Jason Halstead/CFL
It’s tough in the trenches.
We all know the line of scrimmage is no place for the faint of heart and that is especially true of the interior. The two tackle positions.
The Ottawa REDBLACKS know this and that is why, last Sunday in the Eastern Final against Hamilton, they did something they hadn’t before and that is use four men in rotation on the inside. They may do it again this Sunday in the 103rd Grey Cup presented by Shaw.
“We try to stay fresh,” said Keith Shologan, who finished the regular season with seven sacks, when the REDBLACKS used a three-man rotation at tackle. “We go hard. You go all out and you get tired, the next guy comes in.”
Shologan, Zack Evans (seven sacks) and Moton Hopkins (five sacks) had been splitting two positions three ways but when Jonathan Williams returned from a groin injury in late October, it was decided they would go even harder when on the field and rotate one more man in the down and dirtiest part of the trenches.
“During the year we loved it,” said Shologan, who admitted that he – like all football players – would like to play more, but that you can’t argue with a successful plan.
“You just felt really good,” he said of the benefits of the in-game rest. “You understood the flow of the game and it was a really nice rotation.”
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If going from a three-man to a four-man rotation at the position cramped his style at all, it didn’t show on the stats page. Shologan had another sack in the Eastern Final, four tackles all tolled. A very good day at the office for an interior lineman.
“Those guys do all the dirty work and me and Cap (defensive end Justin Capicciotti) just get all the fame for it,” laughed defensive end Shawn Lemon, who joined the REDBLACKS as a free agent back in September.
Capicciotti and Lemon don’t come off the field as much as the interior linemen do, but they do get a rest when they or the coaches think they need one, as the REDBLACKS stick with a three-man plan at the ends, with rookie Kalonji Kashama stepping in now and again.
Lemon, a Grey Cup champion with Calgary a year ago when he played fairly well every down the defence saw, loves to stay on the field but he will not be waving off the coaches if they feel he should come out. “Not in this game,” he chuckled. “This is Grey Cup, this week. You only get one chance. You want to do your part to get it done.”
Capicciotti, a CFL East all-star in 2015 with 12 regular season sacks and 47 tackles, can appreciate the odd, brief look from the sidelines and agrees it can help a defensive end the way it can help a quarterback who comes out for a series or two.
“It definitely helps,” he agreed. “You get a different perspective, a different view on the situation. You’ve still got to pay attention to who’s on the field and to what the offence is doing.”
Like the rest of the Ottawa linemen, Capicciotti wants to play as much as possible, but sees no reason to overstay his welcome if he’s feeling taxed.
“We try to play as much as we can,” he nodded. “If we get tired, we know the next guy is gonna be better than us fresh than we are tired.”
“Let the next man come in.”
It’s a mantra that has helped the Ottawa REDBLACKS defensive trench warriors stay energized all season long.
LINEMEN TRUE TO BLUGH
An occasional rest is good for Ottawa’s defensive linemen. Another thing that’s been good for them: Defensive Line Coach Leroy Blugh, the 2015 Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductee who guides the team’s D-line rotations and schemes.
“He’s been an amazing coach to me,” said Lemon, who chalked up five sacks and 15 tackles in half a regular season under Blugh. “He comes out with great energy every day. I think he kinda relives playing football through us.”
“He breaks down film good for us, always comes up with a good scheme for us.”
Capicciotti raves about Blugh as well, lapping up any and all kernels his coach can give him.
“He did it for such a long time at such a high level that every little detail he tells you, you know is gonna be effective when you translate it to on the field because he’s done it,” he said.
