LOW SCORING AFFAIR

Riders beat Eskimos in battle of defences

REGINA — Mosaic Stadium was awash in molasses Sunday night.

That’s how it looked, anyway, whenever the Saskatchewan Roughriders or Edmonton Eskimos had the football in their possession. It didn’t seem fair, what with both defences running downhill on conveyor belts.

Then Saskatchewan tailback Kory Sheets took a hand-off with just over two minutes left in the game, and that molasses parted like old Moses himself was blazing the trail, and 34 yards later the score went from 7-1 to 14-1 … and oh, my.

Riders fans finally got to cheer — really, really cheer — for the first time since last fall. That pent-up energy, which had been building all game, finally let itself go.

A late field goal later, Saskatchewan walked off the field with a 17-1 victory and a 2-0 record, thanks to an outstanding defensive effort.

There was some debate on Twitter, as the game moved along, about whether the affair was a deathly-dull display of ineptitude, or a gritty and dynamic defensive struggle.

In the final analysis, you’ve got to go more with the latter than the former. Both offences were frequently scattershot — watching Eskimos quarterback Steven Jyles throw downfield in the opening half was like watching a blindfolded guy shoot a rifle — but the incoming pressure was frequently hellacious.

If you like fireworks with your football, however, this wasn’t the game for you.

“The most exciting game you can have on defence is when they don’t score,” Roughriders defensive lineman Shomari Williams said later with a wide grin. “We’re not into all those shootouts — definitely not. Keep a team to one point, that’s great for us. To all the fans, we’re sorry you didn’t get your money’s worth, but it was great for us — a very exciting game.”

But Williams also figured a lot of fans would have appreciated the game for its defensive nuances, scoring be hanged. On this night, Saskatchewan collected six sacks from six different players and received standout performances from all parts of the field.

“Touchdowns are what make money, but playing defence is a big part of the game,” Williams added. “Whenever you have two great defences going at each other … if you’re a fan of the game, you’ll understand that’s a pretty good game you can have.”

So whether it was a yawner or a battle of wills, the Roughriders pulled out the victory with their lowestscoring home opener in recent memory. Back in 2004, they lost 33-10 to Calgary, which was — until Sunday — Saskatchewan’s lowestscoring Mosaic Stadium opener over the last decade.

To the offence’s credit, they moved the ball enough to ensure that Edmonton started most drives pinned back. The Eskimos began just one drive on Saskatchewan’s side, and that ended quickly when Roughriders defensive end Brent Hawkins recovered a fumble.

Over the last quarter and a bit, Edmonton’s drives started on their 17, 5, 35, 24 and 35. Given how they were playing, and how Saskatchewan’s defence was playing, that wasn’t an even fight.

So now the Roughriders are 2-0, tied for first place, and feeling great — albeit with 16 games still to play during what promises to be an eventful season, for better or for worse.

“It’s been a while since we had this feeling. It’s been a while since we had a team you could really feel good about,” said Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant, who completed 20 of 32 passes for 203 yards. He paused. “You guys really need to be interviewing those defensive guys down there, man — they did a helluva job.” Good point. Across the way, Hawkins talked about shaking off the ghosts of last year’s dismal 5-13 campaign.

“It’s weird,” Hawkins said. “Coach showed us a tape of how the team was last year in practice, to how we practice now, and wow — it’s night and day. It’s really crazy how coach (Corey) Chamblin came in here and set a new standard for this team. You can see it on the (locker-room) walls — fast, disciplined, aggressive — and that’s where our defence strives. This is the outcome we expect to have every game.”

As for the lack of scoring on Sunday? Hawkins laughed.

“Hey — if the fans want to see more scoring, the defence is going to try to score next game,” he said.

“How about that? Maybe we’ll give you a little show.”

They’ll play B.C. at home on Saturday. Let’s see what Hawkins and his mates can do for an encore.