Ferland moves to centre as Riders shift O-line due to illness

The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ offensive line is heading into another week with some changes up front.

When the Roughriders face the B.C. Lions on Friday at Mosaic Stadium, the group will be without centre Logan Bandy and tackle Andrew Lauderdale, as both are in COVID protocol. The group was already without centre Dan Clark, who suffered a leg injury in Week 2 of the 2022 CFL season.

However, left tackle Terran Vaughn returns to the starting lineup after missing four games due to a shoulder injury.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. The Green Zone pre-game show begins at 5 p.m.

“We’ve just got to keep rolling through the punches, keep working and we will be just fine,” said Logan Ferland, who’s moving to centre from guard this week.

With Ferland moving over, Josiah St. John will make his first start of the season at left guard.

Ferland, who appeared in one game at centre in 2021, isn’t well-versed in the position, playing it only once while a member of the Prairie Football Conference’s Regina Thunder.

“It was quite different because the rest of my Thunder career was tackle and then coming here was guard and a little bit of centre here and there,” Ferland said.

“It’s not something that’s second nature to me, but I think I’ve done a good job of getting comfortable with it and it’s going to get better the more I play.”

Quarterback Cody Fajardo also needs to get used to his third centre of the season, as Friday will be the first time Ferland will snap the ball to the pivot in a game.

“(All centres) snap the ball differently, just like any quarterback throws the ball differently,” said Fajardo, who returns to the starting lineup after missing one game with COVID-19. “(It’s) just (a matter of) getting that consistency and trust that it’s going to be there and keep your eyes down on the defence.

“We had a full week of preparing for it. That’s probably the only positive to this change was that it was early in the week.

“I know that he has the centre capabilities and he has been Dan’s right-hand man through it all and Dan has done a great job mentoring him.”

Ferland agreed that Clark has been a great help.

“He does a really good job of teaching the next guys up. He did a great job with Bandy and he’s done a great job with me over the years,” Ferland said. “(I’ve) really been leaning on him and getting his advice in certain situations.”

The Riders’ O-line will try to improve on its play from the last couple of games. Saskatchewan managed only 140 yards on the ground in both contests against the Toronto Argonauts and gave up six sacks as well.

Riders head coach Craig Dickenson said the expectation for everyone — not just the offensive line — is to be better this week.

“There will be a new centre and a new guard so they will have some communication challenges, but we expect them to do well and get it handled,” Dickenson said.

“There’s going to be some new faces in new spots and there will be a bit of growing pains but we expect them to play well (Friday).”