Tiger-Cats shuffle line for Stamps

HAMILTON (CP) — In the space of a week, rookie lineman Tyrone Riley has gone from the Hamilton TigerCat’s practice roster to starter.

The six-foot-six, 290-pound Riley will make his first CFL start at left tackle today when Hamilton hosts the Calgary Stampeders. Riley didn’t dress for the Ticats’ season-opening 30-13 road loss last week to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“There’s a reason we kept him around,” said Orlondo Steinauer, Hamilton’s head coach. “We think he can play, but like I always say, there’s a test at the end of every week.”

Riley replaces sophomore Travis Vornkahl, who shifts to right guard to take over from Jesse Gibbon. Gibbon will play centre in place of Alex Fontana, last week’s starter who moved to the six-game injured list.

Brandon Revenberg (left guard) and Chris Van Zeyl (right guard) will stay put. Kay Okafor will be the lone backup offensive lineman.

“We kind of changed the name from the practice roster to the waiting room because we believe everybody eventually will be seen,” said Steinauer. “It’s just a change of mindset, we don’t want anybody thinking they’re just a practice player.”

Hamilton will need to see improved play from its offensive line Saturday. The Ticats allowed eight sacks and were held to 26 yards rushing versus Saskatchewan.

“Obviously we weren’t good enough up front. Period,” Steinauer said.

Riley played collegiately at North Carolina State, starting on defensive before switching to offence. With Hamilton, he’s had to adjust to a different game, one that has defensive linemen lining up a yard off the ball.

Hamilton quarterback Dane Evans was sacked seven times against Saskatchewan. He finished 18-of-28 passing for 222 yards with a TD and two interceptions while backup Matt Shiltz completed six-of-seven passes.

“We need to string together more first downs and that’s a collective, that’s not just a Dane thing,” Steinauer said. “When it’s just specific to Dane, we’d like to see him, just protect the ball.”

Evans, who became a first-time dad this week, said Calgary’s defence presents a formidable challenge.

“There’s nobody who takes a play off, there’s nobody who’s like, a weakness, or anything like that,” Evans said. “We have a pretty good offence, they have a pretty good defence, so it will be fun to see us go against each other.”