By Rob Vanstone and Ian Hamilton, Leader-PostSeptember 7, 2009Be the first to post a comment
REGINA — Stu Foord’s experience with the Labour Day Classic began long before he first suited up for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2008.
REGINA — Stu Foord’s experience with the Labour Day Classic began long before he first suited up for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2008.
As a youngster, the Thom Collegiate graduate made a habit of attending the annual long-weekend CFL clash between the Roughriders and the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
“It’s the game that you always knew was happening growing up,’’ Foord said Sunday after the Roughriders’ 29-14 victory. “To actually be out there and feel the buzz of the city the whole week and know that you’re going to be playing in it, it’s special.
“It comes in the middle of the season and it’s a good uplift to kind of let you know what you’re really doing here. With the fan day the day before, and getting to meet most of them, it gives you that extra charge to get you going.’’
Foord made a point of attending the Classic during his formative years.
“Of course, if I could get in,’’ he said with a laugh. “Security’s a little tighter on this day. I was at every game and I wouldn’t miss this one.’’
“Of course, if I could get in,’’ he said with a laugh. “Security’s a little tighter on this day. I was at every game and I wouldn’t miss this one.’’
In the mid-1990s, Foord and his friends would take advantage of some loopholes in security in order to access the game.
“They didn’t used to ding your tickets in, so we would just throw one over the edge a few times,’’ he said. “We would all get in, the whole group of us. We were just little kids at the time. It worked, right?’’
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The same cannot be said of a fourth-quarter pass attempt by Roughriders slotback Weston Dressler.
After accepting a handoff, Dressler proceeded to the right side of the field and looked deep for Roughriders receiver Rob Bagg. When the play did not unfold as planned, the former University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux standout calmly threw the ball away.
“We had that play for a few weeks now,’’ Dressler said. “I wanted to get it going. I thought we had a good opportunity with that wind to help out my arm a little bit. The defensive back took Bagg down and I had to throw it away.’’
Maybe next time . . .
“I threw one at UND,’’ Dressler noted. “I actually threw a touchdown one time that got called back. I’m still looking for that first touchdown pass.’’
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Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant was grateful Sunday — for his team’s defence.
Late in the first half, Durant was intercepted by Bombers defensive back Lenny Walls, who returned the ball to Saskatchewan’s 39-yard line. After a 38-yard pass completion from Michael Bishop to Adarius Bowman, Winnipeg had a first down at Saskatchewan’s one with one second left in the half.
Late in the first half, Durant was intercepted by Bombers defensive back Lenny Walls, who returned the ball to Saskatchewan’s 39-yard line. After a 38-yard pass completion from Michael Bishop to Adarius Bowman, Winnipeg had a first down at Saskatchewan’s one with one second left in the half.
The Bombers decided to gamble, but defensive linemen Luc Mullinder and John Chick stuffed tailback Fred Reid in the backfield on the final play of the half to preserve Saskatchewan’s 18-4 lead.
“I was ecstatic,” Durant said of the goal-line stand. “If they score there, it’s all on me. Defence made up for it and hat’s off to the defence. They played their tails off (Sunday). Those guys made a huge stop for us.”
Durant also reiterated that the play of the Roughriders’ defence takes pressure off him when it turns in an effort like it did on that stand.
“My father’s a big Pittsburgh Steelers fan and defence is first there,” he said. “When it’s time to make a play on offence, Big Ben (Roethlisberger of the Steelers) does that and I feel like when it’s time for us to make a play, we do that.
“As long as I don’t hurt the D, they’ll keep us in the game to the end.”
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The game Sunday was the Roughriders’ ninth of the regular season, marking the official halfway point of their season.
Now comes the stretch drive.
“This (victory) is definitely a confidence-builder,” said tailback Wes Cates, whose team had a bye on the previous weekend. “You come off the break, we were .500 (4-4-0) to start the first half of the season. Obviously we want to have a big push going into the playoffs, maybe work ourselves into first place so we can get a bye.
“You’ve got to start it off right, so we started off the second half of the season right and we’ve got to just build from here.”
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