Redblacks, Argos seek even footing
A win gives Ottawa a tie for first; losing means a share of second
William Powell has been thrown into the middle of the scramble for the Canadian Football League playoffs.
The 27-year-old running back and kickoff returner will receive his first taste of CFL action when the Ottawa Redblacks host the Toronto Argonauts in a key East Division matchup at TD Place Saturday evening.
“I feel the excitement. I feel how big of a game it is and how important it is to my team because of the fact it could put us in a great situation,” Powell said Friday.
“You have to take it seriously. It’s a big game. Every game is a big game from here on out. We’re going to take them one at a time and just go ahead and do what we have to do on our end.”
A victory would lift the Redblacks (7-4) into a tie for first in the East with Hamilton, but a defeat would drop them into a tie for second with the Argonauts (6-5), and the lads in double blue would have a tiebreaker advantage at the close of the 18-game regular season.
Powell joins the 46-man active roster in place of Travon Van, who lands on the one-game injured list. Head coach Rick Campbell said the Redblacks simply wanted to see Powell in a game after watching him practise for two weeks.
Powell played 13 games for the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals in 2012. Besides rushing for 217 yards and catching passes for 132, he returned 21 kickoffs for 507 yards, with two runbacks of more than 40 yards, but he also fumbled twice.
Kickoff returns weren’t a major problem when the Redblacks faced the Argos in August, but punting cost them a chance to win, just as it had been a problem in too many other games.
Brett Maher, who punted well in 2014, was unavailable until recently following surgery on his right hip, but was brought back after he received medical clearance and played last weekend against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Thus the intrigue over kicking for Saturday is entirely that of the Argos, who lost Swayze Waters ( groin) in their last game before a bye week, then placed the 2014 CFL special teams player of the year on the six-game injured list.
Two kickers named Palardy were subsequently signed. Michael, a 23-year-old American left-footer, will punt. Justin, a 27-year-old Nova Scotia right-footer who attended Redblacks training camp in 2014, will kick field goals and converts.
He was helping coach a minor football team when Toronto general manager Jim Barker called Wednesday and had just one full practice with his new club Thursday and a shorter, pre-flight session Friday.
“The field position is a big deal,” Campbell said. “Swayze punted well for them in that (Aug. 23) game, and obviously we lost that battle, but we’re hoping that Brett continues along. I think he averaged 48 yards last week, which was clearly our best. If we can get good punting out of him, it’s going to definitely make a difference for us.”
Argos head coach Scott Milanovich said A.J. Jefferson and Chad Owens would share punt-return responsibilities Saturday. They both average at least 12.5 yards per return, and Owens, the CFL’s top special teams player in 2010, has a career average of 11.0 and four touchdowns on his resume.
According to Maher, though, things should be fine if the Redblacks punt-cover unit remains “assignment-sound.”
“We’re not necessarily doing anything different for (the Argos),” he said. “We know that they have a good returner back there and they have a couple of really good special-teams guys that have been having really good years for them, but we’re focused on what we need to do and trying to handle our own business.”
Milanovich said splitting kicking and punting duties wasn’t as good as having one player do both because it cost another nonkicker his roster spot, but the move could be justified because the kicking game overall was so important.
“I’m not sure you ever really know what to expect until you see them out here (on the field in a game),” Milanovich said. “Both of them have played big-time football. Justin kicked extremely well (Thursday), Michael has punted well all week, but, until they get back in the game. ?
“Justin doesn’t have a lot of work with us, basically, and he has never kicked in this stadium, but he seemed like a pro and I’m just going to do what I always do with kickers: trust them until they tell me I can’t, and then make a decision after that.”