Next Game
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MITCHELL BLAIR
Riderville.com
Riders quarterback Darian Durant can empathize with his former teammate, because he has been at a place where Dalton Bell is at. The former Rider, traded to Toronto in the off-season, will face his old squad Saturday afternoon at Rogers Centre in what will be his first professional start.
It wasn’t long ago—2008 to be exact—that Durant was getting ready for his first professional start. He knows what is running through Bell’s mind.
“Its different going into a game from practicing,” Durant said. The speed is a different story. You can also never prepare for what Coach Etcheverry brings on the defensive side of the ball. I’m sure we will try a little bit of everything.”
Durant is also very complimentary of his former under-study.
“He’s a smart quarterback and he’s a student of the game,” said Durant. “He’ll know where to go with the ball, but the rest is with his teammates. If they can keep him on his feet and make some plays, he will be alright.”
Linebacker Sean Lucas isn’t giving away any trade secrets, but he does say this Rider defence is licking his chops at the opportunity of facing a raw rookie.
“I think he will be a little bit nervous,” Lucas admits. “He knows the speed this defence has from being here last year and he knows we will be flying around. We will try our best to confuse him and disguise some blitzes. At times, we’ll bring the house and at times we won’t. We don’t want to have him get any comfort level in there.”
Lucas also believes the Argos will rely a little more on running back Cory Boyd. He comes back into the lineup after missing the last couple of games with a concussion.
“He’s a very good running back, a very physical runner and someone who doesn’t go down after the first hit.” Lucas admits. “Having three or four games off, I’m sure he is also fresh and I am sure they are going to try to give him a lot of the ball to establish something and help Dalton out.”
Head Coach Ken Miller agrees with Lucas’ statement.
I certainly expect Boyd to see a lot of the ball. I think they will try to run the ball because of his performance this year and Dalton’s inexperience.” Miller concluded. “It wouldn’t surprise me to see them run the ball a majority of the time.”