Harris knows Roughriders will focus on him

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This article was published 04/10/2019 (2195 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s no secret the Winnipeg Blue Bombers offence runs through Andrew Harris. The CFL’s leading rusher, with 1,021 yards through 12 games, surely benefits from being on a team that rushes more than anyone else.

The Bombers have rushed 331 times — 43 more than the Montreal Alouettes in second spot — averaging nearly 149 yards along the ground per game. It’s the kind of numbers that scream to other teams that it’s going to be a heavy workload for No. 33 — and the Bombers running back is just fine with that.

After all, he’s the first one to notice when teams key in on him, and it happens a lot. But he sees it as a challenge worthy of meeting.

He expects the same thing from the Saskatchewan Roughriders when the two teams meet tonight in the Queen City.

“We’ve played a number of teams that have done that and been successful. It’s just a will and a want. We have the horses to still be successful, no matter how many guys they put in the box,” Harris said Friday from Mosaic Stadium. “He (quarterback Chris Streveler) has also grown and continues to grow with his passing attempts. The confidence he has and Lapo (offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice) has and the team has around him — it’s a double-edged sword as far as if they’re going to stack the box, we should be able to find guys.”

The attention Harris demands was a topic of conversation during the Roughriders’ media availability. However, Roughriders head coach Craig Dickenson wasn’t willing to rule out the arm of Streveler, noting he was coming off his first 300-yard passing game.

“We don’t think they’re one-dimensional, necessarily. I think (Streveler) can still hurt you with the pass. So we’ve got to do a good job of playing run and pass,” Dickenson said. “Andrew Harris is going to be heavily involved. But this is a team who beat us the other week pretty handily without Andrew Harris. But now they’ve got Andrew back.”

Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea wasn’t surprised to hear the Roughriders were going to highlight Harris in their defensive scheme. But he put it back on his own pivot for whether or not his team will be successful.

“He’s one of the top players in the CFL, and he’s been that for a number of years. But offences always run through the quarterback, and that’s Chris Streveler,” O’Shea said. “Teams will try to take the run away, obviously. If you look at the stats, that’s probably where it starts in a defensive game plan against us. But we’ve got a number of other weapons, and I know Chris is quite able to push the ball downfield.”

The Bombers were in a similar situation last season, when they travelled to Saskatchewan for the West semifinal. In that game, the Roughriders knew the Bombers were going to run, and they did. The problem was, Saskatchewan couldn’t stop it and Winnipeg earned a 23-18 win. Harris rushed 19 times for 153 yards and one touchdown.

“We’ve got to keep that confidence and play with that physicality to continue to get it done,” Harris said.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton