Arthur Ward/CFL.ca
Samuel Emilus is aware of the crowd noise in Winnipeg.
He’s played there before, including earlier this year in Week 14, and he’s heard the Blue Bomber faithful roar when his team is on offence.
Sure, it’s loud. But that doesn’t worry Emilus, not one bit. Instead, he’s confident in the Riders’ game plan for tuning out the noise at Saturday’s Western Final. Or at least, trying to tune it out as much as possible to execute.
“That’s an advantage,” said Emilus after practice on Wednesday when asked about the expected noise of a sold-out Princess Auto Stadium. “But we also are counting on the fact that we’ve been prepared all week for that. The more plays we make, the less noise they’re gonna make. We just have to execute the game plan and it’s going to work out for us.”
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The 27-year-old has been a playmaker for the Roughriders throughout the 2024 season, surpassing 1,000 yards for the second-straight season, and it was no different in his first-ever playoff game last week against BC.
He was the game’s leading receiver, hauling in over 100 yards on nine catches, helping to propel his Roughriders to a win, earning the right to play against Winnipeg this weekend.
Here’s three ways that Emilus will make an impact in the Western Final.
COOKIN’ UP SOME CHEMISTRY
Have yourself a first half Samuel Emilus! That’s 65 yards and another first down for Saskatchewan.#GCPlayoffs on TSN & RDS
📱: Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/EZE35SScnd— CFL (@CFL) November 2, 2024
It didn’t matter who was at quarterback for the Roughriders this season, Emilus had the recipe for success.
While Trevor Harris was sitting out with a knee injury, Shea Patterson filled in at quarterback for Saskatchewan until the starting pivot’s return in Week 11. Even with two different quarterbacks throwing passes his way, Emilus was still the most targeted receiver on his team with 132. Kian Schaffer-Baker was the next best pass-catcher with 82.
The connection and trust with Harris continued in last weekend’s Western Semi-Final, with the quarterback looking to his favourite receiver a game-high 10 times and Emilus hauling in nine of those passes for 106 yards.
“Me and Trevor, since last year, I’ve picked up what he likes to do,” Emilus said, explaining the chemistry with Harris in that game. “It just happened that when the defence does something different, we can have answers.”
“We watch back the film. It’s like, look at 19,” Harris said on Friday when asked about the chemistry with his receiver. “Watch him dogging this guy in the run game and that’s the things that stick out because everybody knows he’s a great receiver in terms of running routes, catching passes, running after the catch, those sorts of things. But he’s an animal in the run game and he plays so hard. He’s kind of the emotional leader of that receiving core and he’s a stud. Really, really fortunate to have someone like Sam.”
“He’s a guy that is constantly asking me questions, like, ‘hey, what what if I did this here? Would this be okay if I took an extra cycle here to do this on this route? And would it be okay if I took this angle?'” continued Harris. “And sometimes, it’s like, ‘no, no, don’t do that, I need you to do this.’ He’s really open and our communication has been great. He’s just going to be a guy that I think is going to continue to get better. Him and I get more and more on the same page every rep.”
YARDS AFTER THE CATCH
THE POWER OF SAMUEL EMILUS!
The Quebec native moves the chains, up to 42 yards on the day!#GCPlayoffs on TSN & RDS
📱: Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/vWn7BQbaQg— CFL (@CFL) November 2, 2024
If you watch Emilus in any game, you’ll see big play ability and some pretty unbelievable catches. But what you’ll also notice is the slotback’s talent for getting extra yardage after the ball is in his hands.
He can read the defence to find space on his routes to catch-and-run for first downs and more, but it’s also his determination to get a little extra after contact that sets him apart.
The six-foot-one, 200-pound receiver finished the year with 1,064 yards, 439 of those coming after the catch, good for third-most in the CFL and second amongst receivers. According to PFF, he’s tallied 229 yards after being contact by a defender, only trailing Walter Fletcher (297) and Steven Dunbar Jr. (232) in that category.
“Coach always preaches that we’ve got to make those guys tackle after the catch,” said Emlius. “It’s not easy to tackle, so we have to make their job more difficult by making them tackle us. Obviously when we break a tackle, that gives more momentum to the offence. It’s just something that we’re proud of doing and we’re gonna keep doing.”
Going against a Winnipeg defence that is hard to get yards against – they finished the year allowing a league-low 234.8 yards per game – Emilus is sure to be looked upon to get yards any way he can.
“He’s an animal,” Harris said when asked about Emilus’ ability to get yards after contact. “Simply put, he’s just an animal. He is always fighting for more.”
READY FOR THAT BOMBER DEFENCE
Speaking of Winnipeg’s defence, not only are they tough to get yards against, they have playmakers across every level.
Their most explosive playmaker is fellow Canadian Tyrell Ford. The Bombers cornerback, who was named to the All-CFL team on Thursday, hauled in seven interceptions on the season, only trailing Emilus’ teammate, Rolan Milligan Jr. (eight) for the league-lead. When Ford isn’t catching a pick, he’s still disruptive, finishing the regular season with 12 knockdowns, tied for second-most, and 51 defensive tackles.
“They have some good players in the secondary and they do some great stuff,” Emilus said. “They break to the ball. They thrive picking the ball too. It’s gonna be a challenge for us to race back to the ball and make plays when the ball is in the air because they want the ball as much as we want it. It’s gonna be a good challenge.”
Emilus will be ready to face a Bombers defence that allowed a league-low 234.8 yards through the air this season on Saturday as he and his teammates will look to stop Winnipeg from getting to their fifth-straight Grey Cup.
