'What's next?' Riders' Armstead focused on showdown with Ottawa
5h ago
"I have a 'What's next?' mentality," said Ryquell Armstead, who faces his former team on Saturday.
Resilient. Never say die. Great character.
All are overused cliches for teams that make great comebacks, yet all properly describe the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ effort on Saturday in erasing a 14-0 deficit, on the road, on the way to a 27-24 win over Edmonton.
Craig Dickenson’s halftime television interview said it all.
The Riders were not good in the first 30 minutes of that football game.
I believe two factors that aren’t really being talked about led to the win. An expanded halftime break appeared to take momentum away from the Eskimos and gave the Riders more time to reflect on what had gone wrong.
Then with about nine minutes left to go in the third quarter, defensive back Loucheiz Purifoy timed a perfect hit on Eskimos receiver Ricky Collins, separating him from the football. That play appeared to lead to a shift in momentum.
Later in the third quarter L.J. McCray had an interception and the Riders scored two touchdowns to get back into the game.
The resilient Riders deserve credit for turning the tide in a ball game that could have gotten away from them early.