By Joel Gasson

Riders drop pre-season finale 19-14

Jun 21, 2014 | 8:26 AM

The easy part is over, now comes the hard part for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The Riders pre-season came to a close on Friday night with a 19-14 loss to the Edmonton Eskimos in a game that features few memorable moments as pre-season games usually do.

Players on the bubble are hoping what they did on film was memorable enough as it was their last chance to make enough of an impression to earn a job on the team's roster to open the 2014 regular season next week against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

When the coaches look back at that film there's a pretty good chance that they'll at least be pleased with what they saw out of the first team offence led by all-star quarterback Darian Durant who put up 113 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.

“We were able to put some points on the board, which is good,” said Durant. “We were able to move the ball and that's what you want to be able to see going into the season.”

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It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows though – figuratively speaking as it was actually clouds and rain to start the game – but Durant did move the ball okay in the first quarter but got nothing for it as there was no score after the first 15 minutes.

Things did liven up to open the second quarter as Durant tossed one up for receiver Taj Smith in the corner of the end zone for the touchdown giving the Riders a 7-0 lead. It would be deja vu not too long after when the Durant-Smith connection connected again in that corner for yet another major and a 14-0 lead.

When it comes to the offence all eyes were definitely on the running backs in this game as the starter's job remained a three way race. Based on the numbers it would appear that Keith Toston should have the job won as he scampered for 67 yards on seven carries, Anthony Allen was next with 30 yards while Jermaine Thomas had a tough day with only eight yards and was actually negative at the half.

“I can't even really put it on anything, I have to go look at film and see what was the issue,” said Thomas. “The line blocked really well once again, it will be interesting to see what the problem was.”

Head Coach Corey Chamblin wasn't tipping his hat any way after the game as he suggested it could be running back by committee to start the season.

The Riders held a 14-2 lead into the half, but everything turned in a hurry from there for the Green and White. The Eskimos offence came out confident in the second half led mostly by quarterback Matt Nichols who threw for 155 yards and a touchdown on the night. That touchdown came on the first drive of the half.

Edmonton's second drive was equally successful thanks to John White's 41-yard running touchdown giving the Eskimos a 16-14 lead.

The whole situation prompted a sideline meeting from the defence.

“It was kind of a tale of two halves tonight,” said linebacker Brian Peters. “We still had a few leaks in the first half and a few breakdowns in the second half. That's unacceptable we have to be better.

Edmonton tacked on a field goal late in the game to basically seal the deal.

The Riders brain trust will now go over all the film and figure out who will be here come Tuesday when they practice for the first time next week. Final cuts have to be in by 8 p.m. Saskatchewan time on Saturday night, an announcement from the Riders is expected sometime after that.

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