Kyle Myers
Ticats.ca
The Tiger-Cats are running wild.
Or at least they were the last time they took the field in their victory over the Edmonton Eskimos.
During that win, the Ticats offence put up a total of 156 yards on the ground – their second highest total of the season, and the first time they eclipsed the 100-yard mark since week one.
According to running back C.J. Gable, who led all rushers with 57 yards on the ground, that success was no surprise to anyone on the offence.
“We can run the ball, there’s no doubt about it,” Gable said after practice Monday. “People have been saying ‘if you stop them from running early they can’t do anything,’ so we wanted to show that we could run the ball. If we want to pound out yards on the ground, we can.”
Offensive lineman Greg Wojt credits the success of the ground game in the team’s win over the Eskimos not only to the play of the backs, but also to the plan of attack.
“It was a part of our game plan, we really wanted to focus on running the football,” he said. “When you can establish the run it puts defences off-balance – they never know if you’re running or passing the ball. I think we were around 50/50 run and pass, and that really kept the Eskimos guessing.”
But the team’s success on the ground didn’t only come from the backfield. On two separate drives – one during each half – starting pivot Henry Burris was removed for a series to make way for backup Dan LeFevour, who carried the ball five times for 52 yards.
“Dan (LeFevour) does some things better than Henry, and what you saw in the game is what he does well,” said Head Coach Kent Austin. “We wanted to change things up and help keep the offence on the field, with a little curve ball.”
Wojt loves to run-block, and hopes that the Ticats stable of running backs continue to find success in the run game.
“The only stat we have as an offensive line is sacks allowed, and that’s a bad one,” he joked. “When you’ve got a back running well and putting yards up on the board, it looks good on us.”
Regardless of who the yards come from, the Tiger-Cats will be working to maintain the balance between rushing and passing this weekend, when they travel to Winnipeg to take on the Blue Bombers, who boast the CFL’s best run defence.
