the goal. We try to strive for it every single day, coming to work, and we don’t expect anything less.
“Just keep working. Things will manifest themselves with the work, so we just put the work first. Whatever happens, happens, after that.”
SHORT SNORTS
- Saskatchewan has won each of its past four games against the REDBLACKS. Its most-recent victory in Ottawa was on Nov. 12, 2017, when the Roughriders won 31-20 to advance to the East Division final against the Toronto Argonauts. The 2017 Roughriders (10-8) finished fourth in the West and earned a crossover playoff berth.
- Hus and Moncrief are the only current members of the Roughriders who saw action in that 2017 playoff game. Johnson and quarterback Trevor Harris, both of whom played for Ottawa in the 2017 East semi-final, are now employed by the Roughriders. Regina-born defensive lineman Zack Evans, who also played for Ottawa in that game, is now a Sales and Partner Relations Executive with the Roughriders.
- Entering Week 16, the Roughriders’ A.J. Allen is fourth in the CFL in special teams tackles (17). Fellow Saskatchewan linebacker Larry Dean is third in defensive tackles (79). With four interceptions, Marshall is in a six-way tie for second in the CFL.
