Hello, placekickers! After a weekend like that, the world is your oyster. Walk through the cafeteria with your chest puffed out. Casually snatch some fries off an offensive lineman’s plate. Sit in the chair usually reserved for the quarterback and if he’s already in it, just stand there staring at him until he gets up and moves. Instead of saying “good morning, sir” to your head coach, say “hey, Carl” and wink at him.
Even if his name isn’t Carl. Doesn’t matter, pick any name you want. You rule right now and you have Lewis Ward, Rene Paredes and Sean Whyte to thank for that.
Here are the Week 4 takeaways.
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NOBODY BEATS THE OTTAWA REDBLACKS 11 TIMES IN A ROW
With Wimbledon getting underway, that headline is riffed from one of the great sports quotations of all-time, delivered by tennis player Vitas Gerulaitis back in 1980. After losing 16 consecutive matches to Jimmy Connors, Gerulaitis finally took him down, saying afterward: “And let that be a lesson to you all. Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row.”
The streak of futility is over and it ends in spectacular fashion for the Ottawa REDBLACKS.
Ten straight they’d lost to the Hamilton Ticats and it was looking like 11 was in the cards when the ‘Cats struck for a go-ahead touchdown with 28 seconds remaining.
But the REDBLACKS served notice that they aren’t quite the same REDBLACKS who hadn’t beaten an East Division team at home since 2018.
(What?!)
“A lot of games like that last year that we found a way to lose,” Ottawa receiver Jaelon Acklin told TSN 1200 Radio after the game. “This one we found a way to win.”
Credit quarterback Dru Brown and receiver Bralon Addison for an impressive 10-yard gain on a third-down conversion from the Hamilton 49-yard-line, with three seconds left.
Credit head coach Bob Dyce with the smart use of a timeout as the Ticats scrimmaged in the red zone, saving clock just in case Hamilton scored the go-ahead major, which they did.
And credit, of course, kicker Lewis Ward, holder Richie Leone and long snapper Peter Adjey for a flawless operation.
The fireworks were going off anyway, for a promised Canada Day Weekend celebration, but they looked a whole lot more spectacular for Ottawa fans who could imagine it was Ward’s field goal that triggered ‘em.
HE WANTS A JOB. GIVE HIM ONE
Not much to add to that headline, really.
Friday night, Ricky Ray was interviewed on TSN about being honoured as an All-Time Argo.
“Hopefully, one day,” he replied when asked about coaching in the CFL.
“I’d love to be back in this game and in this league.”
Hire Ricky Ray. That’s it. That’s the takeaway.
MISERY LOVES COMPANY AND IT ALSO SHARES TALKING POINTS
The Edmonton Elks, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Ticats are all oh-and-four and if their respective problems in busting through to the winning side are unique to each, the feeling is not.
“We should be winning,” said Winnipeg kicker Sergio Castillo after falling to Calgary. “The record doesn’t say it but the work that we’re putting in day in and day out… it’s gonna come through.”
“All we’re gonna do is continue to dig,” said Edmonton coach Chris Jones after his team’s loss in Vancouver. “This is a really, really tough group of kids in there. They’re not gonna quit. They’re not gonna lay down.”
“They’re givin’ nothing but effort,” said Ticats’ Head Coach Scott Milanovich on Sunday night. “There’s total buy-in, they’re workin’ hard every day. And we just gotta keep at it.”
Calgary coach Dave Dickenson – who saw his team often come up a tad short in 2023 despite hanging with most of the opposition for most of the time, got to feel the satisfaction of scratching out a win in an overtime victory over the Blue Bombers. He can tell you. A group needs a little success to keep the pilot light glowing.
“It certainly helps,” Dickenson said after his team’s 22-19 win. “It does. If you’re gonna put all that energy into it and you’re gonna give it everything you got – and you played pretty good – you need to be rewarded sometimes.”
Calgary’s gotten the oxygen they need. The Bombers, Ticats and Elks need a hit of that, pronto.
WELL, IF IT WORKS ON THEM…
No better football lab in the country right now than practicing against the Montreal Alouettes’ defence. And doing that gave the team the confidence it needed to pull off a bold one against the Argos on Friday night.
On third and one and in a one score game, Alouettes’ short yardage quarterback Caleb Evans lofted a rainbow pass to receiver Cole Spieker for a 44-yard touchdown.
“We ran it all week against our defence,” quarterback Cody Fajardo told the Als’ post-game show, “and it looked good. And our defence is smart.”
One of the reasons the Montreal offence looks so good in 2024 is that it has to contend with the Montreal defence so often. And find ways to be successful against it.
This must be part of the reason the Als’ offence looks so sharp, so varied, so unpredictable.
THE AGE OF EBERHARDT IS UPON US
The BC receiving corps was already strong and it’s only going to get stronger if second-year pass-catcher Ayden Eberhardt keeps ascending.
All signs point to that happening after his six-reception, 78-yard performance on Saturday night. Those numbers were achingly close to being seven for over a hundred as Eberhardt juuuuust failed to reel in what would have been a spectacular catch on a bomb attempt in the second quarter.
“He’s played three different positions in the last three weeks,” said quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. of Eberhardt. “He’s locked in, he’s focused and he’s making those plays. He told me just give him an opportunity and that’s what I was doing tonight.”
AND FINALLY… AJ Ouellette vs. Jared Brinkman should be fun to watch this week.