Redblacks’ Grey Cup fate sealed by a pair of punts
Ottawa was very much in the game before special teams let it get away
One punt crippled the Redblacks on Sunday.
Another sealed their fate. Things might have been different had Ottawa’s Richie Leone kicked the ball out of bounds with time winding down in the first half. The Redblacks had pulled to within three points, at 14-11. They were right in the game.
Instead, Leone sent the ball to Calgary’s Terry Williams, who responded with a Grey Cup record 97-yard punt return, crossing the goal-line with one second left on the clock. The Stamps took a 10-point lead and momentum into the second half.
They also winded the Redblacks.
That kind of hole against the CFL’s best defence — especially on a surface that offered almost no traction — would be almost possible to overcome.
Redblacks’ Diontae Spencer tried to pull his team close by breaking in the second minute of the fourth quarter, but with one Stampeder to beat, the ball was knocked from his hands. The Stamps turned the fumble recovery into a field goal and a 13-point lead that would be insurmountable. The final margin was 27-16 for the Stamps.
The Redblacks didn’t deserve to win the 106th Grey Cup. They were the second best team on the field.
But the outcome could have been different if not for that punt late in the second quarter that was like a kick in the gut for the Redblacks.
FIRST QUARTERLY REPORT: The temperature at kickoff was 0C, with an 8 km wind. Perfect conditions, except for the slick field. “Basically it’s a big block of ice,” Rose told me after Saturday’s walk-through. “If we had skates on, it would be an ice rink.” Evidence of the problems that posed was presented all game long, as players either couldn’t cut or couldn’t stop. Perhaps things would have been better had they been playing on a football field rather than turf shaved down to accommodate women’s soccer four years ago. Bo Levi Mitchell was able to get away with his earliest mistake — an under-throw picked off by Jonathan Rose in the end zone — when the Redblacks followed with a two-andout. Trevor Harris was not so lucky. With a pass intended for Greg Ellingson, he hit Stamps DB Ciante Evans right in the numbers at the Ottawa 32. Three plays later, Don Jackson pulled in a screen and strolled 21 yards into the end zone … The defence was completely fooled on the Jackson trot down the sidelines. How else would you explain the closest Redblack being at the hash marks … After the play ended on his interception, Rose was pushed by big offensive lineman Ryan Sceviour. Rose turned to back to go after him, and was wisely intercepted by a teammate … When the normally sure-mitted Greg Ellingson drops the ball on the second play from scrimmage, you get the feeling it’s going to be a game full of mistakes.
SECOND AND LONG: Who was it that wrote Julian Feoli-Gudino, who had just 11 catches this season for the Redblacks, was a dark horse candidate to be the Grey Cup MVP. That guy didn’t look so dumb when JFG had a 55-yard TD catch in the second quarter, did he? … This conjured similarly slippery memories of the 2002 Grey Cup game on what was then the natural grass at Commonwealth. Montreal beat Edmonton 25-16. Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo was named the MVP after completing just 11 of 31 passes for 260 yards and two touchdowns …
JUST FOR KICKS: First in line for the Football Reporters of Canada buffet breakfast was TSN’s Dave Naylor who, as the guy that passed out the drink chips at a party hosted by his company early in the week really didn’t have to use the “I’ve got to be on air soon” excuse for the early jump … If you think the Edmonton Journal’s Gerry Moddejonge is a good writer, you should see him eat. The pile on his plate was taller than the poinsettia in front of him … Rick Campbell had a quiet dinner and went to bed early on Saturday, then the next morning met his sister and parent’s for coffee. Did he get any last-minute advice from his 77year old father, Hugh, who won five straight Cups as coach of the Eskimos? “No,” said Rick. “I need to stay away from him. He’s making me nervous. He’s rattling my nerves so it was a quick Starbucks and out.” … Some Stamps had their routine thrown for a loop on Saturday. “Eight of them that got stuck in an elevator for an hour and 15,” confirmed head coach Dave Dickenson. “I bought the one coach that was in there lunch. That’s all he gets for that hour and 15.” … I was told our editors watching the game on TV in Toronto were “90 seconds ahead of us.” I just nodded, figuring it must have something to do with the different time zone.
MOVING THE CHAINS: Redblacks did a very good job of protecting Trevor Harris in the first half. The one sack Calgary had, by Wiggan, was wiped out by an illegal contact penalty … Wearing orange footwear in the first half, he was William (Bright Shoes) Powell. He switched to white in the second half … Powell was effective most of the day, but he was also guilty of a second-quarter fumble in Calgary territory that never would have happened had he been carrying the ball in the arm to the outside of the tacklers … Micah Johnson, Calgary’s exceptional defensive lineman, had to be separated from either a player or a coach on his own bench in the third quarter … Ellingson fooled a lot of people when he dove for an end zone pass in the fourth quarter. In real time it looked like it didn’t hit the ground. What did they do before replays?
EXTRA POINTS: The Stampeders had the ball almost five full minutes longer than Ottawa in the first half. Redblacks Jean-Christophe Beaulieu, who seems to be missing an ‘r’ in his name, caught one first-half pass with some room but just couldn’t slam on the breaks to keep from going out of bounds … With his second-quarter interception, Sherrod Baltimore had four pics in his last five games … Lewis A-Ward missed his second field goal in two games (and third of the season), this one a 48-yarder that fell wide left … The crowd of 55,819 represented another Grey Cup game sellout …