Corey Mace: using American kicker ‘an option’ for Saskatchewan Roughriders
Photo courtesy: Electric Umbrella/Liam Richards/Saskatchewan Roughriders
The Saskatchewan Roughriders could be making a ratio change to allow them to dress an American kicker following the addition of Appalachian State standout Michael Hughes.
“You have to sacrifice maybe an American at another position but it’s just an option for us at this point, so we’ll see,” Mace told the media in Regina. “We’ll let the week of practice really roll with that.”
The Roughriders have struggled at the kicker position all season long with veteran Brett Lauther, who missed last week’s game due to a back injury, making only 68.9 percent of his field goal attempts, by far the lowest mark of his eight-year run in Riderville.
Campbell Fair, who made his CFL regular-season debut in the team’s recent 20-13 win over the Ottawa Redblacks, missed both of his convert attempts in the victory. The University of Ottawa product did not attempt a field goal.
Lauther and Fair both carry Canadian passports, hailing from Truro, N.S. and Oakville, Ont., respectively. If the Roughriders choose to dress Hughes, a native of Charleston, W.V. who made 83.3 percent of his field goals over 46 collegiate games with the Mountaineers, they would need to take an American off the roster at another position in order to do so.
“We’ll see, (Hughes is) just another guy to get in,” said Mace. “We went with Campbell last week, it potentially could be any one of the three this week, just depending on the decision we make. We’ve gotta find a solution.”
Lauther did not participate in practice on Wednesday, as per the team’s official report. Other non-participants were quarterback Tommy Stevens, defensive lineman Shane Ray, and defensive backs Nelson Lokombo, Rolan Milligan Jr., and Marcus Sayles.
Saskatchewan can clinch first place in the West Division with a win this week. Though it remains to be seen who will handle the team’s kicking duties moving forward, one thing is for sure: the position has to be squared away come playoff time.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders (11-4) will host the Toronto Argonauts (5-11) at Mosaic Stadium in Regina on Friday, October 10 with kickoff slated for 9:00 p.m. EDT. The Roughriders are coming off a modest win over the Ottawa Redblacks, while the Argonauts were crushed by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The weather forecast in Regina calls for a high of 19 degrees with sunny conditions. The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS2 in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on TSN 1050 in Toronto and 620 CKRM in Regina.
