The Canadian Press
Hello, Dave Dickenson. The way you charged down the sideline during Kamar Jorden‘s late touchdown romp has me desiring, very strongly, a match race between you and Quick Six. Or one between you and that wee pony they had out there for Family Day (I don’t know its name, is it Speedy Three? Li’l Rouge?). That’d be even better, come to think of it.
Race that pony, coach.
Here are this week’s takeaways.
TONY FOOTBALL HAS GOT SOME SASS
Alouettes’ quarterback Antonio Pipkin showed off a lot of things in his team’s win over the Toronto Argonauts but perhaps the most important thing he displayed was kind of a pissy attitude towards the opposition and a “git ‘er done” mentality among his teammates.
Did all the, you know, quarterbacky things just right: calm reads, strong throws, tucking and taking it at opportune times. Pretty polished effort for a second career start.
The 23-year-old native of Gary, Indiana also showed his “follow me, boys” character when he plunged in for his second touchdown of the night and then took on Argos veteran linebacker Marcus Ball in an end zone shoving match, getting flagged for his efforts, even though that penalty personally perplexed him.
Not all penalties are created equal and Pipkin’s flag for feistiness was worth it, as he played the “get out of my face” card for an Alouettes team that needed more of that.
Lots of quarterbacks? Lots of losses? A dismal outlook for your team?
Antonio Pipkin doesn’t care one iota about your back story. He’s here now and he’s slingin’.
BONUS TAKEAWAY: Wait. Wait just a second. Are we actually saying the Montreal Alouettes have a quarterback controversy?
THE STAMPEDERS HAVE GARGLED, RINSED AND SPIT. CARRY ON
Did you wonder how the Calgary Stampeders were going to react to their being thoroughly dusted by Saskatchewan the week before? I did not, personally.
Not, that is, until the first half was unfolding against Winnipeg. It was at that point that I wondered if the bitter taste of their Week 10 loss was going to be made to linger into Labour Day.
Pity the team – any team – that needs to take on the Calgary Stampeders when they are in a foul mood, though.
A dominating defence, coupled with an explosion of offence during the second half, means the Stamps have the fresh, minty taste of a being a
winner back in their mouths.
And the visions of a stumbling, slumping Stamps, dancing in the heads of the Edmonton Eskimos ahead of Labour Day, vanished, just like that.
BONUS TAKEAWAY: Kamar Jorden will ask you for just a few M&M’s but he will take the entire bag if he gets the chance.
SOMETHING’S UP IN SASKY
If their big win over Calgary wasn’t enough to convince you that the Saskatchewan Roughriders were about to trend north – the Stamps hadn’t been touched all season and had to lay an egg at some point, you could have argued – Saturday night’s victory in Vancouver should have you a little more firmly in their camp.
The offence looked good against Calgary and then in Week 11, it was the defence that rose up to take control of a game that could very easily
have gone the wrong way without a stout effort in the area of opposition preventative measures.
The green D didn’t get beaten a lot in the second half and when it did, it was mostly by razor-thin margins on plays that could have easily gone the other way.
By capping the night with a stop on third and short, and the Lions driving for a game-tying field goal in the final minute, the Riders
defence dominated the night and the team heads for Labour Day on a serious uptick.
BONUS TAKEAWAY: Well, it’s the same as last week’s bonus takeaway: Don’t you think you ought to wear green again next week, Chris Jones?
AT SOME POINT, SIMONI’S GONNA HAPPEN
No offence intended towards Hamilton linebacker Simoni Lawrence. But, late in the fourth quarter on Thursday night, with the Ticats locked in a serious struggle with the Edmonton Eskimos, a thought crossed my mind: “Is Simoni Lawrence still out there? Where’s he been? Is he hurt?”
It had been a quiet night for the smooth running, smooth talking Hamilton linebacker, who’d chipped in with a couple of tackles up to that point. Nothing big.
Well, Simoni Lawrence must have a little Beetlejuice in him because on the play that followed my wondering about his whereabouts, he tracked down Eskies quarterback Mike Reilly for a huge sack. Loss of five on the second-down play, with less than two minutes on the clock and the Eskimos trying to grind out a two point lead.
Instead of a possible Edmonton march, a punt ensued, as did Lirim Hajrullahu‘s game-winning field goal with zeroes on the clock.
Sometimes Simoni Lawrence lurks just under the surface, waiting patiently until you draw near. Oh, but you WILL draw near. Oh yes, you
will. Because at some point, Simoni’s gonna happen.
BONUS TAKEAWAY: Never say “Wow, that’s weird. Bet we’ll never see anything like that again.” Because Jeremiah Masoli hit an upright on a pass attempt from his own end zone, late in the third quarter. And then did it again, half a quarter later.
SOMEBODY ORDERED A JUMBO-SIZED MARK’S LABOUR DAY WEEKEND
Hoo, boy, this one’s gonna have some intensity, folks.
Mark’s Labour Day Weekend is looming and a trio of home and home sets are positively bursting at the seams with importance, so much of it set up by the Week 11 results.
In Regina, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are suddenly thinking of much bigger things after putting together two wins in a row. Crossover?
Shmossover. How about second place and a home date in the playoffs? With a sweep of their home and home series with Winnipeg, the Riders would at least have full control of third place in the division and could cast eyes on second if the Calgary Stampeders were to put together home and away wins against Edmonton.
Consecutive losses to the Stampeders would pretty well eliminate the Eskies’ plans for finishing first and would seriously dampen a season in
which Edmonton has been trying to find a championship-calibre rhythm. Coming up flat here could have echoing repercussions throughout the autumn.
And what about Winnipeg? Two losses in succession have them grinding their gears, desperately in need of a forward lurch, and having to make the attempt at momentum-harvesting in what will be a Mosaic madhouse on Sunday. Which way are they heading? These two games are enormous in finding that out.
Then, there’s the Toronto Argonauts. Expectations were that they’d handle Montreal and be no worse than tied with Hamilton for second place in the East when Labour Day hit, but Friday night’s loss means it is now crucial that they do no worse than split the next two against the ‘Cats. Get swept and Hamilton would be six points clear of the Boatmen, holding the tie-breaker, with the spectre of only two Eastern teams making the playoffs looming large. Is their season on the line here? Why, yes it is.
AND FINALLY… All that Labour Day intrigue and might none of it be the biggest story if Ottawa’s Diontae Spencer has his way. With the CFL announcing that players could celebrate touchdowns with readily available props without being flagged, Spencer requested, on Twitter,
that someone bring a goat to Ottawa’s game against Montreal on Friday.
Can you bring a 🐐.
— Diontae Spencer (@DSpencer4_) August 23, 2018
