Saturday’s matchup between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Toronto Argonauts has a lot on the line. The Argos are working toward trying to tie the Canadian Football League (CFL) record for most wins in a regular season and the Riders are trying to keep their season alive.
Toronto (14-2) is just two wins away from tying the 1989 Edmonton football team for most wins in a regular season with 16. The Saskatchewan Roughriders (6-12) are trying to keep their playoff hopes alive with a win.
However, the Argos are proving to be dominant in a number of ways this season and one includes their defence. The team recorded a season-high nine sacks last week. In their last two games, they have 14 as a team.
The Argos are one sack away from tying the team record with 64 on the season that was set back in 1987.
Right now, the team leads the league with 63, compared to the Riders who sit at the bottom of that statistic with just 35.
“We’re working hard on that. We had a blitz puck up period every day this week and we’ve challenged our offensive line and offensive group to handle the pressure,” said head coach, Craig Dickenson.
“They make a quarterback think. They make an o-line think. We need to be on top of our communication,” shared offensive lineman, Logan Ferland.
Toronto has won their last three matchups against Saskatchewan including this season’s only one at Touchdown Atlantic, 31-13.
Offensive lineman Philip Blake will get his second opportunity to face off against his former squad as he signed with the Riders in the off-season after spending two seasons with the Argos and winning a Grey Cup with them in 2022.
“I practiced with those guys the last two years. I always told those guys you don’t see live bullets so they’re going to see live bullets this weekend,” said Blake.
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However, that could be easier said than done. The Riders have allowed 52 sacks this season and the Argos also sit atop the league in that stat category with the least amount at just 15.
“They’re real good with scheming up plays to, you know, get the ball quick out of their hands. He’s [Chad Kelly] has some good guys on the outside that can catch the ball and of course he’s got two good running backs. They’re going to come with a plan to [continue] to get the ball quickly out of his hands,” said Pete Robertson, defensive lineman.
However, the battle on the line is nothing new to both the Riders’ offence and defence.
“Every game is a battle of the trenches because like I said it starts up front on each side of the ball,” said Robertson.
“It’s always a battle of the trenches to me,” Blake said. “People who win in the trenches turn out to win the games.”
“You just have to keep the communication under control and, you know, continue to dominate in the trenches and that’s where it all starts, right?” added Ferland.
The battle begins Saturday at 2 p.m. on TSN.
