Hello, Clarence Hicks.
That was one hell of an interception against the Elks on Saturday.
Elevation, a one-handed tip straight up, and then nabbing the ball as it and you were both crashing to Earth.
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High art. Every time a big man gets an interception, an angel gets its wings.
Atta boy, Clarence.
Here are the Thanksgiving Weekend presented by Purolator takeaways.
IT’S TREVOR’S WORLD, CURRENTLY
Remember a few weeks ago when the Saskatchewan Roughriders were mired in a dismal slump, winless in seven and staring a missed playoff year dead in the eyes?
Nah, me neither.
After Saturday’s 39-8 thrashing of the visiting BC Lions, the Roughriders are winners of four in a row and turning their gaze to the possibility of hosting the Western Final.
Everything seems back in order for the Riders, including a rip-roaring streak being ridden by their quarterback, Trevor Harris, who went 25/30 against the Lions for 271 and a couple of touchdowns, posting an efficiency mark of 131.4, for gawd’s sake.
And that ain’t no one-off. Over Saskatchewan’s winning streak, Harris has gone 90/112 (80 percent completion rate) for 1,192 yards, and five touchdowns, throwing just two interceptions.
Name me a quarterback who’s on more of a heater right now. I’ll wait.
“I think we’re becoming who we want to be,” Harris told reporters after the win over BC. “And that’s a team that’s capable of beating anybody.”
BONUS TAKEAWAY: He ran for 84 yards on 16 carries and stiff-armed two different guys on one eight-yard power run. Now THAT’S the AJ Ouellette that we know.
EVERYBODY INTO THE POOL
The Toronto Argonauts dressed nine defensive linemen for their game against the Blue Bombers and then sent a blizzard of rotations at the Winnipeg offence in their 14-10 win on Friday night.
Eight of those linemen hit the stats sheet on defence (Tyson Hergott’s lone tackle was on special teams) with the unit racking up six of the Argos’ seven sacks on the night, led by Folarin Orimolade’s two. They accounted for 19 of Toronto’s tackles and if you want to add Hergott’s ST tackle along with those by Robbie Smith and Derek Parish, linemen nabbed 22 of Toronto’s 59 total tackles on the night.
“The more the merrier” strategy certainly worked wonders for Toronto in this one. After big wins against Montreal and Winnipeg, that Toronto defence looks like it is ramping up at precisely the right time.
BONUS TAKEAWAY: We were reminded that a fully-healthy, fully-speeding Wynton McManis is really something to behold.
IT’S LIKE THAT SCENE FROM ‘PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES’
“You’re going the wrong way,” the couple in the other car yell at John Candy and Steve Martin in that beauty of a film.
The BC Lions and the Ottawa REDBLACKS are Del Griffith and Neal Page, right now, making their way at a pretty good clip in the wrong direction, after Week 19 losses.
The REDBLACKS, once in firm control of second in the East, have lost four-straight now, taking them out of that seat, relegating them to third place behind the momentum-building Argos. The Lions, once with thoughts of perhaps rallying to a first place finish in the West, have lost three of their last four, after first impressing so many of us with a signature win against the Alouettes in Montreal in Week 14.
“When they do get our best shot we’re pretty good,” said an obviously disappointed Lions’ head coach Rick Campbell after his team’s thud in Regina.
In Montreal, REDBLACKS head coach Bob Dyce lamented his team’s propensity to take penalty after penalty after penalty against the Alouettes.
“We’ll take care of that this week,” he told TSN 1220 Radio afterward.
The good news is that just like the heroes of the film, while the struggles of the REDBLACKS and Lions might be real – and sometimes dispiriting – time has not yet run out.
IF DEFENCE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS WE’VE GOT SOME PRETTY GOOD CANDIDATES MAKING CASES FOR THEMSELVES
Goal line stands, acrobatic interceptions, overwhelming pressure and rally-to-the-ball hustle were all on full display in Week 19.
Why, Winnipeg coach Mike O’Shea was asked, couldn’t the Bombers’ offence move down the field at will against the Toronto Argonauts?
“Playing a good defence,” O’Shea replied with a laugh that suggested a level of incredulity. “You gotta give SOME credit to the opposition. We didn’t just stop ourselves, right?”
Toronto’s defence. Winnipeg’s defence. Saskatchewan’s, Montreal’s, too. And even Ottawa’s (minus the avalanche of first half penalties) can be counted in the group of CFL defences that showed up to strut their stuff in Week 19 and, in most cases, prior to it as well.
Good luck, offensive coordinators.
I THINK BRETT LAUTHER’S GONNA BE ALRIGHT AFTER ALL
Remember a few weeks ago, when Roughriders’ placekicker Brett Lauther had a miserable game against Montreal and missed four of seven field goal attempts in a game the Riders lost by three?
Nah, me neither.
Riders coach Corey Mace does and he wasn’t shy about reminding the doubters that so many of them wanted Lauther released after that game.
“He had a rough night, one night, and everybody was ready to say goodbye,” said Mace of Lauther, who went 6/6 against the Lions. Then Mace grinned, raised his eyebrows and cocked his head as though to say “okay, then, buddy.”
Since that horror show of a game, Lauther has been good on 26 of 27 attempts, and that includes a streak of his last 20 in a row. The last kick he missed? On the final play of the Labour Day Game.
Brett Lauther’s just fine.
“We’re happy he’s here,” said Mace.
AND FINALLY… We don’t talk enough about Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund.