The door to first place in the CFL’s West Division is open slightly for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, but it may be firmly closed by the time they step on the field Saturday for their regular season finale.
The 9-7-1 Riders are currently in second place in the West, one point behind the 10-7-0 Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Both teams play on Saturday, with the Bombers visiting the Montreal Alouettes before the Riders host the Calgary Stampeders.
If the Bombers beat or tie the Alouettes, who are in first place in the East Division with a 12-4-1 record, Winnipeg clinches first place and home field for the West Division final. However, if the Alouettes win, that gives the Riders the chance to take first place with a victory over the 4-12-1 Stampeders.
The Riders will be monitoring the Winnipeg-Montreal game closely. But if it turns out their chance at first place is no longer available, they are still focused on beating the Stampeders.
“Once the game starts, we don’t really care what happened. We just want to win the game,” said Riders linebacker C.J. Reavis. “Obviously, you want to play for first place and get that game at home, but at the end of the day, when you go on the field, you don’t want to do less than you’re capable of doing.”
Head coach Corey Mace has been emphasizing all season to taking the schedule one game at a time, and that hasn’t changed going into Saturday’s game. Even with the Riders on a four-game winning streak, Mace has continued to remind his players about focusing on the game at hand.
“We are in no position to be complacent with where we’re at or what we’ve done,” he said. “We’re really trying to house a playoff mentality, and truthfully, we kind of have on the back end of the season. The main thing is just we want to continue to take the next step based off whatever we did.”
It has been a trying season for the Stampeders and head coach/general manager Dave Dickenson. Calgary is on its first nine-game winless streak (0-8-1) in 48 years, dating back to 1976.
“The goal for us is to show up and play well and finish,” Dickenson said. “You know, it’s just like anything else, you’re trying to make sure that people know you’re a professional football player, a professional coach, that you will show up and do your job to the best of your ability with maximum effort,” said Dickenson.
Dickenson said he also has a good reason for fielding his core roster, rather than slipping newcomers into the lineup for evaluation purposes.
“I’ve got to put the best players out there,” he said.” I do believe in the integrity of the league. Other people depend on our effort as well and we will show up. I’m counting on these guys to give me their best and hopefully come out there with a win.”
The Riders have different plans in place for the lineups for each of the two scenarios. In the depth chart they released Friday morning, five players – defensive back Rolan Milligan, receivers KeeSean Johnson, Samuel Emilus and Colton Hunchak and running back A.J. Ouellette – have “Game Time Decision” designations.
Should Winnipeg beat Montreal, those five players are likely to sit out Saskatchewan’s game against Calgary.
Riders quarterback Trevor Harris didn’t have a GTD designation, but it’s expected that if the Bombers win, he will not start against the Stampeders. Neither Harris nor Mace would confirm this possibility, but the quarterback gave a sly answer when asked about its probability of occurring.
“You could read between the lines. We’re all adults here, we can figure it out,” said Harris.
Calgary Stampeders (4-12-1) at Saskatchewan Roughriders (9-7-1)
Saturday, at Mosaic Stadium
ROAD WOES: The Stampeders are 0-8 away from McMahon Stadium this season. Dating back to 1946, they have never gone without at least one road win in each regular season campaign. The Stampeders are 1-13 in their last 14 road games.
HOT HAND: Since returning from the six-game injury list, Harris has put up impressive numbers in the last eight games. He has thrown 13 touchdown passes and averaged 299 yards per game passing during that stretch. Harris has a career record of 58-52-2. His passer rating of 103.0 is 2nd all-time and he is second all-time in career completion percentage at 70.7 per cent.
STREAK IS OVER: The Stampeders had their post-season streak end this year at 18 years in a row, dating back to 2005. In those 18 seasons, the Stampeders secured a home playoff game 13 times, reached the West Division final 11 times and the Grey Cup six times. In 34 seasons since 1989, Calgary has qualified for the playoffs 31 times.