Friday Night Football pits the East-leading Ottawa REDBLACKS against the last place Saskatchewan Roughriders from the West in what promises to be a raucous crowd at TD Place. The REDBLACKS have yet another opportunity to build their lead atop the East with this crucial home game.
Standing in the way of that goal, however, are the Chris Jones-led Roughriders, who have been steadily improving over the last few weeks after a tough start out of the gate in 2016.
Meanwhile, Ottawa is coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Lions in Vancouver last week in a game that saw quarterback Trevor Harris pass for 486 yards and two touchdowns in a losing cause.
But that performance left much reason for optimism and, with a lineup largely unchanged from last week, the REDBLACKS are hungry to pick up two points in front of another sold out crowd at TD Place.
“The Riders bring length, athleticism, they’re good at breaking on the ball and just typical Chris Jones defence type of stuff,” Harris said. “They bring blitzes from everywhere and you have to be prepared.”
The Ottawa quarterback who, along with fellow QB Henry Burris and head coach Rick Campbell, will be wearing live mics broadcast on TSN, said the Riders have improved significantly since the start of the season.
“They’ve changed and evolved,” he said. “They’ve got great pass rushers, they’re going to pose a different challenge for us but at the end of the day, they’re going to do what they do – they’re going to blitz, they’re going to put heat on you and make you get the ball out. We just have to come out and execute our game plan.”
Campbell said it’s up to both the coaches and players to do their part to ensure victory.
“Coaching-wise we need to make sure we put our players in the best position scheme-wise and do some things that make it tough on their offence,” said the coach. “From a player point of view, we need to win some one-on-one matchups, just flat out beat guys one-on-one. If we do a combination of those things, we’ll be alright. You have to put your best foot forward to beat them.”
Chris Williams became the first REDBLACKS receiver to hit the 1,000-yard mark this season, with another impressive performance last Saturday in BC, three others who also hit the milestone last season are each a big game or two away from hitting it again. Williams leads the way with 1,206 yards, while Greg Ellingson could hit that mark as early as Friday as he currently sits on 948 yards. Ernest Jackson and Brad Sinopoli, at 872 and 846 yards, respectively, are also closing the gap.
The last time these two sides met, Week 5 in Saskatchewan, the Roughriders dealt the REDBLACKS their first loss of the season (30-29) that also saw quarterback Trevor Harris sidelined with a knee injury forcing the pivot to miss over a month of action.
The REDBLACKS will head back on the road after Friday’s game for their penultimate road game of the regular season on October 14 against the Tiger-Cats in Hamilton.
