LETTING LOOSE PAYS OFF FOR REDBLACKS
Offence finds footing in second half for win that puts team back in hunt for top spot
Build a lead and blow it. It has happened too many times to the Ottawa Redblacks, a case in point being the Sept. 29 game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
It was a different story Saturday at B.C. Place.
This time, the B.C. Lions built a 19-point lead and, like that contest against the Roughriders, the team that was trailing was considered left for dead.
However, after a big play on defence — a hit by Jerrell Gavins separated Bryan Burnham from the football and Jonathan Rose pounced on it late in the third quarter — a Trevor Harris pass to Greg Ellingson for a touchdown gave the Redblacks life.
They scored again a bit more than a minute later after a gutsy onside kick wound up in Antoine Pruneau’s hands, with Diontae Spencer taking a short pass from Harris and dancing along the sideline for another touchdown.
“We had a change of heart,” Rose said. “When the team knows it’s not playing at a level it needs to play at … we came in and said, ‘We have to pick this up, we need to do something to get confidence going into the playoffs.’
“We didn’t execute in the first half. We talked about the big plays, the defensive backs talked about the guys in behind us. We thought, if we could make the adjustments, we’d win the game.”
Harris, who missing three previous games with a separated shoulder, was particularly brilliant in the second half. He finished with 28 completions for 380 yards and three touchdowns.
“We got more aggressive offensively and defensively with our calls,” he said. “Their defensive co-ordinator (Mark Washington) deserves a lot of credit. They were in great calls all night. They were taking away (primary receivers), they were making us come underneath and check down. Finally, in the second half, we were able to sneak open some primaries and throw the ball downfield a bit.”
Greg Ellingson, who solidified his place as the CFL leader in receiving yards (1,381) by catching seven passes for 149 yards, said “The second half, we kind of let loose.
“The first half, we were maybe a bit conservative, running and short checkdowns. In the second half, we let Trevor air it out and show his arm is as healthy as ever.”
More of that letting loose is needed with two games left in the Redblacks’ regular season: Friday in Regina against the Roughriders and at home against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Oct. 27. In a silly CFL scheduling quirk, the Redblacks have byes in two of the final three weeks of the schedule.
“We need to make sure we play the game to win, be aggressive enough in the way we call the game as coaches,” Redblacks head coach Rick Campbell said.
A loss against the Lions would have reduced the Redblacks’ lead over the Ticats for second place in the East Division to three points, and Hamilton (4-10-0) would have had two games in hand. Now, the Redblacks (6-9-1) are again in the hunt for top spot, a point behind the Toronto Argonauts (7-8-0).
“We knew, regardless of what happened to Hamilton, we have to win games,” Campbell said. “To me, (going into the game against B.C.) we had to win a minimum of two, maybe all three. Every win is like gold. These last two games are going to be huge, both of them.”
How big was the win in Vancouver?
“If we were 10-4, it wouldn’t be that huge,” Harris said. “But the fact we were 5-9-1 and we were fighting for our lives … Hamilton had a big win (Friday at Winnipeg), so this was huge. It’s one of those deals where right now is the time for us to start turning it up and playing better down the stretch.
“If we win next week and Toronto loses, we’re back in first place. It’s crazy. We can’t do anything about playing in a weaker division. We just have to play our cards as they come.”
“We need wins,” Ellingson said. “We need to build momentum going into the playoffs. We believe we’ll be there. A comefrom-behind victory like this is huge. We’ll go into Sask next week and try to steal one there.”
Harris was a target for Lions pass rushers, but he looked sharp in the final 25 minutes. He didn’t play scared and he battled through an injury that still causes plenty of discomfort.
“He said, when he was back, he was going to be back to play the game,” Campbell said. “He wasn’t going to try to hide himself out there. He took a couple of big hits.”