Redblacks lose another QB
Team suffers first loss of season after Harris leaves game with knee injury
Dear Redblacks Nation. No sense in asking. Your Canadian Football League favourites aren’t going to say right now who their starting quarterback is, and they might not say anything until they return to the practice field on Tuesday in Ottawa.
Trevor Harris, who had been outstanding after replacing the injured Henry Burris in the season opener at Edmonton on June 25, was himself forced to the sidelines by what appeared to be a right knee injury on Friday night.
Sure, Brock Jensen looked generally OK in his first CFL regularseason action ever, connecting with Brad Sinopoli for a pair of first-half-touchdowns and leading a fourth-quarter drive for a goahead field goal, but Roughriders QB Mitchell Gale drove his team into position and Nepean’s Tyler Crapigna kicked a 53-yarder with little more than a minute remaining to give the home side a 30-29 victory. It was the positive result of the season for the Roughriders, while the Redblacks (3-1-1) dropped from the undefeated ranks and returned home facing one big, huge, gigantic question: What’s next?
Option 1 would appear to involve hoping that Harris wasn’t badly injured after the Roughriders’ Corvey Irvin fell on his right leg and can start against the Toronto Argonauts at TD Place stadium on July 31.
Option 2 involves sticking with Jensen.
Option 3 might be to reactivate Burris from the six-game injured list early and start him even though the 41-year-old QB hasn’t thrown a pass in public since whacking the pinky finger on his passing hand off the helmet of Edmonton Eskimos defensive lineman Cedric McKinley less than four weeks ago.
Come to think of it, McKinley was in the Roughriders’ lineup on Friday night, having recently been acquired in trade. Maybe he was a jinx dressed in green.
There was more, too. Defensive end Arnaud Gascon-Nadon was hurt while returning a first-half kickoff, and all-star defensive back Abdul Kanneh spent most of the second half on the sideline, too.
The Roughriders stunned the Redblacks with a couple of big plays to start the contest. Actually, they were short plays that tuend into big plays because Ricky Collins “broke” four tackles for a 22-yard game on the first play and Forrest Hightower gambled for an interception and lost, allowing Collins to rumble 48 yards to the 10-yard line.
The good news was that Regina native Zack Evans sacked Gale on the next play and knocked down a second-down pass, forcing a successful 24-yard field goal by Crapigna.
Then the really bad news. Harris was sacked by Irvin on his third pass attempt, and the Roughriders defensive lineman fell on the right leg of the CFL’s hottest quarterback.
Saskatchewan’s lead doubled to 6-0 on the next series. A 35-yard pass to Rob Bagg led eventually to a 42-yard field goal by Crapigna.
Then Jensen took over at quarterback for the Redblacks. His first pass to Ernest Jackson produced a first down and Brad Sinopoli took the second 65 yards for a touchdown. With Chris Milo’s convert — Greg Ellingson replaced Harris as holder — it was 7-6 Ottawa
Late in the game, the Riders led 27-26 with 7:39 to go.
Unfortunately for Gale and the Roughriders, another bobbled shotgun snap turned into Whiteside’s second fumble recovery of the night and Jensen led the Redblacks into scoring position. Milo kicked his 11-yarder for the go-ahead points with 1:49 remaining on the clock.
Kanneh returned to the field for the next defensive series, but was flagged for defensive pass interference, and that foul got the Roughriders into position for Crapigna to kick a 53-yarder.
The Redblacks did have a final possession, but a sack on first down, an incompletion down the field and another sack — by former Ottawa end Justin Capicciotti — secured the win for the Roughriders.
Evans was probably the best of the Redblacks, as the former Roughrider sacked Gale three times. He had help from Aston Whiteside, who recovered two fumbles.
Between the end of walkthrough on Thursday and the start of Friday’s game, the Roughriders had placed slotback John Chiles on the one-game injured list and quarterback Jake Waters on the six-game list.
Their replacements on the roster were wideout Ryan Lankford and quarterback Vad Lee, both promoted from the practice roster.