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The battle in the trenches will be vital in the war between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
The two CFL West Division rivals will lock horns on Sunday in the 58th Labour Day Classic.
The Riders come into the game as the CFL clubhouse leader in sacks with 34 through 11 games. A big part of that has been the play of defensive end Pete Robertson, who is tied for the league lead with eight sacks.
“It’s going to be a big game for us because we came off a win last week but we need to be consistent,” Robertson said.
The Riders are coming off a 23-16 win over the B.C. Lions – just their second win in the last six games.
Saskatchewan will try to put the pressure on Winnipeg quarterback Zach Collaros, who has been one of the league’s best pivots in 2022.
The 2021 Most Outstanding Player has thrown for 2,749 yards, 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions this year. Winnipeg has also only given up 21 sacks thus far.
“Their O-Line has been together for a while and they play really good together as a group but you’ve got to give more credit to Zach,” Robertson said. “He can make plays outside of the pocket.”
On the other side of the ball, the Riders will try to flip the script on what has been one of their weakest areas in 2022 – pass protection.
The Riders have given up 44 sacks so far – the most in the CFL and 12 more than the Montreal Alouettes who are in second with 32.
“It comes down to what we try to do every single week – make sure our communication is good, our eyes are good, make sure we are able to identify everything that is going on out on the field there and be able to execute when the ball gets snapped,” guard Evan Johnson said.
While the Riders’ pass protection has been a weakness, the run blocking has proven to be a strength. The Riders lead the league with 1,208 yards on the ground.
“All offensive linemen love to run block. Run protection is more so just controlled aggression but very aggressive aggression, while pass protection you have to be a little bit more patient before delivering that aggression to your opponent,” Johnson said.
The Riders’ O-line will need to stop a defensive unit led by defensive ends Willie Jefferson and Jackson Jeffcoat along with middle linebacker Adam Bighill, who was named the 2021 Most Outstanding Defensive Player.
Along with four sacks this season, Jefferson is second in the CFL with nine pass knockdowns.
“They are very effective at what they do – they may not have the sack totals you expect from (Jefferson and Jeffcoat), they pressure the quarterback every week,” offensive coordinator Jason Maas said. “They make it very difficult for all coordinators to game plan against them.
“You try to slow them down as much as you can. There’s a variety of different ways you can do that but they are physical menaces no matter what.”
The Riders will be making a change to their offensive line this week after seven sacks against the Lions. Josiah St. John will start at right tackle and Andrew Lauderdale will continue to start at left tackle. Offensive tackle Terran Vaughn (hamstring) was expected to return to the lineup this week but is out again.
Wide receiver Shaq Evans and slotback Brayden Lenius are back in the lineup for the Riders. Evans has been out since Week 3 with an ankle injury. This will be Lenius’ first game back since he -rejoined the team after attending camp for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.
Kickoff for Sunday’s game at Mosaic Stadium is set for 4 p.m. The Green Zone pre-game show begins at 2 p.m.
