‘This is a new football team’
Redblacks hope to carry momentum from win over Ticats into Saturday’s game against Lions
OTTAWA — It’s not like the Ottawa Redblacks will be throwing a party for themselves any time soon.
A 37-18 win in Hamilton on Friday night lifted some of the weight off their shoulders, but with a 2-6-1 record, there’s still a long way to go.
A loss in The Hammer would have been devastating. Now, the Redblacks can at least briefly savour a win, while focusing on the next game, Saturday afternoon at home to the B.C. Lions. It’s week by week, game by game, for the remainder of the CFL season.
“Anytime you get a win in this league, it’s a big deal,” said Redblacks pivot Trevor Harris.
“It’s not easy to win professional football games. We’ll enjoy this for a couple of hours, I’ll watch this game, then I’ll flush it, download some B.C. tape and watch it on the train ride home.”
Hamilton was very much in the game into the third quarter. Ottawa wasted some first-half opportunities and relied on the foot of kicker Brett Maher, who booted five field goals in the opening 30 minutes and added another in the second half.
Facing a tiring Ticats defence (Ottawa had a significant edge in time of possession), the Redblacks got the offence going. Trailing 10-6 at one point, they put up 25 straight points.
“It was just us executing,” said Harris. “In the first half, it was penalties, lack of execution and shooting ourselves in the foot. It was good that we were making the mistakes while we were in field goal range, as opposed to in our own territory and turning the ball over. It was a big deal to be coming away with points when we shoot ourselves in the foot. We need to learn from that and get better, because if we don’t, we’re not going to win when it comes to big moments — East semis, East finals, those types of games.”
Greg Ellingson, the CFL’s top receiver who already has 904 yards on the year after adding another 155 against the Ticats, caught a 35-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the third quarter to give Ottawa a 14-point edge.
On the Ticats’ next possession, QB Zach Collaros fumbled the snap and it was picked up by Redblacks defensive end Avery Ellis, who ran 30 yards into the end zone for a touchdown.
It was Ellis’ first touchdown since high school, when he was a tight end/linebacker.
“I grabbed the ball, I just ran as fast as I could into the end zone,” he said. “Any time you can get a turnover and put points on the board, it’s a great contribution toward our team and gives our team a better chance to win.”
When Hamilton got two points on a blocked convert and an 80-yard run by Courtney Stephen, then got a one-yard touchdown run by Brandon Banks, the Redblacks responded with a long drive that resulted in the first career touchdown for receiver Jake Harty on a three-yard pass.
“I’m happy to get my first touchdown,” he said. “It’s been awhile. It’s been a few years. The win is huge momentum for us. We want to take this and roll with it. We want to keep the wins piling up.”
Maher booted field goals from 10, 15, 42, 52, 48 and 30 yards.
“You always want to cash in with touchdowns, but if you’re not doing that, six of those suckers make 18 points,” said Redblacks coach Rick Campbell. “Good on Brett, he made some really good kicks, especially those long ones.”
The Lions lost 21-17 at home to Calgary on Friday night to fall to fourth place in the West Division with a 5-4 record. Last week, the Lions fell 41-8 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Redblacks try to focus on what they can do, not on their opponents. And it should be a good mindset going in.
“I like the attitude right now. I liked the demeanour in the locker-room,” said Campbell. “They’re happy, but it’s not an over-the-top celebration. They know we didn’t play our best football. We did a lot of good things, but there are things we can definitely improve on.”
The Redblacks had started the season with all six of their losses decided by a margin of seven points or less. They could have won many of them, but they didn’t. They need to make up for lost time.
Said Ellis: “It’s a big difference (between winning and losing), the locker-room feels different, you feel better, you have to keep this train moving.”
“We were so close for so long, it’s tough to get out of that spiral,” said Maher. “It’s good for us to get a win, to have this feeling and be able to build on it — especially coming into this part of our schedule, where we have a lot of East Division teams left.”
“Before the game, we were walking out, thinking this is a new football team,” said Harris. “I really believe that. We have to continue to press forward. We have to put it in perspective — we’re 2-6-1. Where we want to be versus where we are is still a big gap. This is a big springboard for us, having a game where we’re up 10 late and then our offence goes on the field and we capitalize. That goes a long way for our belief. We’re a very young team still. Not a lot of people say that because we’re Grey Cup champs. We’re going to learn from our mistakes.”