Riders Take Labour Day Classic.

The Riders, with the convincing 39-12 win over the visiting Blue Bombers, may have quieted the critics. More importantly, Joseph has quieted the critics. Joseph exploded out of the gate with two early running touchdowns. Joseph looked a tiny bit wobbly on his second TD rush, but it was not enough to allow rush end Tom Canada to catch up with him before entering the end zone for the Riders second major. Joseph added two TD tosses later in the second quarter, one to Corey Grant for 38 yards, and the other to Kenton Keith for 31 yards. Winnipeg's only major was set up by a 50 yard pass to Quentin McCord. The drive was capped by an 8 yard toss to Milt Stegall.

This game proved that the two blowouts against Hamilton were not of the result of Hamilton's poor play, but rather of the play of the Riders. The defense applied stiff pressure all game on a recovering Kevin Glenn, and coverage was tight all game. The proof was in the passing stats; Glenn only managed a completion percentage of 41%. Glenn was sacked three times, once by Terrell Jurineack (4), once by Kitwana Jones (6) and once by Fred Perry (12). Davin Bush came up with one interception (3) that came at a very important time to stop a late third quarter drive and set up a Shamar Bracey 6 yard rushing touchdown, to make the game 39-12.

The two teams now head back to Winnipeg for the "Banjo Bowl". In order to come up with the back-to-back wins the Riders will need to keep the pressure applied and keep the Winnipeg defense guessing. The success of the ground game in the Labour Day Classic came as a surprise to many, due to the fact that the Blue Bombers' defense has only allowed an average 69.7 yards on the ground per game. The Riders ran over the Bombers while gaining 180 yards total, Keith had 89 yards, Joseph had 48 yards and Bracey had 31. To win the next game the Riders will need to establish the ground game early, and mix in a couple deep passes to keep Winnipeg’s pressure off.

With the new-look offence and the defense looking better every game, the Riders are definitely on a roll, expect to see another win by the green Riders, the final score next Sunday will be 42-24 Riders.

Thanks for Reading!

Under Miner.