LaPolice wants RNation revved up like never before
First home game in nearly 22 months calls for `loudest' crowd yet, coach says
Six hundred and 67 days. Painfully for RNation and football fans in Canada's capital city, it's been that long.
Finally. After an absence of nearly 22 months, the Ottawa Redblacks are home Saturday night. Coming off a week of scorching heat, there is a threat of wet. Rain or shine, football is back. Let the horns blow. Let the cowbells clang. Crank up the chainsaw. It's the B.C. Lions versus the Ottawa Redblacks. It's game time.
“I expect our crowd to be great,” said Redblacks head coach Paul LaPolice Friday. “I'm asking our crowd to be the loudest 15,000 people in the history of the world. When B.C. is on offence, we'll try to use the crowd noise to our advantage.”
LaPolice hopes his team can keep the chainsaw — located beyond the end zone — cutting wood chips (for touchdowns, take-aways and blocked kicks) all night.
“We want to hear that thing, we want to wear that gas out,” he said.
The Redblacks won just once at home in a horrific 3-15 2019 season, but that doesn't worry defensive end Avery Ellis.
“It's 2021 — 2019 is 2019,” he said. “The defence is flying around, the offence is getting better day by day. We don't worry about what happened in the past. It's warming (to come home). You always get this cold feeling when you're on the road. The crowd is against you, you're not only trying to mute the crowd, you're fighting the opponent as well.”
While having fans on their side is a good thing, the 1-1 Redblacks — coming off games in Edmonton and Regina — can't get too caught up in the moment. The 1-2 Lions have a dangerous offence with an elite quarterback Michael Reilly (nursing an elbow injury) and superstar receiver Bryan Burnham.
Redblacks quarterback Matt Nichols, who had shoulder soreness in training camp, is hoping to take his team's offence to the next level. He'll have a new target with Charone Peake — a New York Jets 2016 draft pick — checking into the lineup. He'll have a new starting running back — former L.A. Ram Justin Davis — behind him. And he'll have a new left guard, with American Juwann Bushell-Beatty replacing Canadian Jakub Szott.
“(The Lions) have some talented veterans and they have some young players who have stepped in and made a bunch of big plays,” said Nichols. “They can beat anybody. It comes down to us making plays and not making mistakes. It's about executing and feeding off our fans, giving them something to cheer about early. It'll be nice to have people cheering for us, not against us, this week.”
The Redblacks defence will have feature several newcomers. With defensive backs Abdul Kanneh (hamstring) and Sherrod Baltimore (quadriceps) going on the six-game injured list and Gump Hayes (quadriceps) also sidelined, Marcus Lewis and Brad Muhammad get into the lineup at cornerback, with former Carleton Raven Justin Howell in again at defensive half. Defensive lineman Cleyon Laing (excused for a “family situation”) is out of the lineup, replaced by Ese Mrabure. Stansly Maponga Sr. (chest) is also out, replaced by Praise Martin- Oguike.
“It's a tough introduction to CFL football, to be up against a quarterback with that experience, but these guys are ready,” said safety Antoine Pruneau.
“They've been working really hard. Brad was always on the verge of being dressed so he was always game ready. He's going to see a lot of balls, they always try to go at the rookie players; same thing for (Marcus).”