Jack Bedell
CFL.ca
PHOTO FINISHES
One of the oldest clichés in football is that it takes 60 minutes of effort to win a ball game. And while most games are more than decided by the time 59 minutes tick by, Week 5 in the CFL proved that clichés wouldn’t be cliché if there wasn’t a ton of truth to them.
All four tilts went down to the wire this past weekend and it had to have hearts pounding throughout the league.
Talking about 60 minutes of effort, we saw the complete range in Week 5 – from the incredible in Ryan Dinwiddie’s individual performance, leading Winnipeg to its first win of the year, to the inevitable with B.C. beating the Alouettes in B.C. Place for the eighth year in a row, to the improbable with Edmonton sweating a comeback led by Ticats’ backup pivot Richie Williams that fell, literally, a half-foot short, to the heroic in Wes Cates carrying the Roughriders to 5-0 for the first time in more than half a century.
And with under a minute remaining, the fate of each of these games was still in the balance. Amazing…
THERE’S A BIG “W” IN DINWIDDIE
Many CFL pundits questioned coach Berry’s move to bench last season’s East MOP candidate Kevin Glenn in favour of Ryan Dinwiddie. 450 passing yards and a seriously gutsy performance by Dinwiddie later, it seems like a real no-brainer decision.
Dinwiddie attacked seams in the Stampeders’ defence all night last Thursday and, more importantly, had the courage to put balls on his receivers regardless of how tight the coverage was. Terrence Edwards, Romby Bryant and Arjei Franklin responded to that show of faith by making quite a few circus catches, and by sealing the W with their efforts.
There’s no denying Dinwiddie’s fire and success were catching. Coaches say it all the time, “I put him in to see if we could get a spark.” Well, coach Berry got a forest fire out of Dinwiddie, and the first victory of the year. It’ll be interesting to see if the Bombers can keep that lit.
nem•e•sis [nem-UH-sis]—noun
There’s just no other word you could attach to B.C. Place for the Montreal Alouettes. No matter how the Als are playing heading into Vancouver, no matter what the records are, no matter what the travel itinerary was, no matter what kind of lead the team builds, they just can’t seem to come out of the place on top.
Things looked pretty good for Montreal up 17-3 in the first quarter with the league’s leading passer Anthony Calvillo on top of his game and Avon Coburne piling up all-purpose yards. 24-6 in the second half didn’t feel all that ominous either, until a couple of turnovers led to scores and Ian Smart popped a kick return back for seven.
Then the heat, the noise, a talented, well-coached opponent and five field goals from Paul McCallum sent the Als home empty again this time. Just like every game in B.C. Place since 2000.
HALF A FOOT AWAY
Probably the unlikeliest thriller of the weekend came courtesy of a player who wasn’t even supposed to see the field.
When an ineffective Casey Printers was forced from the game with a thumb injury, back-up Richie Williams woke up the Ticats’ offence and had the team on the brink of a furious comeback inside the final minute against Edmonton.
Under Williams, Hamilton’s passing offence looked to have some rhythm for the first time this season. After being sluggish and inefficient all game under Printers, Hamilton moved the ball well with Williams at the helm, particularly when feeding Prechae Rodriguez who turned in a monster 155-yard performance in the loss.
Even with Ricky Ray, Kamau Peterson and the Eskimos defence putting in solid performances in the road win, the Ticats were one play away from stealing the game inside the last minute. One play, and half of Pat Woodcock’s foot being out of bounds on the catch that would’ve resulted in the winning score, to be exact.
Watching Williams perform Friday night, it made me wonder if it was time to look for a little “spark” in Steeltown, too.
THERE’S ALSO A “W” IN WES
It was supposed to be all about Kerry Joseph and Darian Durant Sunday in Regina. Old number 4 and new number 4 going head-to-head.
When a vicious first-quarter hit left Durant on the sideline with three cracked ribs the game quickly became the Wes Cates show. And, man, did he deliver.
With the Argos’ D employing a 40-front scheme designed to slow down the run, Cates piled up 130 yards on the ground and two TDs, taking a ton of pressure off third-string pivot Steven Jyles and keeping the Riders in the game long enough to win it.
Gang Green’s now 5-0. They’ve managed to win games under three different quarterbacks and in the face of some devastating injuries. But with Andy Fantuz’s name being added to that injury list, now, the season’s going to get exponentially harder and I have a feeling Wes Cates is going to have to rack up several more heroic performances to keep his team on top in the West.
RWB’S PRIMETIME PERFORMERS
1) Wes Cates
2) Ryan Dinwiddie
3) Terrence Edwards
4) Romby Bryant
5) Barron Miles
6) Ian Smart
7) Edmonton’s Sack Masters
8) Ricky Ray
9) Prechae Rodriguez
10) Arland Bruce
WEEK 6 PREDICTIONS DOOMED TO GO WRONG
I rode the West to a 3-1 record last week, but now that the divisional showdown tilts are over, I’ll have to rely on a little analysis to stay over .500. This week I’m going with hot hands and teams ready for some redemption – Montreal, B.C., Winnipeg and Calgary.
UP NEXT
Check back early next week for my take on all the Week 6 action and I’ll hand out a few “First Act” awards after one third of the season is in the books.
Until then, take care. And everyone, please keep your bones located!
Jack B. Bedell is a Professor of English at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana and has followed the CFL for nearly three decades.
