Lamenting the Hail-mary that got away
Stampeders receiver had Saturday’s game in his hands, writes Todd Saelhof
He had the winning points in his hands.
Then he didn’t.
Juwan Brescacin was that close to hauling in the football to give the Calgary Stampeders an improbable comeback victory Saturday night in Edmonton. The pigskin was in his mitts. But then a split-second later, thanks to a flurry of fingers owned by a trio of Edmonton Eskimos defenders, it was falling to the floor of Commonwealth Stadium.
Game over: Eskimos 48, Stampeders 42.
“I thought I had it coming to the ground, but I guess it came out,” said Brescacin of the ohso-close, last-ditch effort by the Stamps in the Labour Day replay. “So I guess it is what it is.”
What it was, exactly, was a 49-yard Hail Mary pass heaved by Stamps quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell with zeros on the scoreclock that saw Brescacin get under it in the Esks’ end zone.
As the ball arrived, three Eskimos defenders did as well, making for a quite the crowd with Brescacin encased in green and gold, while trying to secure the winning touchdown.
“I thought that it was a great ball by Bo,” Brescacin said of the pass. “He gave me enough time to get into the end zone, turn around and make a play. Honestly, I wasn’t even paying attention to anybody around me.
“I was just looking for the ball. I played basketball, so I saw it like a rebound ... I just went up to try and get it.”
The football seemed to bobble once against Brescacin before bounding down his body as he fell to the ground.
“I felt it kind of rolling on me, so I tried to scramble for it,” said the third-year Stampeders receiver from Mississauga, Ont. “But everybody was on me, so I couldn’t really move.”
His only chance to make a miraculous game-tying touchdown would’ve been to try to grab the falling ball with his knees or legs.
But that didn’t happen as the Stamps came up just a hair short in a bid to rally from 20 points behind in the final quarter.
“You know ... it’s something we practised,” said Brescacin of the Hail Mary attempt. “I finally came into the game (and got a chance). My heart rate wasn’t really up. We were already in that drive, so everything was just kind of moving fast.
“But as soon as the ball was in the air, everything kind of slowed down for me and I just went up and tried to make a play on it. I wanted to come down with it. I was telling myself before the ball was snapped that I was going to make the game-winning play. That was my mentality, so that’s why I attacked the ball like I did.”
In the loss, Brescacin, a product of the NCAA’s Northern Illinois Huskies, caught one pass for 17 yards. He now has 16 catches for 256 receiving yards and two touchdowns on the campaign.
“Each season, I just try to improve and I feel like I’m doing what I can this season, but I feel like I have a lot I can show,” said the Stamps’ 15th-overall draft pick from 2016. “I’m happy with where I’m at, but I’m not content. So I’m just looking to make more plays and help this team win.”
His chance came Saturday to do just that, but wasn’t meant to be.
“Obviously you can’t dwell on it,” said Brescacin. “It’s onto Hamilton now, it’s Week 14 now. Take care of business and go on the bye week and get ready to finish the season strong.”
SHORT YARDAGE
Stamps cornerback Ciante Evans (ankle), who missed the last game after leaving the Labour Day Classic early, didn’t practise Tuesday at McMahon Stadium.
“He’s still struggling,” Dickenson said.
Apparently so, too, is Stamps centre Ucambre Williams (knee), who had an MRI to determine his status moving forward and didn’t practise.
Two Stamps back at practice, however, were running back Don Jackson (foot) and cornerback Patrick Levels (virus). Both are on the one-game injury list with Jackson missing Saturday’s game and Levels missing the last three.
“A couple of guys, if they can get practising by the end of the week, we’d like to get them in there, but if they can’t, they can’t,” Dickenson said. “These young guys taking the reps are benefiting, so we’ll see what happens.”