By Joel Gasson

GAME DAY: Riders and Eskimos set to clash in West semifinal

Nov 16, 2014 | 7:58 AM

Finally after 22 weeks of pre-season and regular season football, the CFL playoffs are here.

The Riders officially open their quest to defend their 2013 Grey Cup Championship on the road as they’re set to face the Edmonton Eskimos in the West semifinal at Commonwealth stadium.

The story-line going into this one has been pretty obvious for both teams as quarterback talk has dominated talk shows, print stories and television sports casts in both Edmonton and Saskatchewan as the question has been: who will start under centre?

The Eskimos answered that question on Wednesday by announcing Matt Nichols as their starter while the Riders countered on Thursday naming Kerry Joseph as their guy.

“I just want to go out there and play some good football,” said Joseph. “Do my job to the fullest and just take advantage of this opportunity.”

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When Joseph re-joined the Riders, with a little over two months to go in the regular season, he admitted this would be his last season of professional football. Now, he wants to extend his career by at least another week and play next weekend in Calgary.

“You never know for any football player when it might be your last time,” he said. “I just have that mindset; I don’t want this to be my last one.”

This game brings extra importance for Joseph as he’s facing his former team with a chance to end their turn-around regular season. Joseph claims that isn’t on his mind at all.

For the Eskimos, it’s a completely different story as quarterback Nichols will be making his first appearance in the post-season since injuring his knee in Toronto in the East semifinal in 2012.

“I feel very well prepared, I’ve said all week the reps I got last week in the game will go a long ways,” said Nichols. “I’ve had my best two days of practice by far the last two days.”

In order to get ready Nichols has been working with his receivers to make sure that everyone is on the same page.

As for the quarterbacks who would normally be the starters, Darian Durant isn’t on the roster for the Green and White but Mike Reilly is listed as Nichols back-up for the game. Eskimos head coach Chris Jones has been saying all week that Reilly will play, if that’s true or not has yet to be seen.

Ground game

For good reason much has been said about the quarterbacks this week, but the game itself might actually come down to which team has the better day running the football.

It’s CFL playoff football, that means it’s going to be fairly cold but the good news is the forecast in Edmonton does call for clear skies.

Last week the Riders were able to effectively defend against the Eskimos, especially in the first half.

“Definitely going to use that momentum and try to take it into this game and do what we we’re doing in the first half with the running game,” said running back Anthony Allen.

Why were the Riders so effective against the Eskimos in that game? Apparently Edmonton wasn’t physical enough.

“Not only that, to double the hurt, the fact that we were out of our gaps and not playing our responsibilities,” said Jones.

Jones and the Eskimos have a pretty good running game themselves with John White, who rushed for nearly 200 yards against the Riders at Commonwealth Stadium the last time these teams met in Edmonton.

Playoff weather

Most of us may groan every year when the weather turns from summer to fall to eventually winter but there’s some people who actually love it.

Those people are offensive linemen.

“This is o-lineman weather. We love this stuff. this is run the football weather. This is playoff weather. It gets you excited for sure,” said offensive lineman Chris Best.

The Riders offensive line will be getting a boost this week as the band is back together, so-to-speak, as from left-to-right, Xavier Fulton, Brendon LaBatte, Dominic Picard, Chris Best and Ben Heenan will all be in the line-up for the first time in quite a while.

Without the regular five, the Riders haven’t been as strong along the line of scrimmage, something that will have to change for them to succeed in this game.

While the offensive linemen live for the cold, other players have to deal with the cold in their own ways. Especially the quarterbacks.

“I’ve tried to throw with the glove on and it’s just not something I’m comfortable with,” said Nichols. “It’s tougher to grip the ball, so you got to make sure you do things to make sure your hand is okay in this cold weather.”

However, in Nichols mind cold is never an excuse as both teams have to deal with it.

Roster Check

As mentioned, Durant is not on the roster for the Riders. Tino Sunseri will act as Joseph’s back-up.

The special teams unit will get some help this week with the return of defensive back Paul Woldu. Also returning to the roster this week is receiver Dan DePalma.

To make room defensive back Marshay Green, linebacker Tristan Black, offensive lineman Dan Clark and receiver Alex Pierzchalski are off the 46-man roster.

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