Inside the CFL: The Punch, The Call, The Aftermath

Calgary, AB (Sports Network) – Ask any football coach and he’ll say the same thing.

In any game, there’s five or six plays that determine the outcome.

However, Saturday night at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, two plays made the difference.

And those two plays clearly illustrated two teams going in opposite directions.

The second play was highlight reel stuff, and I have to admit, my first thought when I saw it was Don Beebe of the Buffalo Bills because of its similarity.

Back on Jan. 31, 1993, in Super Bowl XXVII, Beebe became the poster boy for not giving up on a play when he ran down Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Leon Lett and stripped him of the ball before Lett crossed the goal line with a fumble recovery.

In Saturday’s game between the Montreal Alouettes and the Calgary Stampeders, Calgary defensive back Fred Bennett, a South Carolina grad, punched the ball from Montreal running back Noel Devine en route to a touchdown.

The sequence started when Devine took a kickoff after a Calgary touchdown at the Montreal 2-yard line. At the 10-yard line he made a move to his right, and by the time he got close to the sideline at the 30, he was in full flight and appeared to be heading for a touchdown.

At the same time, Bennett was fighting off a block at the Als’ 45 when Devine, who has blazing speed, flew by him. By the time Bennett turned around to start his pursuit, Devine was five yards away.

Then the chase started.

Bennett gradually closed the gap, and at the Calgary 13, he made his move.

Throwing a right uppercut that would make Floyd Mayweather proud, Bennett punched the ball up and out of Devine’s grasp. The ball rolled into the end zone, where Calgary’s Alvin Bowen landed on it, resulting in a touchback and no points. Five plays later, the Stampeders’ Jon Cornish scored a touchdown, giving Calgary a 34-24 lead en route to a 38-27 win.

It was the type of play that could give a team added momentum through the regular season, a fact noted by Calgary head coach John Hufnagel afterward.

“Play of the game was Freddie Bennett,” Hufnagel said. “That was a 14-point swing, because it took seven points off their scoreboard and we got the ball at the 25 and marched it down for a touchdown. That was kind of an indication of our football team in this game. No matter how bad it looked, we weren’t giving up, and we played until the last whistle.”

Bennett, who played three seasons with the Houston Texans as well as spending time in the camps of the San Diego Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals, told the media afterward, “the guys in our secondary think I’m a little slow, so I had to turn them on.

“I just saw him running and knew I had to get him. I knew he couldn’t score, and that was my whole mentality.

“God blessed me with some long legs and a good stride, and I was able to get him.”

On the other side, Dan Hawkins clearly doesn’t get it.

The new head coach of the Alouettes looked absolutely shell-shocked at the end of the game in Calgary. Not only did he see his team drop to 1-3, but he also saw them cough up a 24-0 lead after the first quarter, which became the biggest comeback following a first-quarter deficit in CFL history.

Hawkins has no one to blame but himself.

In the third quarter, leading 24-19, Montreal had the ball at its own 31-yard line. The situation … 3rd-and-1. Time to punt, or at least, follow the offensive lineman on a quarterback sneak, right?

No.

For some reason, Hawkins, who as head coach has the final say, decided to go for it.

The play, which was called either by offensive coordinator Mike Miller or Hawkins, saw quarterback Anthony Calvillo in the shotgun formation, with running back Jerome Messam behind him. It was fairly obvious this had disaster written all over it and for the Als, it did.

Messam got the handoff, tried to go over the right side of the offensive line, and was stuffed by Calgary linebacker Deron Mayo for a 1-yard loss. Just after that, Montreal’s SJ Green was flagged for objectionable conduct, which meant the Stampeders had the ball at the Montreal 20. Three plays later, a Rene Parades field goal cut the margin to 24-22.

The next Montreal series resulted in a punt, then a Calgary touchdown, which gave them the lead for the first time, and the ensuing kickoff led to the Bennett play as illustrated above.

After the game, Calvillo who completed 9-of-13 for 167 yards in the first half, but went only 9-of-17 for 76 yards in the second half, was visibly upset.

“It’s frustrating when you’re losing, especially when everyone is playing so hard,” said Calvillo. “We were solid out there in the first quarter but after that … I’m not saying we went back to our old ways, but we were inconsistent. I can’t tell you why, but today that’s the way it was for whatever reason.”

The reason appears to be the inability of Hawkins, who was the head coach at Boise State and Colorado but has no CFL experience, and Miller, who came to Montreal after six years with the Arizona Cardinals, the last two as offensive coordinator, to adjust to the CFL game.

Calvillo’s strength has always been his quick release. While the Als played well in the first quarter, having Calvillo constantly going deep, which gives defense time to get the quarterback, is making life miserable for the 41 year- old.

Unless Hawkins and Miller change things up soon, one or both, could be gone. Which would mean that Doug Berry, former Winnipeg head coach who is listed as senior advisor to the head coach, could have a new role with the team.

Remember, that as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in Montreal from 2003-2005, Berry helped Calvillo pass for nearly 17,500 yards.

Don’t think for a moment Calvillo isn’t aware of that.

Ted Michaels is the host of the Fifth Quarter on AM900 CHML.Comments? Criticism? Applause?

Categorized in: CFL