Latest news with #MarioAlford
CTV News
17-07-2025
- Sport
- CTV News
Roughriders' return specialist, Mario Alford, expected to miss Week 7 matchup versus Lions
WATCH: Kick returner Mario Alford will not play this week. As Donovan Maess explains, it opens for a Rider rookie who made a statement in the pre-season. The Saskatchewan Roughriders are likely to be without another weapon against B.C. as the team's list of injuries continues to pile up. Star return man Mario Alford went down with a hip injury in the first quarter of last week's game against the Calgary Stampeders. He left the game and did not return. Alford has now missed both of the Riders' practices this week. 'He went and got some final imaging [Tuesday], so we're just waiting on the results,' head coach Corey Mace told reporters Wednesday. 'Probably going to be tough for him to go this week.' 'Drae [McCray's] waiting in the wings and we'll give him an opportunity to show who he is,' he added. McCray, a first-year receiver out of Texas Tech, is expected to be the Riders' replacement returning kicks. It would be his first regular season appearance for Saskatchewan. 'I'm excited. I'm thankful to the people helping bring me along,' he said. 'I'm excited for an opportunity if it comes.' The rookie has been on the practice squad to this point during the season, but he did make a good impression during the preseason. In two exhibition games, McCray totaled 240 return yards, including a big 51-yard kickoff return against Winnipeg. 'We all have confidence [McCray's] ready to be able to go out there and execute and make plays,' Mace said. 'And he showed to be really dangerous.' Drae McCray Texas Tech wide receiver Drae McCray (10) carries the ball during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Texas Tech, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Pullman, Wash. (AP Photo/Young Kwak) (Young Kwak/AP) McCray admitted transitioning to the Canadian football game has been a challenge. However, he added he has had some pretty good players to help him along. Particularly Alford, who won the CFL 2022 Special Teams Player of the Year. 'He's just helping me wherever I need, if he has a tip or something or if I have a question,' McCray said. 'Sometimes we bounce ideas off each other just to help each other get better. He's been a really big help and a good mentor for me.' 'I'm just using this time to learn. I have one of the greatest returners in this CFL right next to me. So if I don't use it to learn, I'm not a very smart person on that aspect of,' he added. While Mace reiterated his confidence in McCray, losing Alford is still a big hit to the return game. 'That's Super Mario, man. It's a tough one to lose,' the coach said. 'Certainly, he's been playing out of his mind, I've thought, to this point in the season, that's just that sucks. But ultimately sucks for him.' Saskatchewan will face off against the B.C. Lions on Saturday, July 19. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. at BC Place.
CTV News
17-07-2025
- Sport
- CTV News
Rider injury list opens the way for rookies to start
Regina Watch WATCH: Kick returner Mario Alford will not play this week. As Donovan Maess explains, it opens for a Rider rookie who made a statement in the pre-season.
National Post
16-07-2025
- Sport
- National Post
McCray expected to replace Alford as Roughriders visit Lions on Saturday
After a torrid start to the season, it appears Saskatchewan Roughriders kick returner Mario Alford will be sidelined this week. Article content Alford sustained a hip injury in Saskatchewan's Week 6 loss against the Calgary Stampeders and isn't expected to be in the lineup this week when the Roughriders (4-1) visit the B.C. Lions (3-3) on Saturday (5 p.m., TSN, CTV) in Week 7 of the CFL season. Article content Article content Article content 'He went and got some final imaging (Tuesday), so we're just waiting on the results,' said Roughriders head coach Corey Mace. 'It's probably going to be tough for him to go this week.' Article content That leaves 5-foot-9, 185-pound rookie Drae McCray as the next man up to serve as Saskatchewan's primary returner after an impressive pre-season earned him a spot on the practice roster behind Alford to start the season. Article content '(Alford's) been playing out of his mind I thought to this point in the season,' said Mace. 'It just sucks. Article content '(But) we all have confidence in Drae to be able to be able to go out there and execute and make plays. Article content 'He proved enough throughout the pre-season (and) training camp. I know he's excited and guys are going to be excited to block for him as well.' Article content In the pre-season, the 22-year-old McCray showed flashes of playmaking ability with three kickoff returns for 110 yards and five punt returns for 46 yards in Saskatchewan's first exhibition contest before logging two more kickoff returns (54 yards) and two punt returns (40) yards in the second pre-season game. Article content 'It helps a lot just getting the reps under my belt knowing what to expect that may come in a game,' said McCray, who signed with the Riders this year after a college career at Texas Tech and Austin Peay . 'I'm thankful people have been helping me bringing me along. Article content Article content 'I'm excited for an opportunity if it comes.' Article content 'He just helps me wherever I need if he has a tip or something, or if I have a question,' said McCray. 'Sometimes we bounce ideas off each other just to help each other get better. Article content 'He's been a really big help and a really good mentor for me.' Article content And it hasn't just been this week, but since landing on the practice roster to start the season, McCray has been learning everything he can from Alford, who ranks fifth among the CFL's top returners all time with 12 career return touchdowns.
CTV News
25-06-2025
- Sport
- CTV News
Rider's Mario Alford proving he never ‘lost it' after stunning performance against Argonauts
WATCH: The Saskatchewan Roughriders remain undefeated. Efforts by kick returner Mario Alford helped the team beat out the Argonauts. Jacob Carr reports. WATCH: The Saskatchewan Roughriders remain undefeated. Efforts by kick returner Mario Alford helped the team beat out the Argonauts. Jacob Carr reports. Riders' do-it-all specialist Mario Alford doesn't have the time of day for any doubters or naysayers. There were plenty coming into the 2025 season, saying the 33-year-old had lost a step, and his job as a punt and kick returner for the team was up for grabs. Alford has shined this season, particularly in the kickoff return game, where he is averaging over 30 yards per return through three games. His latest spectacular play, a 99-yard kickoff return touchdown to seal a win for Saskatchewan, helped the Riders improve to 3-0 on the season. 'Once I got through the hole and I set up my blockers and I saw green, I said 'I'm gone' and I just knew it then,' Alford said. Last season was a down year by Alford's standards, averaging a hair under 24 yards per kickoff return and just 10 yards per punt return. But the CFL veteran, who's now in his seventh year, has never lost faith in his abilities. 'I don't pay [critics] no attention, I don't hear the noise, the media, I don't even read that stuff. I didn't even know that was being said, I had people come and tell me about it, but again I know what type of player I am. I know what I can do, been doing it for a long time.' It has been a long time, as mentioned, seven years now in the CFL ranks. Alford was popping long return touchdowns going back to his college days as a West Virginia Mountaineer. In 2014, in the first game of the season, Alford recorded a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Fast forward to 2025 and the Riders are glad to have Alford rushing the length of the field for their team. 'I think our kickoff team has been outstanding this entire year and it was only a matter of time [before they broke one]. So, I'm just so happy for those guys because they work their tails off,' Alford added. One guy working his tail off or at least trying to find a dirty shirt to block during Alford's touchdown return was Riders' defensive lineman Lake Korte-Moore. Alford joked about Korte-Moore nearly putting the kibosh on his game-clinching run. 'Yeah, he was kind of standing because he didn't have no one to block. So, he was just in the way, so I pushed him out the way and I just went up the sideline,' he laughed. Alford's next chance to electrify Rider Nation will come at home on Saturday when they host the B.C. Lions.
CTV News
25-06-2025
- Sport
- CTV News
Roughriders' Mario Alford on hot streak
Regina Watch WATCH: The Saskatchewan Roughriders remain undefeated. Efforts by kick returner Mario Alford helped the team beat out the Argonauts. Jacob Carr reports.
