There was a moment on the sideline at Tim Hortons Field two weeks ago that Juwan Brescacin felt a tinge of nervousness in the pit of his stomach.
DaVaris Daniels was walking off the field, aided by a few of the Stampeders medical staff, and Brescacin knew he was about to get put into the game.
Throughout the year, the six-foot-three, 222-pounder had been practicing in three spots – wideout and slotback on the field side as well as wideout on the boundary side. The position he was about to fill in for, however, was the one he had the least amount of reps in.
“DaVaris’ spot (boundary side receiver) I practiced the least all year,” said Brescican, sitting in a room at CFL headquarters in Toronto last Wednesday on his team’s bye week.
“So when he went down and I knew that he was probably not going to come back in the game, I was a little bit nervous but at the same time I was like, ‘as long as we communicate and as long as I know somewhat what I’m doing, I’m going to be able to make plays with little experience at that position.’”
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DaVaris Daniels is spotting on the sidelines wearing a sling after leaving the contest against Hamilton (Adam Gagnon/CFL.ca)
The third-year receiver exploded for 109 yards on five catches – a career-mark for the 25-year-old – in his team’s 43-28 win over the Tiger-Cats. The big night was bittersweet for Brescacin, however. He was excited he had just hit 100 yards for the first time in his career but it came at the expense of his teammate and friend getting hurt.
“It’s funny because I actually came in the locker room after the game and I was like, ‘I wonder how many yards I have?’” he remembered. “I was like, ‘what do you think I had? 80? 90?’ and then I looked and I was like, ‘oh I had 100!’ And everybody said congratulations.
“I also didn’t want to get it with my teammate getting hurt. Me and DaVaris, we’re close off the field. Seeing him get hurt sucked but I was just happy to come in and pick up where he left off.”
The injury bug has plagued the Stampeders receiving corps this season. Along with Daniels being sidelined, the team has lost Eric Rogers earlier in the season and then star pass-catcher Kamar Jorden left the Labour Day Classic against the Edmonton Eskimos with a season-ending knee injury. Rogers was practicing this week and could make his return as early as Friday but Jorden won’t see the field again in 2018 after having surgery a few weeks ago.
It seems as though it really doesn’t matter who steps on the field to run routes in the Stampeders offence, as the team hasn’t missed a beat since missing three of their top targets. They’re first in the league in passing touchdowns (28) and sit third in passing yards (3,808) while galloping to an impressive 10-2 record.
“As long Bo trusts to throw us the ball and we know where we’re supposed to be, I don’t see the offence not being productive,” Brescacin said. “As you can tell, that game (in Hamilton) was crazy. The receivers made plays when they had to. I think that’s what I was most happy about, not only the fact that I had a career game, but the fact that we were blocking and we were catching the ball and scoring touchdowns when we needed them.”
Reggie Begelton, like Brescacin, has snatched up his opportunity to shine and ran full tilt with it. The 25-year-old spent the majority of the season on studying opponents on scout team – where he won ‘scout team player of the week’ multiple times according to Brescacin – grinding it out and waiting for his chance to see the field. That chance came in Week 13 against the Edmonton Eskimos, playing in his first contest since Week 5.
Begelton has notched back-to-back 150-yard performances, the first against Edmonton where he collected 153 and the second in the same game that Daniels was hurt at Tim Hortons Field, where he hauled in 150 yards and a major score.
“He had a great camp and some people thought that he would be a starter,” Brescasin said of his teammate’s determination. “DaVaris ended up starting and we ended up getting Eric (Rogers) towards the end of camp. Instead of just giving up, Reggie just worked hard.”
It’s no secret that Calgary has has an abundance of talent and depth in almost every facet of their roster. From D-line to receivers, General Manager John Hufnagel has put together an organization that thrives on the ‘next-man-up’ mentality.
And these last few weeks have been a great example of just that.
“People say we hide talent,” Brescacin said. “There’s a lot of guys, even now there’s probably people that the league doesn’t know about that we have that are great players. With guys getting hurt that just means opportunity for these guys to play. Coach Dickie always says everybody is going to play at least one time. So I feel like this is just proving his theory.”
Next up for the Stamps is a contest against the Toronto Argonauts on Friday night at McMahon Stadium. For Brescacin and his team, it really doesn’t matter that the Argos have been struggling to win games as of late, they’re ready to approach it the same as every other game.
If Rogers isn’t ready to go, their depth at receiving corps will be tested once again as they eye their 11th win of the season.
“We know with this playoff push that they’re going to be trying to make a run,” he said, when asked what to expect from the Argonauts. “We know that we’re going to get their best shot and we’re just going to have to prepare to take care of business.”
