Sherritt wants no mistakes with Cornish
Eskimos tackler aiming to shut down Stamps’ star
There have not been many opponents who have eluded J.C. Sherritt, the Edmonton Eskimos tenacious tackler, but toss out the name Jon Cornish, and the linebacker promptly sets his jaw.
Cornish, the Calgary Stampeders bustling back, has racked up 1,388 yards this season — a mere 49 yards shy of a 56-year-old record set by Normie Kwong. An Eskimo at the time, Kwong was the last Canadian running back to cover that much territory, running for 1,437 yards in 1956.
More importantly, 436 of Cornish’s yards have come at the expense of the Eskimos.
“As a linebacker, these are the kind of games you want to be in. It’s in cold weather against a running game with everything on the line,” said Sherritt, who leads the CFL with 119 tackles, 10 shy of the CFL’s all-time single season record of 129, set by Calvin Tiggle in 1994.
That he’ll square off against Cornish on Friday, in a game that could decide the Eskimos playoff, only seems fitting.
The Eskimos host the Stampeders in their final game of the regular season and in the event that the Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeat the Toronto Argonauts on Thursday, Edmonton has to win, in order to move into the post-season.
Stopping Cornish will obviously be essential to that game plan.
The Stampeders have scored a league-high 505 points and registered a league-high 19 rushing touchdowns. Throw in a potent passing game, which is expected to be under the control of both Kevin Glenn and Drew Tate, and the 7-10 Eskimos have their work cut out for them.
“We know what we need to do. Cornish has pretty much had our number this year,” said linebacker T.J. Hill, “from a defensive standpoint, we know we need to stop him.
“Once he gets started, they get into a rhythm and that running games opens up their passing game. We have to be sound with our gaps. We have to be fundamentally sound. This is our playoff game.” Head coach Kavis Reed said that it will also be essential for the Eskimos to establish a ground game, given that it will be played on a frosty field at Commonwealth Stadium. On top of that he said there can’t be five dropped balls like there was in Montreal or three procedure calls or an untimely unsportsmanlike penalty.
Defensively he said it will be essential to tackle, something the Eskimos didn’t do a very good job of in the three games they played against Calgary.
“Obviously, he’s a great player,” said Sherritt, “but we have to eliminate our mistakes. With a back that is that good, if you get misaligned or you’re not in the right spot, he’ll make you pay for it. He can catch, he can run, he’s strong.”
“They’ve been torturing us all year,” said defensive lineman Almondo Sewell. “There’s no secret about it. We’ve been hanging in a lot of games but that running game ... we have to stop the run.
“It’s about being in the right place at the right time and taking the right angles. As coach Kavis said, if you have the right angle, you’re not going to miss any of those tackles. We just have to come out and play like we usually do, not come out flat. Just get to it right away.”