The Saskatchewan Roughriders were held out of the end zone in their preseason opening 35-12 loss to the Edmonton Eskimos on Sunday.

The Riders left the majority of their starters on offence and defence back in Saskatchewan, opting to play a younger roster for their first exhibition game.

Defending Most Outstanding Player award winner Mike Reilly took advantage of the Riders on his only two possessions of the game, opening with back-to-back touchdown drives. He finished the day 5-for-6 with 69 yards and a passing TD.

The bright spot for the Riders was kicker Brett Lauther, who connected on all four of his field goal attempts, including a 55-yard bomb in the second quarter.

David Watford started for the Riders at quarterback and went 8-of-17 for 87 yards with an interception. Marquise Williams also threw a pick, finishing 3-for-7 for 32 yards.

B.J. Daniels had the best day of the Riders' trio of quarterbacks, going 9-of-20 with 133 yards.

Joshua Stanford was the top target for the Riders’ QBs with four catches for 77 yards.

The Riders ended up rushing for 114 yards as a team with rookie Zac Stacy leading the way with seven carries for 33 yards. Marcus Thigpen finished with 31 yards on three carries.

Edmonton outscored the Riders in every quarter, leading 14-3 after the first, 21-9 heading into halftime and 28-12 after the third.

The Riders will now return to Saskatoon this week to continue training camp. They don't return to game action until June 8 when they host the Calgary Stampeders in the final tune-up for the regular season.