RidersBeat Win A Pig 31-27 to Finish Off Pr-Season

The 31-27 win by the Riders over Win A Pig was the most entertaining game of the preseason and one of the most interesting. The starting quarterbacks for both sides, Trevor Harris for the Riders and Zach Collaros for Win A Pig each played their teams first series, and each came away with a touchdown, setting up the stage for the battle of the back-ups.

The Riders played a few more starters due to the three-week gap before their next game but only for a series or two. Unless you were coming off a 3-15 season, you really don’t grade the success of your preseason by wins but by opportunities to evaluate players in a variety of series.

It’s not a fair system since players may see just a few snaps during the game, and if they are not the focus of the play, they need to show they can understand and do their job, which will help later in the season if they must fill in for someone on the injury list.

Rider backup quarterback Jack Coan was coming off a lackluster performance against Calgary where he looked like he had problems with making his reads and more importantly, being able to get the ball out to the receivers quicker.

For this game against the Bombers, the Riders wanted to see how Coan would respond, especially after quarterback Brayden Schrager let the Riders to their only touchdown against Calgary late in the game.

The Bombers were not going to cooperate with that plan. The Bombers had an interesting week where two quarterbacks walked out of camp saying if they were not going to be able to compete for the backup quarterback position, they were just wasting their time in the city where dreams go to die.

The Bombers had drafted Canadian quarterback Tyler Elgersama who spent most of the last year down in the United States trying to catch on with an NFL team. In an effort to get film, he even tried the UFL, but an inability to get a work permit forced him back to Win A Pig and, in an effort, to show the toothless masses of Princess Otto they have the next quarterback after Zach Collaros, have pretty much given the spot to Elgersama prompting the walkout by two quarterbacks.

The Bombers also had their checklist of things to do including seeing if they could revive their pass rush. The Bombers brought in new players but did not play their most notable free agents like Jake Ceresna the free agent they seduced from Edmonton.

The Bombers decided to blitz almost every play, which is usually something you don’t do in the preseason since the point of the preseason game is to evaluate players not necessarily to win.

There is nothing inherently wrong with blitzing every play, especially if you have talented players and the only thing you can is sending as many people as possible against the quarterback to disrupt their timing and overwhelm the second and third string offensive linemen. If you are Win A Pig, you also have to rely on the opportunity to potentially inflict major injuries and if you look at the eye gouging of Schrager by the Bombers in the fourth quarter, you can’t say the Bombers didn’t try hard to shake their reputation as a team of past their prime punks.

The only way to counter what the Bombers were trying to do was to make plays and to see if Coan had learned from his mistakes earlier in the week.

Coan didn’t help his cause when he threw a pick six interception to the Bombers but instead of pulling him, the Riders left him in to see if he could play his way through his predicament. The Bomber blitzes forced Coan to make quicker decisions and when you have every play being a blitz by the Bombers, the Riders countered with their running game and short passing game to open deeper spots later.

As the game progressed and players rotated into the game from the lower reaches of the depth chart, Coan had managed to erase the Bomber lead and put the Riders in front, allowing Coan to show he can overcome adversity, a nice quality to have in a quarterback.

Schrager came in and while he matched Coan in throwing a pick 6, then threw another interception later, Schrager showed a lot of elusiveness against the Bomber defense and found holes along the ground and in mid-level range passes in the secondary.

Rider running back AJ Ouellette was only in on the first series with Harris and ran for a touchdown, leaving the other running backs to show their stuff for the rest of the game. Mario Anderson ran six times for 44 yards, Quali Conley got 32 yards on nine carries.

Elgersama lead the Bombers to a few scores but was betrayed by an offensive line who could not handle the Rider pass rush, a definite question mark heading into the game. Elgersama resembles a less graceful Jake Dolegala in his awkwardness in both running and finding receivers before the pass rush swallowed him whole.

Elgersama left in the fourth quarter when UFL Bryce Perkins came in. With not as much hype as Elgersama, in just under 15 minutes, Perkins hit five of nine passes for 67 yards, compared to Elgersama going six of 11 for 78 yards and three interceptions.

Perkins is a more mobile runner and opened up some space, but the Riders responded with a pass rush and with inspired play in their defensive secondary. The Bombers took a 27-24 lead into the final few minutes and on one play they got called for eye gouging Schrader who stepped out for a few plays and came back for the final drive.

Schrager comes from the University of Hawaii, and they run a pro passing offense there, which means Schrager is not afraid to run when needed. Despite not being able to see from the eye injured by the Bombers, Schrager led the Riders on a drive resulting in former University of Saskatchewan receiver Daniel Wiebe scoring a touchdown in the final minute to give the Riders a 31-27 lead and then clinching the win with an interception in the final few seconds to preserve the win.

Schrager finished 14 of 19 with 179 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, Coan finished 10 of 18 for 100 yards, one touchdown and one interception and Harris was 3-3 for 82 yards.

The Riders finished with 361 yards passing compared to 202 for the Bombers, 86 yards rushing for the Riders compared to 66 for the Bombers, net offence of 431 yards for the Riders compared to 257 for the Bombers.

Each team had two sacks, each committed three turnovers and the Bombers had 12 penalties for 150 yards and the Riders had 3 for 30 yards. On the Bomber fan sites, they trotted out their usual guff about the referees being biased against the Bombers, but maybe their fans should start thinking they just have a dirty team.

The Riders returned to Regina on Sunday and were back practicing at Mosaic Stadium on Monday. The Riders were still bringing players and cutting others and the remaining CFL teams all play on Friday night and final cuts will be made on Saturday.

The talk after the game was Schrager should be named the backup which I can see due to the statistical differences, but Coan faced the starting defenses of the Stampeders and Bombers while Schrager came in late on in each game and was not facing the same players Coan was.

I think the decision by the Riders to let Coan continue playing after his pick six probably will be the tipping point in his remaining as the #2 backup. The Riders could put Schrager either on the one game injured list, but there is also reserve list the Riders could put him in and be assured he would be free from being poached by other teams.

The Riders defensive line was the second issue, especially on the defensive end positions. The Rider run and inside defence did a great job against the Bombers, but unless the Riders were blitzing, they did not get a consistent pass rush.

To be fair, a lot of the defensive line is new and needs to play together to understand each other’s strengths. Whether it is the scheme or the talent that is failing the Riders pass rush, the Riders can still find their way to a pass rush through either recruiting or coaching the players they have not to become better pass rushers.

The Riders next game is June 13th when they host the BC Lions and unveil their 2025 Grey Cup banner. Since this is the just the fifth time in franchise history, it should be a special occasion and barring any unusual injury situation over the next three weeks, the Riders should be at full health when Nathon Rourke and the Lions come to town.

Based on what I saw the last week, the Riders look to be a better team than last year. The Riders will be using the next three weeks to work out combinations and plays that work for their roster, but the discipline and speed the Riders showed in the game and in the practice, Monday indicate this is not a team going to suffer a Grey Cup hangover.

The three games Friday will be followed by cuts on Saturday and the Riders get next week off before returning for practice. There are so many moving parts in putting together a roster, and I recall the western final when Mosaic stadium could not believe Rider Head Coach would punt twice in the last couple of minutes against BC, placing his trust in his defence to get the ball back to his offence.

Mace won spectacularly and showed us armchair GM, coaches and QBs Mace knows what he is doing. What he does this season may well result in the first championship repeat in Rider history, and if it does, future generations may look at this game as where all things became possible.

by Greg Urbanoski

RidersBeat Win A Pig 31-27 to Finish Off Pr-Season

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