Rod Pedersen
CFL.ca
At 6-0, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are off to their best start as a franchise since the 1934 season. That year the Riders also finished the regular season at 6-0 under coach Greg Grassick and went on to lose 20-12 in the Grey Cup to the vaunted Sarnia Imperials. Oh, the Sarnia Imperials’dynasty!
In short, one more consecutive win for the Roughies will equal their best start in the franchise’s 98 years of existence. They will have to do it this week at home against the Calgary Stampeders on Thursday night at Mosaic Stadium in Regina. A twelfth straight sellout of 28,800 will be on hand to welcome the Riders home after a 22-21 win at Calgary on Saturday.
As elated as the Riders are with the 6-0 start and their successful defense of the Grey Cup title (so far), they are screaming at the football heavens wondering why they’ve been hit so hard by injuries. By rookie coach Ken Miller’s count, up to fifteen starters have been lost due to long-term injuries. Saturday night at McMahon Stadium, receiver/returner Carl Berman (Achilles) went down, along with veteran fullback Neal Hughes (fractured fibula) and star wide receiver Matt Dominguez (knee).
Throw that in with slotbacks Andy Fantuz (broken leg) and D.J. Flick (fractured fibula and tibia), quarterback Darian Durant (cracked ribs), defensive end John Chick (knee) and a host of others, and you start to realize this tremendous start is a near miracle.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Miller. “Anywhere at any level. You wouldn’t expect fifteen serious injuries in a season let alone six games.”
Somehow or another the Green and White have persevered and some across the CFL actually think they are lucky.
Lucky? Well it’s true the Riders certainly have had some good fortune in the form of a few gratuitous replay challenges and some calls and bounces which have gone their way. The first quarter ejection of Calgary’s middle linebacker JoJuan Armour Saturday night (for contacting an official) didn’t hurt, nor did the fumble recovery touchdown by popular tailback Wes Cates late in the first half. The football bounced out of Dominguez’ hands at the Calgary twelve-yard line and right into Cates’ stomach where he scored an easy touchdown.
Good luck? Pffft. The Riders don’t want to hear about it.
“Enough is enough!” countered Miller. “This swarm of injuries is certainly unusual but we’re going to rally together this week and play well again. But you want to talk about breaks? The bad breaks we’ve gotten have far out-shadowed any calls we may have had here or there.”
“People want to talk about the touchdown Wes scored off of the fumble. Well if it wasn’t for great effort on Wes’ part, he wouldn’t have been in a position to pick up the fumble. It just points out the team effort and the great effort the players are giving to create some of their own breaks.”
The 6-0 start, coupled with the rash of injuries, has a lot of people around here scratching their head. What’s the reason? Is it superior depth? Great coaching? Learning how to win last year during the Grey Cup season? Magic? Luck? Or a combination of all of these things?
“It is amazing,” smiled Rider safety Scott Gordon. “It is something special and we do have something going that’s maybe magical. Who knows? Hopefully we can keep it going.”
The growing number of players in the sick bay has forced the Riders to recall import receivers Brian Hernandez and Vincent Marshall who were cut in training camp, and sign non-import defensive back Sebastian Clovis, a former B.C. Lion. They may all be on the roster in this week’s game against Calgary.
How long will the good/bad streaks continue?
No one knows, but it’s made for the most interesting story in the Canadian Football League so far this season.
Rod Pedersen is the Voice of the Roughriders and Saskatchewan reporter for The Score Sports Network. Check out his award-winning blog at www.rodpedersen.com.
