Rest or rust? Redblacks host Riders in East semi

OTTAWA — The Ottawa Redblacks hope rest, not rust, will be a factor Sunday against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The Redblacks (8-9-1) will host the Roughriders (10-8-0) in the East Division semifinal and much has been made of the fact Ottawa has played just once in the past month due to a wonky schedule that saw them have two bye weeks in the last three weeks of the season.

One of its final games included a 33-32 victory over the Roughriders on Oct. 13. Saskatchewan won the first meeting 18-17.

While the late-season schedule was far from ideal, the Redblacks can only hope the time off will be beneficial in the end.

“When you get to the playoffs, all that outside stuff kind of goes away because everyone is so focused on winning and they know it’s do-or-die football now,” said Redblacks head coach Rick Campbell. “I am hopeful that with the amount of rest our guys have had, that our bodies are feeling good. It’s pretty unique that we’ve only played one game in a month and hopefully we can use it to our advantage.”

The rest was definitely an advantage as it allowed offensive lineman SirVincent Rogers and receiver Josh Stangby enough time to recover from injury and play Sunday.

Rogers hasn’t played since Sept. 22, but was determined not to miss a second postseason. Last year the veteran lineman missed the last two months of the season, including Ottawa’s Grey Cup victory, due to an ankle injury.

“I didn’t want to go through the same thing this year because it was so frustrating to watch from the sidelines last year,” Rogers said. “I feel good and I’m ready to go.”

The Redblacks will still be without all-star receiver Brad Sinopoli and defensive back Jerrell Gavins, with both suffering seasonending injuries. But as the case has been much of the season the Redblacks anticipate someone else stepping up to the challenge.

Sherrod Baltimore, who will play his first playoff game, is just one defensive back who has helped fill the void left by Gavins and the 25-year-old says he has every intention of playing his best game yet. “Anything that happens, we can handle it,” said Baltimore. “Right now we’re really peaking, we still can be better every game, but we’re really getting confident.”

Quarterback Trevor Harris would much prefer talking about the Redblacks time off than the fact he will be making his first post-season start.

Harris seems annoyed when asked about taking his game to another level simply because it’s the playoffs.

“It’s another game, I’m not treating it any differently,” Harris said. “I don’t think the intensity is any different, like ‘oh it’s playoffs, I’m going to try harder.’ If you’re going to try harder in the playoffs, are you trying hard to begin with?

“It’s late in the season, so the stakes are higher, I know that, but I’m just going to go out and play my game.”

The Redblacks come into the playoffs as defending Grey Cup champions and, strangely enough, have the exact same record (8-9-1) they had last year when they finished first in the East and had a bye to the division final, but few seem to give this year’s team any chance of repeating.

Earlier in the week, fullback Patrick Lavoie said no one was giving Ottawa any respect or any chance of advancing.

“We didn’t get any respect last year either,” said Lavoie. “When we got to the Grey Cup, no one gave us a chance to win and in the end we won. “Anything can happen,” he added. NOTES: More than 1,000 tickets remained as of Friday afternoon.