Mark Taylor/THE CANADIAN PRESS
REGINA – With his team down 11-0 in the second quarter of a crucial regular season finale, Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Chris Jones made the call. In came Brandon Bridge under centre to replace Kevin Glenn.
The stakes were high entering Saturday night’s game when the Riders hosted the Edmonton Eskimos. The winner would stay in the West to face the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Semi-Final while the loser headed East to play as the Crossover teams.
The Riders kept the game close throughout, trailing by not much more than a touchdown until the fourth quarter when the Esks pulled away.
The game started with Glenn at quarterback but as had become a growing theme this season, Bridge replaced him with his team facing an early deficit.
The move appeared to spark the offence as Bridge’s speed and ability to evade defenders on his feet added another wrinkle to the offensive attack. He instantly put points on the board for the Riders, marching the team downfiled on his first drive of coming off of the bench. Evading the Esks defenders, Bridge notched a 14-yard rush for a first down and later found Marcus Thigpen for the team’s first touchdown.
Bridge would finish the game with 25 yards rushing on six attempts. He also threw for 162 yards and a touchdown on 12-of-18 passing while Glenn finished with 63 yards completing 5-of-10 attempts.
Despite the loss there are still many encouraging signs that the Riders can take away. Bridge proved once again to be a valuable weapon off of the bench and that a lack of warmup wouldn’t hurt him. Thigpen showed he can hold his own in the running back position should Cameron Marshall or Trent Richardson not be ready to go next week. Bridge seems to have found some chemistry with veterans Chad Owens and Rob Bagg and can keep the offence moving.
There were a number of roughing penalties that the Riders will need to clean up as they head into the playoffs. Giving away yards kept a number of Esks drives alive and also prematurely ended some of their own offensive attacks.
Saskatchewan has to be encouraged by the 25-year-old Toronto native. When his number is called, Bridge shows he can respond. It doesn’t hurt the Riders for them to have this sort of weapon they can bring in off the bench. They may need that if want to reach the Grey Cup for the first time since winning it all back in 2013.
