Riders looking to sweep series

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This article was published 06/09/2011 (5457 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

REGINA — What are the Saskatchewan Roughriders to do for an encore?

That’s the question that looms after Sunday’s 27-7 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Mosaic Stadium.

The Roughriders improved to 2-7 with their first win in five starts at home and ended a four-game losing skid.

The Blue Bombers had a five-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 7-2, which was still good enough to lead the CFL after the weekend.

The teams meet again this coming Sunday in the second half of the home-and-home series, a contest that has been dubbed the Banjo Bowl.

The Roughriders savoured a hard-fought win, but are aware there is still a great deal of work ahead if they are to salvage the season. The Roughriders won their seventh straight Labour Day Classic, but are 2-4-0 in the rematch over that stretch.

In 2010, the Riders beat the Bombers 27-23 in the Labour Day Classic. The Roughriders were then thumped 31-2 by the Blue Bombers, who finished the season 4-14-0, the next week in Winnipeg. The Roughriders aren’t in any position to let that happen this season.

“We dug ourselves a hole in the first half (of the season),” said Riders offensive tackle Dan Goodspeed. “We know that we have to get wins. We got our second one and hopefully the third will follow it. We have to keep building on that.”

There are many aspects of Sunday’s game in which the Riders can build on. That couldn’t be said of the games preceding the Labour Day Classic. The return of Ken Miller to the sidelines as head coach on Sunday had a great deal to do with inspiring the Riders. They played with a passion that had been missing under Greg Marshall, who was fired on Aug. 19, one day after Saskatchewan was beaten 24-18 by the Toronto Argonauts.

“It was a brand new start for us,” said slotback Chris Getzlaf, who had two receptions for 51 yards and two touchdowns. “Coach Miller had some good talks with us about being confident and playing smart and we did that (Sunday).”

Some of that control was lost late in the game when a number of skirmishes broke out. The Blue Bombers had two players ejected — slotback Corey Watson and defensive back Brandon Stewart — for rough play. Overall Winnipeg was penalized 16 times for 178 yards. The Roughriders, among the league leaders for penalties under Marshall, were flagged five times for 73 yards.

The Blue Bombers were not happy with the number of times they were penalized. They don’t think the skirmishes on Sunday will carry over to the Banjo Bowl.

“It sets the tone for a great game, not a dirty one,” said Blue Bombers centre Obby Khan. “It will be a physical game and that’s what you get with the Manitoba and Saskatchewan rivalry. I don’t anticipate anything getting out of hand. It will just be a very physical football game.”

— Postmedia News