The Ottawa Redblacks went to Regina, Saskatchewan to visit the Roughriders on Saturday, and their visit wasn’t too long.
After the first quarter, starting running back John Crockett was out due to a shoulder injury while Jonathon Jennings was taking over for Dominique Davis who’d thrown for 3 interceptions in the quarter.
Nearing the end of the half, things started to brighten up in Saskatchewan, as Jennings connected with Dominique Rhymes for a 75 yard touchdown and Lewis Ward going 2/2 leaving the half down by 12.
After a promising second quarter, the Redblacks defense continued to show potential, while the offense leaned towards Lewis Ward going 2/2 in the second half.
After ending his previous streak last week against Hamilton, Ward’s new streak has already improved to 6 straight field goals!
Bright spots
Other than another huge performance by Lewis Ward, the Redblacks have shown us some great football! It may not seem like a great football game on the scoreboard, but the guys on the field are pushing to get every yard possible, no matter the score and it has been proved.
Running back depth
Early in today’s match up, John Crockett went down with a shoulder injury which would sideline him for the rest of the game.
Lucky enough for the Redblacks, backup Greg Morris had a 19 yard rush moments after Crockett’s injury.
Even though it was a pass first game for the Redblacks, Morris was able to show off what he’s got in the run game and a little pass game!
The Canadian back finished the night with 7 carries for 28 yards along with 50 receiving yards on 6 catches.
After a big 11 touch game for Morris, the Redblacks might lean towards him if Crockett’s injury sidelines him after the bye week.
Jennings, the starter?
Going into the game, quarterback Dominique Davis was 3-4 as a starting quarterback this season, while Jonathon Jennings was 0-2.
After a quarter of play, Davis was 3/6 for 23 yards and 3 interceptions. The unfortunate stats lead to Jennings getting the nod to lead the Redblacks to a hopeful comeback.
Down 20 in the second quarter, Jennings led the Redblacks to 3 scoring drives to close out the half along with a 75 yard connection with Dominique Rhymes.
Jennings ended the game with 208 yards and a touchdown while rushing for an additional 17.
As the Redblacks head into their second bye week of the season, they will decide whether Jennings or Davis will start against Toronto on September 7th at TD Place.
Special Teams win championships?
Last week, Lewis Ward ended his field goal streak at 69 straight field goals made, but he and the special teams came back and started the streak from scratch.
Lewis Ward went 4 for 4, kicking a longest 44 yard field goal in tonight’s loss to Saskatchewan as he extends his new streak to 6 straight field goals.
If you want to win a Grey Cup, you’ve gotta have more than a kicker and the Redblacks have a whole group of specials! Along with Ward, the Redblacks punter, Richie Leone had 6 punts for 305 yards while he kicked a 65 yard punt.
Saskatchewan has former NFL punter Jon Ryan out there, but we have someone to return his kicks, that would be Stefan Logan this week.
Logan, a 38 yard returner who goes by “Age is only a number” shows off all his speed as he achieves the 4th most return yards in CFL history with his 243 return yards to go with his 54 yard punt return with seconds left in the week 11 battle.
With the Redblacks heading into a bye week, we will wait until September 7th at 1:00 to see our special teams take on the Toronto Argonauts at TD Place.
JZ MEDIA 