Lake Korte-Moore is in the midst of back-to-back going-home games on the road.
A week ago, the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ rookie defensive lineman was preparing for a CFL game in his hometown against the Ottawa REDBLACKS.
Next up is Friday’s matchup with the B.C. Lions in Vancouver, where Korte-Moore excelled in Canada West football as a member of the UBC Thunderbirds.
It is the second visit to the West Coast this season for the 6-foot-4, 262-pounder, who was claimed third overall in the 2023 CFL Draft.
Korte-Moore was with the Roughriders during their 19-9 loss to the Lions on July 22, when the home side was held to one touchdown, 12 first downs and 231 yards of net offence.
He became very familiar with the Vancouver area after moving there from Ottawa in 2018 to attend university.
It was back to school last week, during the Roughriders’ visit to the nation’s capital. He paid a visit to Elgin Street Public School, which he attended as a youngster.
“Now my little sister (Cyana) goes there, so my stepmom asked if I could possibly go and talk to the kids,” Korte-Moore said. “They put on an entire assembly for us. The entire school was there.
“(Roughriders receiver) Sam Emilus came out with me, voluntarily, and we were able to speak to a bunch of kids.
“It was amazing to see how wide our fan base really is here in Riderville, because there were teachers who had Riders T-shirts. The kids made posters and had questions for us.
“It was a pretty big deal that I didn’t think would be a big deal. I thought I’d just go and speak to a few kids, but they were quite excited to have us there and it was awesome to go back and see the spot that I grew up in, because I spent seven years of my life at the school.”
Additional time was spent with the students after the formal portion of the visit.
“Sam and I quickly went out for recess,” Korte-Moore said. “I’ve never seen that many kids want autographs before, besides out here on our Fan Day.
“Everyone just wanted anything signed, from shoes to hands to little pieces of paper. It was quite amazing to see.
“It was awesome that I was able to get out there and hopefully help inspire a few of them to want to pursue their dreams and possibly look at a dream in the CFL.”
LAUTHER’S LEAP
Brett Lauther’s next field goal will be his 200th as a Roughrider.
He is third on the team’s career list, behind Canadian Football Hall of Famers Dave Ridgway (574) and Paul McCallum (408).
As well, Lauther has the best career field-goal percentage (84.3) of any Roughrider with a minimum of 100 attempts.
Lauther needs 20 points to tie Luca Congi for fifth on the Roughriders’ career list. Ridgway leads the way at 2,374, followed by McCallum (1,615), Jack Abendschan (863), George Reed (823) and Congi (754).
Congi and Lauther were teammates, incidentally, with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2013.
DEAN AND WHITE
Middle linebacker Larry Dean needs nine defensive tackles to become only the second Roughrider to reach 100 in back-to-back seasons.
George White made 105 tackles as a rookie in 2000 and followed up with 104.
Dean recorded 101 tackles last season. He previously reached triple digits with the 2018 Tiger-Cats (105).
Since 1987, when tackles were introduced as an official CFL statistic, there are only nine instances of a Roughrider hitting 100 in a season.
Dean (2022) and White (2000, 2001) have already been referenced. The list also includes Darnell Sankey (120 tackles in 2022), Dave Albright (118 in 1987), Jeff Knox Jr. (114 in 2015), Barrin Simpson (105 in 2010), Jerrell Freeman (105 in 2011) and Willie Pless (102 in 1999).
With 556 career defensive tackles, Dean is 25th on the league’s all-time list. He is eight tackles away from tying 24th-ranked T.J. Hill.
DOLEGALA DIGITS
Jake Dolegala is one six-point strike shy of becoming the 24th different Roughriders quarterback to throw at least 10 touchdown passes in a season.
In all, there have been 62 instances of a Roughrider reaching double digits.
Ron Lancaster had at least 11 TD passes in each of his 16 seasons with Saskatchewan.
Others with multiple double-digit seasons: Darian Durant (six), Kent Austin (five), Frank Tripucka (five), Tom Burgess (three), Cody Fajardo (three), Henry Burris (two), Glenn Dobbs (two), Nealon Greene (two), John Hufnagel (two), Warren Jones (two), Kerry Joseph (two) and Joe Paopao (two).
Singles: Joe (747) Adams, Joe Barnes, Brandon Bridge, Marcus Crandell, Kevin Glenn, Homer Jordan, Bob Ptacek, Steve Sarkisian, Reggie Slack and Brett Smith.
Fast fact: Dolegala has already matched the nine touchdown passes Zach Collaros threw for the 2018 Roughriders.
Dolegala has attempted 185 passes this season. Collaros, now of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, threw the ball 382 times during his one full season as a Roughrider.
And here’s an obscure one: Saskatchewan boasts three 1,000-yard passers for only the second time in franchise history.
Dolegala (1,392), Trevor Harris (1,274) and Mason Fine (1,024) have reached quadruple digits this year.
In 1983, the Roughriders got 1,000-plus-yards seasons from Hufnagel (1,649), Adams (1,529) and Jordan (1,310).
SHAWN’S STATS
Shawn Bane Jr. recently became the 25th different Roughrider to amass at least 70 catches in a season.
In all, there have been 51 70-plus-catch seasons since Hugh Campbell registered what was then a team-record total of 73 in 1966.
Don Narcisse leads the way with eight 70-catch seasons.
Weston Dressler and Ray Elgaard each have five.
Jeff Fairholm, Lucius Floyd and Naaman Roosevelt had three such seasons.
Two: Chris DeFrance, Matt Dominguez, Craig Ellis, Travis Moore and Joey Walters.
Along with Bane Jr., the list of “ones” consists of Campbell, Derick Armstrong, Duron Carter, Shaq Evans, Andy Fantuz, D.J. Flick, Bakari Grant, Eric Guliford, Curtis Marsh, Tim McCray, Kyran Moore, Taj Smith and Elijah Thurmon.
Tevin Jones is on pace to become the next Roughrider to reach 70 receptions. He has 62 with four regular-season games remaining.
Bane Jr. has 70 catches for 764 yards and four TDs after his first 14 games as a Roughrider.
