Receiver Isaac Gaillardetz respects the physical aspect of the West representatives, but remained convinced that the Rouge et Or offense will be successful on Saturday afternoon.
“It’s true that they are physical, but we are physical too. The difference is that we have a speed aspect that they didn’t necessarily see in their conference. I definitely believe that we can attack them on this level,” explains number 80 with confidence.
The man who finished with three catches for 35 yards at the Dunsmore Cup believes his unit will find a way to exploit the desired matchup.
“We use a lot of movement (motion) before putting the ball in play and we have other tools to attack them. I am confident in what we are doing strategically.”
Small adjustments
The 23-year-old admits that there are significant differences at the strategic level between the RSEQ defenses and the schemes used by the Rams.
“It’s definitely difficult because you have to try to know the full season of a new team and condense that into a week of training. However, these are still covers that we have already seen. I’m not worried.”
Mathieu Roy and the land attack could have a very significant impact on Saturday. (Mathieu Belanger)
Big day for porters?
Mathieu Roy is coming off an excellent outing at the Dunsmore Cup with 15 carries for 77 yards. The little five-foot-nine ball carrier from the Rouge et Or could have, along with the rest of his teammates in the ground attack, an even bigger day for the Mitchell Cup.
“He really believes in their front. They have big men on the defensive line and they mostly play with a five-man front. It’s certain that it will be a different match because it will be the only time of the year that we play against them, unlike the other teams in our conference. We are going to bring our physical game and our speed.”
Asked about the fact that it is not like the Rouge et Or to tolerate a light defensive box (light box) in front of them without wanting to run, the native of Beauceville couldn’t help but smile.
“That’s what I tell myself too! We hope to have a good day on the ground, but the best day will end with a victory for our team,” concludes the former player of the Cougars (college) and the Condors (juvenile) who are also all in action at the Bol d’or at the end of the week.
Roy also specified that he appreciated that his team came to acclimatize at Mosaic Stadium on Thursday evening.
“We remain a generation that is digital and it was nice to just come and see the stadium for the first time on Thursday and walk on the pitch. Everyone was taking video on their cell phones. I sent this to my dad and the wow factor is now gone. We now have to manage our affairs.”
Acclimatization period
Head coach Glen Constantin is now a regular at this type of meeting. It was important for him to show his players the Mosaic Stadium, which regularly welcomes more than 30,000 spectators for Saskatchewan Roughriders games, when they arrived.
“Routines are disrupted on the road. It’s true that the Rams don’t have big crowds (around 2,000 people), but we wanted the players to be able to quickly visualize this environment. It remains a big stadium and even if we have already seen more atmosphere elsewhere, what is important is what happens between the four lines.
Asked about the fact that the Rams will surely try to win with the ground game, Constantin remained wary on the subject.
“They like to run on first downs, but running opens up a lot of other things. They may try to throw with a fake ground play and they may attempt surprise plays. They cannot remain stagnant.
— Head Coach Glen Constantin
The executive believes the biggest difference in the Rams’ style comes from the ground game.
“Covers and defensive fronts remain similar. Regina uses a bigger gap between the offensive linemen to run the ball and that puts pressure on a defense.
Still in the unknown
Injured in the shoulder that he does not use to throw, Rams starting quarterback Noah Pelletier remains a questionable case for the game. The third-year player practiced without contact this week and the Rouge et Or coaches still had a lot of questions at practice Friday night about the identity of the Rams’ center for the game. Pelletier was injured in his team’s last game in a field goal situation. He’s the one who holds the ball for the kicker in these kinds of situations.
Giant blocker Ethan Graham will not be in the game for Regina. The six-foot-seven, 315-pound athlete is a big part of the Rams’ ground attack and was also injured during his team’s provincial final.
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