Redblacks winning, but injuries are piling up
Among the things to celebrate in the Nation’s Capital on Canada Day — your undefeated Ottawa Redblacks.
Hail the conquering CFL heroes, returning 2-0 from the road as they rest for three days before preparing for the sold-out July 8 home opener at TD Place against the Calgary Stampeders.
Hello to another franchise first for the third-year Redblacks, posting two victories before the home opener. And not just any wins, but impressive stuff, first beating in overtime the Grey Cup champion Edmonton Eskimos at Commonwealth Stadium and then Thursday’s convincing 28-13 win over the Montreal Alouettes at Percival Molson Stadium.
The Redblacks are pulling it off despite a parade of injuries each time out, dating back to the loss of running back William Powell to an Achilles injury in the preseason. On Thursday, Powell’s replacement, Travon Van, left the game with a leg injury after a spectacular first half. So did special teams player Olivier Goulet-Veilleux, with a gruesome leg fracture in the third quarter. Return man Jamill Smith departed with a torso injury.
Despite the display of depth amid adversity, head coach Rick Campbell hopes the worst of the injury contagion is over.
“We need to put an end to this,” Campbell says. “There’s only a certain number of guys we’ve got around town. But that’s part of football, ‘next man up’ when someone goes down. You’ve got to have someone step up and get it done. That’s why I’m proud of our guys, for winning two games on the road and doing it with some new guys.”
In his first start as the Redblacks’ quarterback, Trevor Harris picked up where he left off in relief of Henry Burris in the opener. Harris completed 20 of 26 passes for 395 yards and three touchdowns. Chris Williams has quickly established himself as the primary target, catching seven passes for 187 yards and a touchdown.
In two games, Williams now has 363 receiving yards, the runaway leader in the CFL. He’s merely on pace for 1,633 yards for a full season.
“When my number gets called, I just try to make a play,” Williams says.
In a little over five quarters of football, Harris has already amassed 687 passing yards and six touchdowns, the league leader in both categories. He’s making Ottawa general manager Marcel Desjardins look like a genius for signing him as his quarterback of the “future.” The future is now, although Harris insists he’s just keeping Hank’s seat warm.
“My job was to come in here and be the relief pitcher in case something happened to Henry and Iron Man ended up going down in week one, which is very rare,” Harris says. “We know he’ll be back.”
Not any time soon. Burris is expected to be out four to six weeks with ligament damage in the pinky finger of his throwing hand. Who knows how much offence Harris will have generated by then?
Notable against the Als was Harris’ ability to mix things up and grind out a win, even after Van and his 86 rushing game departed. While Harris has struck gold with Williams, a deep target for Harris’ elegant, arcing strikes, he has other options that he can and will use.
“The thing that makes it so difficult is that you’ve also got Greg Ellingson, and Ernest Jackson and Brad Sinopoli. You can make an argument they’re all top five receivers in the CFL,” Harris says. “We have four or five dynamic receivers. It makes it very difficult on defences.”
Oh, to be a fly in the wall of Toronto Argos management watching their former backup perform like a star. The Argos are 1-1 with aging Ricky Ray at quarterback, but Harris is at another level at the moment, lighting up the nation.
“You can see he’s a seasoned, veteran guy,” Campbell says of the 30-year-old Harris. “He doesn’t get fazed. Even just managing the whole end of the game, it’s very calming talking to him. No one’s getting flustered and we’re making sure we’re using the clock correctly.
“It’s good on him and good for us to have multiple veteran quarterbacks we can count on.”
Harris nursed a small lead through most of the game, then took advantage of the momentum swing after Montreal receiver Duron Carter had a meltdown after a touchdown, crashing into Campbell on the sidelines. After Carter was ejected, with receiver S. J. Green already out with an injury, the Als offence petered out.
Overall, the Redblacks defence held the home team to 340 net yards of offence, compared to 532 yards generated by Harris and his offence.
After reaching the Grey Cup game in year two, people were bound to wonder what the Redblacks could do for an encore.
As the home opener approaches, the encore performance is off to a brilliant start. Football fans in Ottawa should be in for a treat this summer and fall.