Roughriders 'flush' meaningless loss, ready for West semifinal vs. Lions
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With nothing to play for after the Winnipeg Blue Bombers clinched the bye in the West Division, the Saskatchewan Roughriders elected to rest their starters in Saturday's 27-12 loss to the Calgary Stampeders.
Now the Roughriders will quickly look to get back on track as the team hosts the BC Lions Saturday in the West Division semifinal, with a trip to Winnipeg on the line.
“It’s not the way you wanted to finish and not what we had in mind,” Roughriders head coach Corey Mace said Tuesday of the Week 21 loss, per the Regina Leader-Post. “But certainly, we’ve flushed it and we’re moving forward to this week.”
Starters Trevor Harris and A.J. Ouellette both noted Tuesday that they were aware of the plan to sit if the Blue Bombers defeated the Montreal Alouettes earlier in the day.
The Roughriders, who had won their previous four games leading into Saturday to contend for the bye to the Western Final, insisted their momentum has not been stalled by the meaningless loss.
“No, I don’t think so, which is a good thing,” Mace said. “We addressed (the loss) as soon as we got back into the locker room after the game and we just had to switch our brains and move forward.
“I think everybody’s mindset is where it should be.”
“I don’t think that we feel like we lost momentum or all of a sudden we don’t believe in ourselves or anything of that nature,” added Harris.
The Roughriders dominated the Lions when the two teams last met earlier this month, picking up a 39-8 win. B.C. benched quarterback Nathan Rourke after that loss, turning back to Vernon Adams Jr., who will start on Saturday.