‘We just got manhandled’: Riders lose in rough road trip to Montreal

Things went wrong right from the start for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in a 37-13 drubbing by the Montreal Alouettes on Thursday.

The first play of the CFL game, an 88-yard touchdown return by Montreal’s Chandler Worthy on the opening kickoff, was an omen for how most of the game went for the Riders.

“When they score on the opening kickoff, you know it’s possibly going to be a tough day. I thought we bounced back and played a little better. We just got manhandled start to finish (0n) offence, defence (and) special teams,” head coach Craig Dickenson said. “It was a tough day.”

The Alouettes scored a touchdown in all three facets of the game — offence, defence and special teams — at various points of the game.

Dickenson elected to only have one full practice this week after a tough game against the Edmonton Elks last Saturday. He doesn’t think a second road trip in six days was the reason for the Riders’ performance.

“I thought we took care of our guys pretty well. I don’t know if I prepared them as well as I should have on the short week; maybe I should have done something differently,” Dickenson said. “Whatever it was, we didn’t play well. We weren’t physical and couldn’t get off blocks.

“That was a (Montreal) team that was desperate (and) hungry and they played like a desperate team and really stuck it to us.”

The Riders came into Thursday’s showdown at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium undefeated early in the season, while the Alouettes were searching for their first win of the year.

Riders quarterback Cody Fajardo threw for 191 yards and two interceptions, one of which ended up in the hands of Alouettes safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy.

Fajardo’s pass bounced off the body of Roughriders slotback Duke Williams and into the hands of Dequoy, who returned the pick for a touchdown.

Fajardo was taken out of the game with the Riders facing a 30-6 deficit.

“It was tough. A lot of things were stacked against us and credit to them, they brought more energy than us — you could see it from the opening kickoff,” Fajardo said.

Backup quarterback Mason Fine finished up the game and completed seven passes for 83 yards with an interception and a touchdown to Williams. Brett Lauther added two field goals and a convert for Saskatchewan.

The Riders’ offensive line had a new player anchoring it this week with Logan Bandy making his first CFL start. Last week, centre Dan Clark was injured and will be out for the next while.

The group struggled for much of the night fending off the pressure brought by the Alouettes. Montreal recorded eight sacks in the game.

“We have a brand new centre and it was his first start and we practised once so we didn’t do him any justice — we just threw him into the fire,” Fajardo said.

“We knew it was going to be challenging but we will be much better and I know they will be a ton better next week getting full practices and full reps as a unit.”

During practice this week, Fajardo was wearing a brace on his left knee due to an injury he suffered against the Elks.

“It’s a little bit different (playing with a brace). You don’t feel like you’re as mobile or agile but it’s one of those things where I wouldn’t have been able to play without the brace,” Fajardo said.

Penalties reared their ugly head again for the Riders, with Saskatchewan committing 12 infractions for 106 yards. During preparations for the game, Dickenson said he had spoken to the players about their discipline after Saskatchewan took 14 penalties against the Elks last week.

“It’s just a discipline thing. At the end of the day, we are all grown men and we need to handle responsibilities and do our job,” said defensive end Pete Robertson, who had Saskatchewan’s only two sacks of the game.

“At the end of the day, we need to be more disciplined. (Dickenson) doesn’t need to speak to us again. That’s on us on being players and understanding the game.”

Another blow might have been dealt to the Riders’ offence, with wide receiver Shaq Evans leaving the game in the first half due to an ankle injury and not returning.

Als quarterback Trevor Harris threw for 262 yards and a touchdown to Kaion Julien-Grant. Montreal kicker David Cote was 5-for-5 on field-goal attempts.

Saskatchewan will get a chance to get even with Montreal for this loss, with the Alouettes in Regina at Mosaic Stadium on July 2.

“We’ve got to take a look in the mirror and we’ve got to play better or else that will happen again in nine days if we don’t play better,” Dickenson said. “(This nine-day break) is big. We need it.”