I was in Calgary to watch the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Calgary Stampeders. The Oct. 13 game reminded me of too many games over the past four decades I have watched the Riders play at McMahon Stadium. They found a way to lose, 26-19.
On Friday night Craig Dickenson felt they deserved better. Regrettably, deserving does not mean winning.
The Riders built a lead on the offence doing enough and the defence being stout.
I was seated in the press box beside Stampeder historian Daryl Slade. He had little optimism in a Stampeder comeback.
Jamal Morrow had an excellent game rushing the ball 17 times for 86 yards. In the second quarter he led the Riders to a touchdown running the ball for 39 yards on the 6 play drive. He said they had seen some things on film that helped them in the first half. He was searching out holes and taking advantage. On his touchdown run he said he noticed the linebackers flowing strongly to the right so he cut back to the left. He made a little move on defensive back Brad Muhammad and went easily into the end zone. He said he has to be able to make one man miss him.
The game started shifting when Dickenson elected to take a safety with the Riders about to punt out of their end zone against the wind. He described it as a tough call. He thought the Stampeders would take the ball at their 40 over a kickoff. The flaw in his reasoning was that the Riders, after a safety, would have to kick off from their 20 against the same wind. To no one’s surprise the Stampeders elected to take the kickoff and started at their 48.
Still it was the mistakes in the second half that cost the Riders the game.
Mario Alford’s punt return fumble was the big play the Stampeders needed. He fought the ball all night. Whether it was wind or other issues he had three fumbled kicks.
The next turnover got less attention but it certainly gave the Stampeder defence momentum. Morrow was stopped on 3rd and 2 running up the middle. I said to him there was no hole. He replied that he tried to get behind the pads and just push forward. He said he got bent over a bit and had no power in his legs. I had hoped the Riders might have had Dolegala fake to Morrow and either run or pass as he was rolling right. The Stampeders were rightly expecting Morrow up the middle just as they were ready on the second down when he had gained only a yard.
On the next Rider series Dolegala made his worst play of the night when he tried to pass to Sam Emilus. Calgary linebacker, Cam Judge, dropped off his man reading the play and was in perfect position to make a pick 6.
Dolegala struggled for the rest of the game. He would make a good pass and then a poor pass. His accuracy and feel for the game were erratic. Dickenson said he started pressing and thought the wind a factor.
Looking at Dolegala after the game he was more despondent than I have seen him after any other loss. He spoke about miscommunications with receivers. It should be improving rather than worsening after being a starter for a couple of months. I believe his confidence has been shaken.
On the Riders last offensive play he was sacked. It summed up his night. He said he knew he had to get rid of the ball as it was third down but wanted to make a guy miss. He is not the quarterback with the ball who is going to make guys miss. (I will not discuss in this column the horrendous over-participation of the command centre in the game which put the Riders in 3rd and 15 beyond mentioning Dickenson’s comment that the command centre was “awfully involved in the game”.)
Dickenson also made a decision in the third quarter that perplexed me when he called for a punt from the Stampeder 34. There was not a soul in the stadium who did not expect the Riders to go for a field goal from the 41-yard line since Ryan Meskell had just comfortably kicked a 39 yard field goal. Dickenson said the wind was blowing hard and it was intended be a sort of onside kick with the idea of pinning them inside the five-yard line. When I asked why not go for the 41 yarder after just making the 39 yarder he said he did not get a good feel for the 41 yard attempt and the game was tied and repeated he wanted to pin them deep.
My sons were in the stands and said the group around them noted that at halftime a fan, on a promotion, had easily kicked a 35-yard field goal into the same wind.
The Rider defence gave up a mere 208 yards to the Stampeder offence. Micah Johnson said they had one of their better games but still lost. I said what more could the defence have done. He thought for a moment and said “score”. If the rest of the team and coaches had done as well as the defence there would have been no need for the defence to score.
I see little chance for the Riders against the Toronto Argonauts. They have shown no indication in the past two months they can play a complete game. For the first time since Trevor Harris went down I heard Dickenson make a comment on the consequences when he said Friday night that they are missing our starting quarterback.
Bill Selnes, who’s based in Melfort, has written about the Saskatchewan Roughriders since the late 1970s. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, Football Reporters of Canada wing on Nov. 24, 2013.
