Ottawa’s special teams key to a win Sunday
Ottawa’s game plan will include keeping an eye on Brandon Banks
Nigel Romick had the best possible view as Brandon Banks crossed the goal-line for the first successful two-point return of a missed convert ever in the Canadian Football League.
Unfortunately for the Ottawa Redblacks’ kicking unit, Banks was the quick-as-lightning Hamilton Tiger-Cats returner who had eluded them over 127 yards and Romick was in the camera shot because he was the last guy to abandon their futile pursuit.
The good news was Banks’ historic sprint only scared the Redblacks temporarily in a contest they won 44-28 to clinch first place in the East Division, but also to warn them about the finalist for the CFL special-teams player of the year award as they prepare to face the Tiger-Cats again in the East final Sunday.
“There’s always pressure every play, every game,” Romick, who was second on the team with 17 special-teams tackles during the regular season, one behind Antoine Pruneau, said following practice on Wednesday. “And I think we do well when there’s a lot of pressure, and this is a huge game.”
The Redblacks (12-6) kept Banks more or less under control Nov. 1 in Hamilton, with the Ticats’ ace returner managing just one kickoff return for nine yards and two punt returns for 22 yards.
However, Banks and his return unit teammates constituted by far the Tiger-Cats’ greatest threat to the Redblacks in the season finale six days later at TD Place. Besides the 127-yard return on the missed convert by Chris Milo, Banks had one punt return for nine yards and five kickoff returns for 98, while Terrell Sinkfield made his own presence felt with a 62-yard punt return and four others for 33 yards, plus three kickoff returns for 62.
There was also an onside punt that Hamilton’s Rico Murray recovered before running 32 yards for a third-quarter touchdown.
For a Tiger-Cats team (10-8) that is down to its third- and fourthstring quarterbacks because of injuries and has difficulty moving the ball offensively and scoring points, those plays were significant. Preventing them is what matters now.
“It’s a phase that not many people talk about … unless something goes wrong,” said Milo, who is expected to handle dual punting and place-kicking duty again because Ronnie Pfeffer (sprained left ankle) does not appear to be ready to return to action.
“They don’t really talk about it when it’s going right, which is a good thing. We know what happened, we know what we have to do to correct it, and that’s what we’re going to do.”