There will be plenty of new faces in the Saskatchewan Roughriders lineup on Sunday when the Riders host the Toronto Argonauts, but returner Mario Alford’s debut at Mosaic Stadium was always intended to happen this weekend.
Alford arrived to Saskatchewan in a trade with the Montreal Alouettes on July 3. Alford replaced Jamal Morrow as the primary returner for the green and white last week against the Argonauts. Morrow was handling the returning duties in the early part of the season along with his role as the team’s starting running back.
Morrow noticed the difference with Alford in the lineup last week.
“I didn’t realize how tired I how was, I’m like, here we are kick returns, oh wait, I don’t have to go out there, I’m good.” The starting running back added. “I don’t know how I did that.”
With the Riders facing a depleted roster on Sunday including missing starting quarterback Cody Fajardo and wide receiver Duke Williams, field position will be even crucial for Saskatchewan and that is where Alford thinks he can make an impact.
“I think that’s 90% of who wins the game is field positioning. I think that it will be great coming into this game and I can put my guys in a position to win.”
Even though Alford has been a veteran in the CFL over the past few seasons with stops in Montreal and Toronto, he noted he’s never played in Mosaic Stadium. He said is looking forward to his debut in a green uniform and says that he has heard a lot of great things about the atmosphere.
There is not a lot of optimism outside of the Riders locker room that they will be able to win on Sunday against the Argos, but Alford says the team is still confident.
“I think as a team we are going to come together and go to war with who we got. ”
Morrow says even with the odds stacked, the Riders will still be ready to go.
“We just keep getting better every day, continue to fight, we’re going to go out there and compete, we still got a game to play, any given Sunday, it is Sunday ha-ha.”
Alford might only be a newcomer inside of the Saskatchewan locker room but the returner has already felt the comrade with the Riders.
“We play together, that’s one thing I like this team we stay together, I don’t care what the naysayers say, I just think we going to win games and that’s just it.”
One quality that Alford likes about the Riders is that Craig Dickenson is a Head Coach who has extensive background in special teams. It didn’t take long for the two to bond over the phone shortly after the trade.
“You can tell he’s a real special teams guy and I like that. I ain’t been around too many teams where the Head Coach is a special teams guy, it’s going to be special for us.
The Riders will welcome the Argonauts to Mosaic Stadium in the rescheduled game on Sunday afternoon, you listen to the game on 620 CKRM, Countdown to Kickoff begins at 2:00 and the opening kickoff with Michael Ball is 5:00.
