Lions pay visit to hapless RedBlacks

Ottawa, ON (SportsNetwork.com) – The weakest team in the CFL this season just also happens to be the latest club added to the league, which isn’t exactly the best selling point for expanding the CFL beyond the current nine teams.

As it stands, the Ottawa RedBlacks are hoping to bring an end to a lengthy six-game slide when they host the British Columbia Lions at TD Place on Friday night.

The RedBlacks, all alone in last place in the dismal East Division where not one of the four inhabitants has even a .500 record, have just one win in nine tries to this point and that came by only a single point against visiting Toronto back on July 18 (18-17). Since then it has been a downhill run for Ottawa, losing most recently to a woeful Montreal group on the road during Week 10 action, 20-10.

In that game, the RedBlacks actually scored the first points of the contest, a 30-yard field goal by Brett Maher, but from there the team was held scoreless until the final frame when Henry Burris hooked up with Wallace Miles on a 28- yard TD pass play.

Burris, who recently moved up the CFL’s all-time passing list, finished the contest 21-of-34 for 245 yards, shaking off three sacks along the way. The signal caller was one of two players credited with rushing attempts for the RedBlacks as he posted eight runs for 29 yards, two less than Chevon Walker who carried the ball seven times.

Miles managed to pull down seven passes for a 101 yards, but even that effort was not enough to offset a staggering 16 penalties for a loss of 135 yards in the outing.

As for the Lions, they enjoyed a break in the schedule last week, allowing them to regroup after bowing to Saskatchewan on Aug. 24 in a 20-16 decision at home. The loss snapped a three-game win streak for a BC squad that has a better record than every team in the East, but in the West Division is last in the standings at 5-4.

British Columbia started the last game with Kevin Glenn at the helm, the signal caller hitting 15-of-21 passes for 146 yards. However, Glenn exited the game early due to injury, giving backup Travis Lulay an opportunity to save the day. Unfortunately, Lulay went 4-of-8 for a mere 27 yards as he failed to save team president Dennis Skulsky from eating some crow after he promised a BC win or a free ticket to a future game for everyone in attendance.

While Glenn and Lulay were struggling to find holes in the Saskatchewan defense, the running attack for the Lions generated a meager 56 yards on 13 carries.

Thankfully, kicker Paul McCallum kept BC from falling completely out of the picture as he converted all three of his field goal attempts and added a PAT following the 75-yard punt return for a touchdown by Tim Brown in the first quarter when the Lions built a 10-0 advantage.

For Glenn, a 14-year CFL veteran who has thrown for more than 41,000 yards with 62.1 percent accuracy, he’ll be watching from the sidelines this week as Lulay steps in to make the start. Lulay appeared in 13 games for the Lions last year before he too was saddled with an injury, but after plenty of rehab and practice with the first team offense, he is chomping at the bit to get back out on the field and be the leader for the Lions.

As a unit, the BC passing attack ranks third in the league in yards entering this week with 2,288, stemming from 61.9 percent completions, but the squad has just 12 aerial touchdowns and a league-high 11 interceptions. Luckily, the team has one of the better running backs in the league in Andrew Harris, who is currently fourth in the CFL with 421 rushing yards and second in yards from scrimmage with 809, even though he gained a feeble 11 yards rushing the last time out.

Giving the Lions a much-needed boost in a variety of areas is Stefan Logan, who is leading the league with 1,264 combined yards, the only player in the CFL with more than 1,000 yards in that department.

Defensively, the Lions are still paced by Solomon Elimimian who, despite leaving early a couple weeks ago, still paces the league in tackles with 74, 26 more than Ottawa’s Jasper Simmons who is second on the list.

The RedBlacks continue to bring up the rear in terms of scoring this season with only 15.1 ppg, the team generating just 294.6 ypg which is second-lowest in the CFL after 10 weeks of action. On the defensive side of the ball, there is no team as lenient as Ottawa, with the squad giving up a hefty 412.8 ypg, close to 80 ypg more than the closest competitor (Montreal).

As far as an all-time series is concerned, British Columbia is on top by a count of 39-18-2, taking into consideration only regular-season meetings dating back to 1961. The most recent matchup between the Lions and a team representing the city of Ottawa was back on Sept. 8, 2005 when BC hammered the opposition, 61-27, on the road.

The Lions, who are set to host Ottawa on Oct. 11, have won nine consecutive meetings and 14 of the last 15 overall.

Categorized in: CFL