Riders looking for third straight win in showdown with Elks

The Saskatchewan Roughriders will look to continue to build momentum — and get closer to a home playoff game — on Friday with the first of back-to-back games against the Edmonton Elks.

The Riders (7-4) are sitting in sole possession of second place in the CFL’s West Division and are winners of two straight. The Riders have already clinched a playoff spot.

Meanwhile, Edmonton (2-8) has lost six straight and while the Elks aren’t eliminated from playoff contention, a lot of things would need to go their way to get them there.

If the Riders beat the Elks, Edmonton will fall to 0-7 at Commonwealth Stadium this year and go winless at home for the first time in franchise history. Kickoff for the game is set for 7:45 p.m.

But while the teams appear to be on different trajectories, Riders quarterback Cody Fajardo knows they can’t take Edmonton lightly.

“It’s always different when you have guys playing for jobs rather than a playoff position because that’s your livelihood. You’re playing for your family and trying to get signed for next year,” Fajardo said.

“In my first year in the CFL, I was on the Toronto Argonauts — who were the worst team in the CFL — and when guys are playing for their jobs, it’s quite scary and at any given game, you can put it all together.”

Saskatchewan head coach Craig Dickenson also said the win-loss record might not give the Elks as much credit as they deserve.

“We feel that Edmonton is a talented football team and for some reason or another, they haven’t been able to put it together,” Dickenson said. “You look at their roster and they’ve got good football players, they’re talented and big up front and they can beat you if you come in and don’t play your best.”

The Riders are dealing with some injuries, particularly among their receivers.

Slotback Duke Williams is dealing with a hamstring injury and is considered a game-time decision.

“I think he’s going to play but we will wait and see. We’re going to bring an extra guy on the road with us and we will let them both warm up and it’s really up to Duke if he feels like he can go and play well,” Dickenson said. “If he can’t play at the level he needs to play at, we will go with another player.”

But while the Riders hope to have Williams in the lineup, they will be without their leading receiver for the rest of the season.

Last week, slotback Kyran Moore suffered a significant knee injury in the 19-14 win over the Montreal Alouettes and he appears to be done for the rest of the 2021 season.

Slotback Ricardo Louis will return to the lineup after the injury to Moore. Louis has been on the practice roster the past two games after the addition of Williams to the lineup. In six games this season, Louis has caught 14 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns.

Fajardo said it’s a positive that players like Louis have already had a chance to play this season.

“Now’s the time for it to pay dividends for those guys and the experience that they got to step up and make some plays,” Fajardo said. “I’m really comfortable with those guys. I’m glad we’ve had games under our belt when it has been crunch time.”

Louis is looking forward to once again starting.

“It feels good to get back into the swing of things, playing and having fun,” Louis said. “These are games where the plays we haven’t had a chance to execute in a game situation, we’ve got to execute them. Once we start rolling with that and executing the plays we know we can, then all the plays we left on the field will start to show up.

“We will start to make more explosive plays and help our defence out even more.”

The Riders’ offence has been struggling to get into a groove for most of the season, with the unit ranking eighth with an average of 313.7 total yards a game, eighth when it comes to second-down conversions (40.9 per cent), eighth in average yards per play (5.6 yards) and sixth in points per game (21.7).

The Elks also are dealing with some injuries to a few of their top playmakers; running back James Wilder Jr., wide receiver Derel Walker and slotback Greg Ellingson have all been ruled out for the game.

Wilder Jr. is the Elks’ top rusher with 714 yards and two touchdowns. Ellingson has a team-leading 687 receiving yards, with Walker second on the list with 468.

“They’ve got guys behind them that they feel like are ready to go, otherwise I think we’d probably see Derel Walker and Greg Ellingson. Sometimes the unknown is tougher to deal with than the guy you know about,” Dickenson said. “That’s going to change their chemistry for sure.”

The Riders’ defence has been a strength of the team while the offence has struggled in 2021.

The defence has allowed an average of only 19.9 points a game this season.

The defensive dominance isn’t new for the Riders. They’re 27-0 when leading after three quarters since 2017.

Defensive tackle Micah Johnson said these next few games are all about getting better ahead of the playoffs. The Riders’ defence has recorded nine sacks over the past two games.

“I think we’re doing a good job and momentum is going in the right direction,” Johnson said. “You just want to keep on sharpening up and going in the right direction so when the playoffs come, you’re rolling.”