After Aug. 16's frustrating 27-24 loss to the Montreal Alouettes the Saskatchewan Roughriders new mantra is not to leave the game in the hands of the referees, particularly the God (Command) Centre. The problem is that close games bring the God Centre into play late in games.
On Friday night Trevor Harris had a solid game. In the first half he looked a touch off. In the second half he was sharp. He said he got a bead on what they were doing as the Alouettes consistently brought extra rushers. It was the answer and performance you would expect from a veteran quarterback. Harris has the ability to adjust during a game.
On his overall performance he said he did his best and can look in the mirror. He spoke of not being the most talented and prides himself on being well prepared every week. He spoke of wanting to be the best quarterback he can for the team, fans and what he describes as most important, Jesus Christ. It brought back memories of Cody speaking of sprinkles of Jesus on certain successful plays.
Harris justly praised his offensive line which gave him time to throw throughout the game. Logan Ferland, playing at right tackle, looked comfortable on the outside. He felt the offensive line did a good job with the five playing as one. The Riders will have interesting options if Ferland can continue to play offensive tackle. It was just over a decade ago that Montreal fielded an all Canadian offensive line and dominated the league.
Were it not for Shawn Bane Jr. dropping a perfect pass at the Alouette 15 in the third quarter, the Riders would probably have won the game despite Brent Lauther’s horrible night.
After that dropped pass, Lauther missed a field goal that was returned for a touchdown and the Alouettes got a single on the kickoff. Midway through the third quarter the Alouettes had not run a single offensive play but had scored eight points.
I was puzzled when the Riders did not go for third and 1 twice in the first half. One time they unsuccessfully tried to draw the Alouettes offside and ended up with Lauther having to make a kick from five yards further back. Corey Mace said, on self-reflection after the Ottawa game, there had been a couple of times versus the Redblacks they had been stopped. He said he was being greedy and that had cost them. This week he was going to take the points. He also felt the defence was playing well. The strategy faltered because of Lauther’s problems.
The defence did play well. They got good pressure and contained the run. Rolan Milligan felt they were avoiding him a bit. The defender the Alouettes were not avoiding was Amari Henderson. He struggled with coverage and tackles. It will be interesting to see whether Henderson or Deontai Williams is on the corner against the Argonauts.
No matter the support of teammates and coaches it was a bad awful night for Brent Lauther as he missed four field goals. All admired him for sitting in front of his locker and answering questions about the disaster. I was in the locker room in 1989 after Glen Suitor had a last play, unnecessary pass interference penalty, that gave the B.C. Lions the chance to win a game that was lost at Taylor Field. Sitting in the corner where his locker was located he patiently answered questions. I even wrote a letter to Suitor that formed my week’s column on how no one person loses a football game. However, since then Riders have endured the 12th man penalty to lose a Grey Cup.
On his last chance for redemption on Friday night Lauther really drove the ball. I wondered if he had been pressing on that kick. I asked him if he hit the ball as he wanted. He said obviously not as it did not go in. He said he was up and down all night and did not hit many balls the way he wanted.
Still he would not have been kicking on the final play had the Command Centre done its job.
The Riders should have had an interception that would have ended the game by C.J. Reavis. He said Charleston Rambo had his hands on a low pass at the Rider 10 that he put between his legs and Reavis grabbed the ball when it popped up. Reavis said Rambo’s actions were weird but he never saw the ball hit the ground.
Immediately after the game there were screenshots of Davis Alexander stepping on the sideline on his touchdown run but the God Centre ruled him in bounds.
Players and coaches make mistakes. The omnipotent God Centre cannot make mistakes.
