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October 26, 2016

Lions and Riders Clash Today!

It marks the end of an era when your BC Lions (10-6) visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-11) in the final ever CFL contest at Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field on Saturday. It is also the first of a home and home series to close out the regular season. The historic venue in Regina has served as home of the Riders in some form since 1910 before being expanded to a full stadium in 1936. For the visiting Leos, any talk of nostalgia is secondary as they hope to be in a position to finish second in the West and host a playoff game on Sunday, November 13th. Jonathon Jennings senses a little extra bounce in his team’s step after last week’s critical victory over the Edmonton Eskimos. “Every time you win it allows every guy to relive some stress and take a breath,” the Lions’ QB said. “It was great for us to come back and respond like we did and now we just have to learn from that and continue to do what it took to win that game.” One thing is for certain: a full week is beneficial when you are preparing for a Roughriders defence that has played with a certain swagger under head coach Chris Jones. “They do a lot of different things on defence and they’re a tough team,” Jennings said. “You just have to adjust throughout the game and continue to execute your game plan. The atmosphere should be crazy. It’s always fun playing there.” Jennings had a career-best 429 passing yards in the first and only other meeting with gang green, a 40-27 victory on July 16th. The math is simple: if the Lions beat Saskatchewan twice and have the Blue Bombers lose one of their remaining two against Ottawa, the Western Semi-Final will be played at BC Place.

BC Lions' quarterback Jonathon Jennings, top, calls the play during first half CFL football action against the Calgary Stampeders in Calgary, Friday, July 29, 2016.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Here are some other storylines for Saturday’s showdown in the flatlands.

Records mean nothing

Although the Riders have been out of playoff contention for the better part of a month, Ryan Phillips and his teammates do not expect them to lie down, especially when you consider they recently had a four-game winning streak. “It’s the next step for us to get to where we want to be,” the 12-year veteran said. “We’re not taking them lightly. They won four in a row for a reason and I think to them that was a sign of the team they should have been throughout the season. They’re playing to maintain their jobs. ” As for playing on the Taylor Field surface for a final time, Phillips said it will be hard to keep the memories from coming back. “I’m not going to shed too many tears but it’s definitely going to be memorable. We’ve been through some battles and things like that on that field for sure. We had to stay focussed on the task at hand.”

Riding Jeremiah?

The surprise of the week at practice was Jeremiah Johnson getting a bulk of the first team reps at tailback, going against the recent trend of a two-game rotation between himself and Anthony Allen. GM/head coach Wally Buono was not ready to declare Johnson his guy for the rest of the season and the running back is keeping with the same philosophy of only approaching it one game at a time. “I’m very surprised,” Johnson admitted about working with the starters for a third straight week. “Most definitely I am ready for the opportunity and ready to take it to where I need to go. We’re both (him and Allen) coming prepared and ready to go and whoever’s number is picked, we’re going in and going hard about it.” As far as the Riders’ defence goes, Johnson has had to rely on the game film after Allen dressed in the previous matchup in Saskatchewan. “They do a lot of things well,” Johnson said. “They’re front four is pretty good and their back three is pretty good as well. I just think for us to have success we just have to do what we did last week. We know our formula.” He rushed for 108 yards on 17 carries against Edmonton last Saturday. Much has been made about the payoff of having interchangeable parts in the backfield. Their combined total of 1,104 rushing yards is second in the league to Calgary’s Jerome Messam. Johnson alone has the fifth highest total (668 yards) despite playing in only nine games this season.

Injury/Sick Bay Watch

 Defensive tackle Jabar Westerman will miss a second straight game with his injured ankle meaning Bryant Turner Jr. starts at his interior position once again. In the secondary, Anthony Gaitor appears to be fine after missing the first day of practice. He has been playing on a wonky ankle for a few weeks. Richie Leone missed Thursday’s practice with a bout of food poisoning but made the trip to Regina. With no backup on the roster, Jennings, Travis Lulay and Adam Bighill were among those who took kicking reps in special teams drills.

Quotable: Buono Recalls First Trip To Mosaic

“I’m dating myself, but if I can remember it was freezing cold and the thing I remember the most was the Canadian geese were flying over as we were playing. That was probably the early 70’s. It’s changed a lot other than the fact whenever you go there you always knew that the fans were going to be a big part of the game.”- Buono recalls first every trip to Taylor Field as a player.

Buono Wally addressing group

 

Three Keys To Victory

 

  1. Stay composed early- the noise has always been a factor at Mosaic, but this time it should be magnified given the circumstances. Jennings and the offence will want to avoid a time count violation on the first play, unlike the previous trip there on July 16th.
  2. Dominate up front- a Jones-led defence is always a force to be reckoned with. If the Lions’ pass protection and running game can be on point like it was against the Eskimos, it will be a huge advantage.
  3. Limit the deep ball- The young secondary did a nice job against Mike Reilly, Adarius Bowman and company last week. Durant likes to throw the odd deep ball so this will be another big test.

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Extra Yardage

 The July win at Mosaic had a little bit of everything, including a touchdown reception by right tackle Jovan Olafioye to spark a second half comeback as well as an unorthodox flea flicker by Allen, as he was being tackled, to Jennings on their first major of the night.

The Lions’ first ever triumph at the old venue took place on September 5th, 1955 under legendary head coach Annis Stukus.

One last quirk about Taylor Field; it was the site of the Baltimore Stallions’ 1995 Grey Cup victory, the only time a squad from South of the Border won it all.

One of the Lions’ quiet leaders in 2016 has been Cameron Ontko. His 16 special teams tackles are good enough for first on the squad, three ahead of all-time CFL leader Jason Aragki this season. It is extra impressive when you consider Ontko was not added to the active roster until the July 16th win at Mosaic.

This contest can be heard on TSN 1410 with Scott Rintoul and Giulio Caravatta. Pregame coverage begins at 2:00 PM with Bob Marjanovich, Chris Burns and Lowell Ullrich.

You can check out the roster and depth chart for Saturday here!

Fan Poll
What is the biggest factor for Lions in Saskatchewan?
Drowning out Mosaic crowd noise
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Line of scrimmage
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Turnover battle
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Jennings outplaying Durant
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Other
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Matt Baker:mbaker@bclions.com