Riders Win Exhibition Game in Front of Dozens of Fans

The difference is that Fine dug himself out of that hole by hitting for two touchdowns and a two point convert to bring the Riders the win – their first in an exhibition game since 2014.

The Riders also showed some fire on offense. Last year the Riders were basically a two and out team on offense and this time the Riders used a short passing game and running game to move the ball and more importantly, give their defense a break.

The biggest question on offense was if the offensive line could actually block anyone. It is a coin toss whether the lack of an offensive line led to the fall of former Rider QB Cody Fajardo or whether Fajardo’s limited repertoire made it harder for an offensive line to do its job.

The verdict is not in, but the early indications are promising. BC did not bring all of their veterans in, but those who did show up got some pressure, but not to the same extent that teams got on the Riders last year.

The offensive line was not bad when it came to running the ball last year and with a likely practice roster running back carrying the load for this game, the Riders looked pretty good in opening holes for their running backs.

The Riders will face a stiffer test this week when they play Satan’s Team – the Stoney Mountain Blue Bombers in Winnipeg this week. The Riders are trying to rebound from a record year in letting their quarterback getting sacked and while it might be premature to forecast cuts, it seems that offensive lineman Evan Johnson might be on the verge of losing his job to Logan Ferland based on who was starting and playing for most of the game.

Rider Head Coach Craig Dickenson has been preaching about the necessity to cut down on selfish penalties and there was a sequence in the third quarter that was interesting. Rider quarterback Shea Patterson was under pressure and got a late hit from the BC Lions defensive lineman.

The Rider offensive line pushed the offending lineman down and got flagged for an unnecessary roughness penalty that combined with the penalty for a late hit on Patterson resulted in the play being repeated.

Ordinarily one would shake their head in disapproval over such a penalty, but the Riders last year were physically pushed around by their opponents and in the last two thirds of the season responded like pushovers.

For this offensive line to take an active interest in protecting their quarterback is a giant step forward to asserting themselves and I have no problem with the Riders incurring such a penalty if it sends a message that their quarterback is no longer going to be a pinata for opposing teams.

The Riders picked up 88 yards in penalties which is irritating for Dickenson, but again, this should be seen as a work in progress. Penalties were not really a factor in the game, but the Riders need to get good habits in place or else they will self destruct in the first half of this season.

With Trevor Harris not in the lineup due to the birth of his son, the story line swung to how the Riders three other quarterbacks, Jake Dolegala, Shea Patterson and Mason Fine would fare. Last year the Riders took criticism for pulling Fajardo and seeing the Rider back ups Dolegala and Fine have their moments of competence but also moments of high comedy.

Dolegala started the game and his height (6’7”) and rocket arm have many thinking of him as a future starter. Dolegala did not face any BC Lion starters, and had his moments moving the team in addition to hiccups when one amazingly looking pass was followed by something better suited to a duck blind.

Patterson comes from Michigan and was a third down quarterback in BC last year and played in the USFL this year to mixed results. Patterson got rushed a fair amount and scrambled, but managed to overcome his rocky moments with a touchdown pass.

As mentioned, Fine has a rough start to his appearance in the game with the pick-six, but responded with the two touchdown passes to win the game. All three quarterbacks showed a heartening ability to overcome their mistakes by not pressing, and sticking to a basic offense and managing to move the team and avoid the two and outs that plagued the team last year and wore their defense down to such an extent it became more susceptible to injury.

The play of the three quarterbacks is heartening, but it did not clarify the situation as to who will play back up and who will be the third down short yardage quarterback.

This week against Winnipeg expect Harris to play probably a half and then have the three share the second half to try to make their case for staying on the team. The Riders may be able to benefit from a change in league rules that now allows for three quarterbacks to be dressed on the roster.

This could allow the Riders to have three dressed and they could keep one on the practice roster as an insurance policy. The Riders have not developed a quarterback since Darian Durant emerged from the practice roster in 2008, and the job has gotten harder with the addition of the USFL, XFL and expanded roster spots in the NFL.

One interesting position to watch was the receivers where the Riders put out a bunch of new players, some of whom managed to get open on a regular basis. The Riders don’t have a clear-cut number one, although Jake Weineke may be the best bet due to his past relationship with Harris in Montreal.

No one really seemed to grab a roster spot based on their play Saturday night in the receiving corps and one suspects the Riders may be looking at seeing who can also run back punts and kicks to buttress their claim to a roster spot.

The first half of the game against Winnipeg will be a good test to see which receivers step up and which show good chemistry with Harris. There is a rule change this year that will teams to replace a Canadian with an American who has been with the team for three years or five years in the league, so it would not be a surprise to see the Riders receiving corps comprised of mostly Canadians who can be spelled off by the occasional American CFL vet.

The Riders defensive line got a couple of sacks against BC, who had Dane Evans starting at quarterback with an assist from Dominique Davis. Of particular interest was the play of Jaxson Ford, grandson of former Rider Al Ford, who played for the University of Regina Rams and was playing at safety.

The Riders chose not to re-sign Canadian safety Mike Edem and they have Canadian draft pick last year Jayden Dalke who will likely start this year. Ford won’t get a roster spot because he is the grandson of a legendary Roughrider, but he will get on the roster because he can also play special teams and the way he was calling defensive signals when he was in shows he is aware of what the defense is trying to do.

The Riders did allow a few deep passes, which is not unexpected, but the team played smart vanilla defense by ensuring the defensive backs and linebackers kept the Lions receivers and running backs in front of them which would allow them to catch the ball, but also get tackled sooner.

Micah Teitz made his first appearance at linebacker since the 2021 Western semi-final when he had a groin injury and did not look out of place. The Riders did not have linebacker Derek Moncrief in the line-up since he is recovering from surgery, but for the most part the Rider linebackers did their job.

One of the interesting match-ups came in the kicking/punting game. Brett Lauther was dressed but did not play, so Riders international draft pick, kicker Adam Korsak of Rutgers, worked on holding the ball on field goals while Rider punter Kaare Vedvik tried his foot at field goals, missing one and a convert.

Some have argued the Riders did not play starters and therefore are no further ahead in their evaluation of the roster. Having sat through nine years of Rider exhibition games, I have seen the Riders fall flat against other teams back ups so I am not too concerned.

The Riders showed a welcome tendency to overcome adversity in the BC game in addition to showing good speed and being able to execute the offensive and defensive game plans. It was just one exhibition game, but the Riders showed their talk of improving their play is now being turned into actual results.

The Riders play Winnipeg this week before going to Edmonton for the season opener. Satan’s Team has had the Riders number the last few years, and while I suspect they will likely try to push the Riders around to send a message Satan still rules the Western conference, if the Riders can hold their own physically while continuing to move the ball, this augers well for the first half of the 2023 season.

The Riders start their season June 11 in Edmonton in a game the Elk are billing as guaranteed win night. The Elk have not won a home game in over 1,000 days so they are trying to bring fans in with the promise if the team does not win, they can get in the next game free, or something like that.

The Elk are creating expectations they can win, so the Riders have to be prepared for a playoff like atmosphere, at least from the Elk players because the fans have deserted the Elk so far.

The Riders then go on a short week to host Winnipeg on June 16 and this is the game the Riders really need to show well in to demonstrate they have made advances over the 2022 season debacle. Winnipeg will not be easy this early in the season no matter how the Rider exhibition game against Winnipeg turns out.

The Riders then go to Calgary on June 24 and the Stampeders seem to have reloaded as they have done over the last 20 years. The Riders have not played well in Calgary and this will be another tough game for them.

The Riders then host the Elk on July 6 and that may see less pressure from the Elk as opposed to the season opener. The Riders get Calgary visiting on July 15, again, never an easy game for the Riders and then they go to BC to face the Lions on July 22.

The Riders then go to Halifax to face the Argos on July 29, which means a short week and a cross continent travel schedule that is not as easy as it sounds. Did I mention the Argos are defending Grey Cup champs?

The Riders then face the new look Ottawa Redblacks under Coach Bob Dyce who has the chronic whiner Jeremiah Masoli back at quarterback. Masoli got knocked out against the Riders last year by Garrett Marino last year who then did a stupid wrestling move after sacking and injuring Masoli, resulting in a suspension and his later being cut and banned from signing with a CFL team.

The Riders then play Montreal on August 11 and their old quarterback Cody Fajardo and former offensive coordinator Jason Maas who is not the head coach in Montreal. Fajardo will be motivated to show well against the Riders along with Maas who must have chaffed at the suggestion he did nothing to help the offense succeed last year.

Then comes the Winnipeg games.

So the Riders could range anywhere from having an 8-2 record before hosting Winnipeg to being 5—5 or most likely 4-6. A hot start does not always lead to a strong finish because you may remember the 2014 Riders had an 8-2 record before Darian Durant was knocked out for the season and the Riders had widows and orphans handling the quarterbacking duties until the Riders were mercifully knocked out of the playoffs.

I was more pessimistic before the BC game about how the Riders would do and thought they would do well just to match their 6-12 record. Keep in mind this is a learning period for the Riders but so far they seem to have heeded their mistakes from 2022.

by Greg Urbanoski

Riders Win Exhibition Game in Front of Dozens of Fans

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