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It has been a long off-season for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Their 2021 season ended in familiar, heartbreaking fashion for the CFL team: A third straight loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the playoffs, including the last two in the West Division final.
“It eats at you. You know you were that close and one play here and one play there, you can win the game,” Roughriders wide receiver Shaq Evans said earlier this week.
“Every year I’ve been here, we’ve lost to Winnipeg in the playoffs. That’s another thing that adds to that (idea of a) revenge season. We want to dethrone those guys because they’ve been the one team that has been in our way the last few years.”
The first step in their revenge journey – and towards a Grey Cup game taking place at Mosaic Stadium — comes on Saturday. The Riders host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Mosaic Stadium in the first game of the 2022 regular season for both teams.
“The last two years, I feel like we’ve been preaching getting off to a strong start and the way our schedule was in the past was so home-heavy that we knew we had to get off to a strong start,” quarterback Cody Fajardo said.
“You only get one home-opener and that’s what coach (Craig Dickenson) has been saying all week to us. We want to go out there and make our fans proud.”
Dickenson said getting wins early in the season can pay dividends down the road.
“I relate it to putting money away – you’re going to need it for a rainy day,” Dickenson said.
“Everybody is going to go into those lulls every once in a while, you’re going to have a streak where you lose a couple in a row and you want to have early-season wins, kind of like an investment, that you can lean on later in the year.”
Dickenson is entering his third season as the Riders’ bench boss, taking over for a departing Chris Jones in 2019.
Dickenson has found a lot of success early as a head coach, going 22-10 over his first two seasons.
On the other sideline, Ti-Cats head coach Orlondo Steinauer has had similar success since he also took over in 2019, posting a 23-9 record.
All eyes will be on Fajardo and the Riders’ offence as they try to recapture the magic they found in 2019.
Fajardo rose to CFL superstardom in 2019 after an injury to then-Riders starter Zach Collaros in Week 1 – a game against the Tiger-Cats. Fajardo threw for 4,302 yards, 18 touchdowns and only eight interceptions while adding 10 rushing touchdowns en route to being named the CFL West Division’s most outstanding player.
But 2021 saw Fajardo regress in all offensive categories, tossing for 2,970 yards, 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, albeit in a shortened season.
Evans will also look to get back to 2019 form, a season in which he caught 72 passes for 1,334 yards and five touchdowns.
He said the game against Hamilton can get things started on the right foot.
“(We want to) set the tone that it’s going to be a working, grinding mindset each and every week because we know what’s at stake this year,” said Evans, who had 25 catches for 224 yards in seven games in an injury-plagued 2021 campaign.
“We have to win a Grey Cup. I’ve been here four years and we’ve been so close and so we just want to set a tone from Day 1.”
The Riders’ offensive line will also try to keep the quarterback upright more in 2022. The group gave up 40 sacks last season – second-most in the CFL.
The group will have a tough test to start the season, with the interior of the Ti-Cats’ defensive line featuring Dylan Wynn, Micah Johnson and Ted Laurent. Johnson played with the Riders last season.
“We’re going to get all the bullets fired at us and we’ve just got to be able to handle it. We’ve got to think quick on our feet and be able to not only spread the noise around the group but be able to handle what’s thrown at us,” centre Dan Clark said.
Rider fans will also get a chance to see a pair of defenders who would have figured prominently into 2021 before disaster struck.
Defensive back Nelson Lokombo and linebacker Larry Dean were two of the four players who suffered torn Achilles tendons a day before 2021 training camp.
“It feels good. (I’m) really relieved and I’m glad I was able to come back from injury,” Lokombo said. “Me and Larry, we did rehab together. It was nice learning from him and how he handled the situation. Just shadowing him was really big.”
Lokombo could have his hands full trying to defend passes from Hamilton quarterback Dane Evans, who has won 11 of his first 15 career starts.
“He’s a good quarterback. He has a little bit of scrambling ability too. I just need to be ready for the ball coming my way and be ready to make a play,” Lokombo said.
One of the ways the Riders could affect Evans is by putting pressure on him. The Riders were among the league’s best at sacking the quarterback last season, doing so 47 times.
They were led by CFL sack leader A.C. Leonard (11) and fellow defensive end Jonathan Woodard (10). It was the first time teammates were first and second in the CFL sacks race since 2008, when Cam Wake had 23 and Aaron Hunt had 11 for the B.C. Lions.
With Woodard pursuing NFL opportunities, defensive end Pete Robertson will start in his place. CFL veteran Charleston Hughes, who has 132 career sacks, is also expected to rotate into the mix after returning to the Roughriders this season.
These teams have Grey Cup aspirations in 2022, with the Riders looking to hoist it at home while Hamilton looks to make up for back-to-back Grey Cup losses.
The deciding factor in Saturday’s game could be the home crowd – the last time a road team won between these two was July 19, 2018, when the Riders emerged from Tim Hortons Field with a 31-20 win. The last time Hamilton won in Regina was 31-21 win on July 26, 2015.