Spencer’s long run blows game open
It might have felt like the longest 113 yards Ottawa Redblacks returner Diontae Spencer has ever run.
But his dynamic touchdown on a missed 54-yard field goal by Boris Bede was like a kick in the crotch to the Alouettes Sunday afternoon.
With brilliant sunshine and mid-summer-like temperatures that seemed like more than 30C, Spencer admits he was tired as he first broke right, then cut back left before trotting into the end zone.
“I was gassed, my head was going back,” Spencer said. “I was tired and just trying to get to the end zone.”
While the Redblacks were dominating, they still only had an 11-3 lead at the time, late in the second quarter, with Montreal threatening to cut it to a five-point lead. By halftime, the Redblacks led 22-3. The final was 29-11.
“It doesn’t put it out of reach, but it certainly stacks the odds in your favour,” Redblacks coach Rick Campbell said of the return. “It’s probably the biggest swing play in football. The other team’s missing out on three points, you’re taking it the other way and getting a two-point conversion — that’s an 11-point swing and a huge momentum changer.”
Spencer, who also had six catches for 52 yards, had a lot of help from his blockers.
“It’s bigger than me, everybody has to do their job on special teams,” Spencer said. “It was designed to go back to the boundary. I hesitated when I caught it, I felt out the entire field. I knew once I got to the edge, I just let my blockers do their job and I ran into open field. It was pretty hot today, I started cramping up.
“I’m going to look at it on film, see who made those big blocks for me and I might treat them to something.”
With 1:09 left in the first half, on the same play where QB Drew Tate was drilled and left the game, Spencer also went to the sideline.
“I had a go route, I felt some tingling in my toes and started cramping in my calf, I was good from there on in,” he said.
It’s probably the biggest swing play in football. The other team’s missing out on three points, you’re taking it the other way
With Quincy McDuffie healing and hoping to return soon, the Redblacks will have a wealth of riches on punt and kickoffs returns.
“We want to use them both,” Campbell said. “Ideally they’ll both be on the roster. They can both make big plays.”