BOATENG RACKING UP SACKS, OFTEN THREE AT A TIME
Eskimos defensive end proving to be an unstoppable force
When it rains, it pours for Kwaku Boateng.
And when the Edmonton Eskimos defensive end is storming through an offensive line, it’s usually the poor quarterback left holding the bag.
Or sack, in this case.
And you might as well make it plural, while you’re at it, with the way Boateng ’s been getting them in bunches this season.
“Honestly, it just comes down to the D -line that I play with,” said the six-foot-two, 257-pound Wilfrid Laurier product. “I’m just lucky to be in those situations I am in, to be honest with you.”
Boateng is coming off his second three-sack hat-trick of the season in Saturday’s 28-15 loss to the East Division-leading Ottawa Redblacks.
The other one came in a win over the Montreal Alouettes in Week 7, after opening the door with a pair of sacks in a victory against the B.C. Lions in Week 3, on his way to leading the team and sitting tied for third overall in sacks.
So it’s been feast or famine on his way to leading the Eskimos with eight on the year to sit tied for third overall.
“With D-lines, it’s like baseball in a sense that you’re going to strike out several times before you get that home run, and when you do get that home run, everyone loves you,” said the 23-year-old native of Ghana, who has already doubled his sack total from his rookie season after being drafted in the fifth round (41st overall). “But when you get those strikes, everyone’s on you.
“But I’m grateful for the D -line that we have. When you’ve got people like Alex Bazzie coming off the opposite end and you’ve got Almondo Sewell pushing the pocket, and you’ve got either Jake (Ceresna) or Mike (Moore) warring on the inside, I think we probably have the best depth in the league on D -line.”
One that’s been drowning quarterbacks in a pile of 33 sacks on the season, anyway, which puts them second overall behind the 35 earned by a B.C. squad led by ex-Eskimos pass rusher Odell Willis’s nine on the year.
“We have a young D-line and I know that means we’re going to lack experience but we’re going to definitely increase on the explosion and the energy. We’re just younger in that sense,” Boateng said. “Down the road, we’re going to be more experienced, and when we added Arnaud Gascon-Nadon, we added that experience.
“I feel we’re at the point where offences know they don’t want to hold the ball more than 2.5 seconds, if that. So I feel comfortable and coach (Demetrious) Maxie is just letting us go out there and ball out.”
The addition of Gascon-Nadon, whose spent the past five seasons in the East Division, at the end of August has made for a true Canadian defensive end spot on the Eskimos depth chart the likes of which evade recent memory.
“Obviously, I worked my ass off in my first year,” said Boateng, who as a rookie was worked into the rotation on what had been an all-American defensive line. “But coach Casey Creehan gave me an opportunity to play in this system and be a rotational player. And, more importantly, coach (Mike) Benevides believed in me coming in this year and coach Maxie also believed in me, so I’m just thankful for the situation that I’m in.
“They want to see me succeed and I’m just going to grab that whenever I get the opportunity.”
Because, as he’s proven, one can turn into two, can turn into three.
“If I get to you within the first half, oh, I’m coming after you each and every play now,” Boateng said. “My confidence just rises up and I’m not someone that settles.
“If I get one, I want to get two. If I get two, I want to get three, and so on.”
It’s not just the sacks. Pressure is the name of the game and Boateng ’s pass rush is successful when it leads to quarterbacks hurrying their throws or otherwise making mistakes even if they manage to stay on their feet.
“Kwaku is always capable of that, he’s around the quarterback a lot,” said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas. “And when you’re as physically gifted as he is and work as hard as he does, opportunities find themselves.
“So he’s done a great job of capitalizing on his opportunities and it’s good to see him play well.”