The Ottawa Redblacks’ 21-15 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Saturday may not go down as one of the most thrilling CFL games in history, but it had its moments. In particular, one that summed up a lot of the game came from Ottawa quarterback Trevor Harris, who found an unusual target with a second-quarter pass; the face of one of his blockers, left guard Jon Gott. Here’s a look at the play, complete with an up-close angle from the camera on referee Dave Foxcroft:
That one’s got to hurt. It’s amazing that it came with Gott turned back towards his quarterback, too, seeing him get this in the mask instead of the back of the head. And it came just a play after Ottawa receiver R.J. Harris wound up open in the end zone after his defender fell, but couldn’t haul in a pass behind him:
One of the most exciting moments of this game, and one that saw perhaps the most enthusiasm from the broadcasters, came from TSN analyst Duane Forde reading an American Ninja Warrior promo:
And we did get a stellar promo of a different sort at the half, with Redblacks’ defensive back Kyries Hebert cutting a wrestling promo on Tiger-Cats’ quarterback Jeremiah Masoli and the city of Hamilton in an interview with TSN sideline reporter Matthew Scianitti, repeating how he told TSN 1200’s Lee Versage earlier this week that he doesn’t like Masoli, Tiger-Cats’ linebacker Simoni Lawrence, or Hamilton as a whole. “I don’t like Masoli. I hate Hamilton — the city stinks and the uniforms are ugly. Simoni is overrated and he’s a big talker.” Here’s what he said on-camera:
“I didn’t say a whole lot about him, I just said that I don’t like him and the city stinks. But I said it, I don’t do a lot of talking. I’m not a talker. So that’s it, that’s it.”
Well, that’s certainly one definition of not saying a whole lot. At any rate, the game did see some excitement late, with Hamilton scoring the game’s first touchdown inside the final two minutes to make it 18-15 Ottawa, Redblacks’ kicker Lewis Ward hitting another field goal (making him 7-for-7 on the day to tie an Ottawa record), and the Tiger-Cats getting close to the end zone late before back-to-back sacks ended it with a 21-15 Ottawa victory.
And hey, Ward’s a cool story. He spent the five seasons playing Canadian university football with the Ottawa Gee-Gees, where he wound up as the team’s leading scorer, set Ontario University Athletics records for field goals and points, and finished second and third respectively in U Sports history in those categories, but also worked as a security guard at Redblacks’ games. He went undrafted last year (Canadian university players are usually selected after their fourth year in college), but signed a contract with the Redblacks this January, and while he looked like a long shot at first, he won their kicking job after incumbent Brett Maher signed with the Dallas Cowboys in April. And now, he scored all their points Saturday and was crucial to their win. So this one worked out for Gott and company in the end, football to the head aside.
[Clippit]
