TRICK PLAY WOULDHAVE BEEN PERFECT DEBUT
When the trick play was called Saturday, Ottawa Redblacks rookie receiver Marco Dubois was excited.
If it worked, the 2018 second-round draft choice would have the first reception — and first touchdown — of his CFL career. Let’s go back. There were 12 seconds left in the first half, the Redblacks were in a third-down situation, trailing the Montreal Alouettes 9-5. On the previous play, quarterback Trevor Harris had completed a pass to Greg Ellingson for 19 yards, to the Montreal 14-yard line. Harris had been sacked on the play before that so the Redblacks were still a bit less than one yard short of the first down.
The Redblacks called time out and the short-yardage unit, with quarterback Dominique Davis, came onto the field — surely, it would be a QB keeper, with Davis lunging ahead for the necessary yardage. Instead, he rolled right while Dubois released from the line and ran into the end zone. As Davis ran, he tried to lob the ball to Dubois, but it was knocked away.
“I wasn’t nervous, I was really excited,” said Dubois, who caught just one pass a year ago in Laval. "It’s been a long time since I was targeted in the end zone. (The Alouettes) made a big play. That’s what happens sometimes in football. It didn’t work out like we wanted it to.
“The coaches have shown me a lot of confidence and they’ve given me opportunities and I’m thankful. This is a dream come true every day.” GETTING HEALTHY: It looks as if the Redblacks came out of Saturday’s game in pretty good shape as far as injuries go. Receiver Brad Sinopoli, who missed most of last week’s practice time, took it easy again Monday. Said Redblacks coach Rick Campbell: “He should be good to go (this week). We’re just maintaining him in the middle of the season right now.” SAM linebacker Anthony Cioffi was practising again. Said Campbell: “He’s an active guy, able to do a lot of things — he can blitz, he can cover and he’s done a good job for us on special teams. We’re looking forward to getting him back, he should be good to go. We had a couple of bumps and bruises from the game — nothing that’s not typical of a normal football game. We’re thinking we’re in pretty good shape. I don’t think we lost anybody from that game.”