Milo gets his kicks against Riders
Late field goal beats former team
It was just like old times for Chris Milo.
The veteran kicker was back at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday, kicking field goals, hitting an upright — “That’s just how it goes out here, I guess,” he said with a grin — and winning a football game.
However, Milo is now with the Ottawa Redblacks, not the Saskatchewan Roughriders. And his 14-yard field goal with six seconds left in regulation time sent his former team to a 30-27 CFL loss.
“The guys put me in a great spot,” Milo said. “It was just a chip shot and it’s always good to have that feeling.
“You always want to do well against teams that let you go, but it’s a team sport and the guys battled hard.
“I missed one (field-goal try) and an extra point. It would have been a different game (if he’d made those), but everything happens for a reason. That was meant to be and I was just happy to put it through for the boys.”
Milo handled the Roughriders’ kicking duties for four seasons — plunking at least half a dozen uprights along the way — but things went south at the start of the 2015 season.
After Saskatchewan’s season-opening loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Milo was “deactivated” by thenhead coach Corey Chamblin. Veteran Paul McCallum was signed to replace Milo, who was released shortly thereafter.
On Aug. 1, the 28-year-old Montreal product signed with the Redblacks and found new life in the CFL.
“The fact they have confidence in me and believe in me is just an amazing feeling,” said Milo, who is 10for-11 on both field-goal and convert tries for Ottawa.
“To have that support from the coaching staff, my teammates and the organization means the world to me. Obviously you want to do well to help the team out and that’s what we did tonight.”
On Saturday, Milo was good on field-goal attempts from 28, 46 and 14 yards and missed on another 46-yard try. He was 2-for-3 on 32-yard converts, with his miss hitting the left upright.
But it was his final field goal that crushed the hopes of his former team.
“It’s a kick in the gut no matter who it is, former teammate or never been a teammate,” Saskatchewan linebacker Tyron Brackenridge said.
“It’s tough, especially in a game like this. Being at home with the home crowd into it, you’ve got to win games like this.”
Milo’s game- winner capped a stellar effort from another former Roughrider.
Quarterback Henry Burris, who threw for 477 yards in the contest, drove the Redblacks 68 yards in six plays to set up Milo’s final three-pointer.
During the march, Burris completed two of three pass attempts for 61 yards — including a 53-yarder to Ernest Jackson — and converted a second-and-two with a seven-yard run on a broken play.
“When you’re facing a quarterback like Henry, he has his ups and downs, so you never know when he’s going to be explosive and when the ball’s going to roll to your side,” Brackenridge said.
“Dealing with a guy like that, you have to play consistent football. We just weren’t consistent all the way through.”
Burris was happy that Milo got a chance to seal the deal against his former team, but the pivot was pleased for himself as well.
“I was like a kid in a candy store when we pulled this thing off,” said a grinning Burris, who played three seasons (2000, 2003-04) with Saskatchewan. “It’s never easy to win here …
“It’s something special for me to still be able to come back here because this is one of the finest places I ever played in. I’ll never forget the times here.”
Milo celebrated more than a few times on Taylor Field when he was with the Roughriders, including a Grey Cup victory on home turf in 2013.
Being cut may have stung, but he was putting the Redblacks’ goals before his personal feelings Saturday.
“I’m not really worried about what it means to me; it’s more what it meant to this football team,” Milo said. “Getting to 7-and-4 is what we wanted coming in here.
“We’ve got a nice stretch going on. If we keep doing what we’re doing, we’re going to be satisfied at the end of November.”