Roughriders, Redblacks on different paths since first meeting

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have evolved a lot since their first meeting with the Ottawa Redblacks this season.

The first meeting on June 20 ended with a 44-41 Redblacks win in quarterback Cody Fajardo’s first CFL start as the Green and White’s signal-caller.

“It was a dogfight; it was a heavyweight battle,” Fajardo recalled following Friday’s practice at Mosaic Stadium. “We were on the short end of the stick there and they came away with the victory.”

Fajardo threw for 360 yards and two touchdowns in the loss in Ottawa.

“It’s special for me because it was my first CFL start,” Fajardo said. “Going into that game my confidence was a little wavered because I didn’t know if I could still play football.”

Fajardo had never started a game in his three previous seasons in the CFL during backup stints with the Toronto Argonauts and B.C. Lions.

He was thrust into the starting role after Zach Collaros suffered a concussion on June 13 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Since taking over the job, Fajardo has completed 147 of his 198 pass attempts for 1,871 yards, with seven touchdowns and four interceptions. He also has rushed for 275 yards and six scores.

He anticipates the Redblacks’ defence will have a different plan of attack in Saturday’s game at Mosaic Stadium. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m.

“They’ve got out of their man coverage a little bit and are playing a little bit more zone,” Fajardo said. “We’ve got to be good on first down, and we’ve got to establish the run game and take our shots when they come.”

While Fajardo has found success as the starter, Redblacks quarterback Dominique Davis has struggled since the teams’ first meeting.

In the June 20 game, Davis threw for 354 yards and three touchdowns.

Since then, the Redblacks have gone 1-6, scoring more than 20 points just once. Davis has thrown only two touchdowns against seven interceptions in his five games since the first meeting.

“You can just tell their confidence is not what it was in that second game,” Saskatchewan head coach Craig Dickenson said.

But Dickenson noted the Redblacks can be a dangerous team if they find that confidence once again.

“When they start rolling, they have the ability (and) they have the people there to make some good things happen,” he said. “It just hasn’t worked out for them well in their past few games.”

While the Redblacks have been struggling, Dickenson said his team knows there’s no such thing as an easy win in the CFL.

“We really preach respecting your opponent and respecting the game and respecting the process,” Dickenson said. “When you start hearing ‘assured victory’ or ‘a trap game,’ we don’t buy into that. This is pro football and every team’s good.”

Dickenson said the goal this week will be to make Davis feel uncomfortable in the backfield, and one of the players in charge of doing that will be defensive end A.C. Leonard.

Leonard missed the Aug. 9 game against the Montreal Alouettes due to a shoulder injury but he is to start Saturday.

He will rejoin a defence that is enjoying a dominant stretch of three games in which each opponent has been held to under 20 points.

“I feel like we’re coming together as a defence,” Leonard said. “We’re getting closer, we’re trusting each other and we’re playing for each other. Everybody just wants to win.”

Defensive tackle Micah Johnson will miss his second straight game after suffering an ankle injury on Aug. 1 against the Tiger-Cats.

Brett Lauther comes off the injured to handle the Roughriders’ kicking duties. He missed the previous five games with a groin injury.

Despite the team’s recent run of success, including four straight wins, Fajardo said the Roughriders have to go into every game level-headed.

“You’re going to be humbled at some point,” Fajardo said. “We have a confident but not cocky feel right now. We had a great week of practice where we were loose and having fun and it wasn’t like everything was tight and we were lasered in.”

The Green Zone pregame show gets underway at 3 p.m.