October 23, 2018

Harris vs. Masoli: Who is the East’s No. 1 quarterback?

Adam Gagnon/CFL.ca

You may not be aware of this fact, but Friday’s Hamilton/Ottawa game wasn’t just about the battle for Eastern supremacy; it was also a referendum on who is the best quarterback in the East.

When Ricky Ray went down in the Toronto Argonauts’ home opener it left the door wide open. With two 4,000-plus yard, 30-touchdown seasons under his belt, the Ottawa REDBLACKS’ Trevor Harris went in to the season as the early favourite to capture the East Division Title Belt. But then something fun started happening in Hamilton: Jeremiah Masoli just kept putting up 300-yard games. Suddenly he went from a semi-inaccurate passer who found ways to win to games in 2017 to a Fantasy beast in 2018.

I’ll let the other writers and pundits explain what it means that the Ottawa REDBLACKS won 35-31 in rather dramatic fashion over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and how it impacts the upcoming playoffs. For me, I wanted to dissect how Harris and Masoli played to determine who gets the title of “Best QB in the East.” So let’s go back to the game to score this fight between the two quarterbacks.


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FIRST QUARTER

Decision: A convincing win for Jeremiah Masoli

This is the easiest round to score with Masoli throwing two touchdown passes and the Ottawa REDBLACKS managing just two field goals and a punt. Now, I have to deduct some points from Masoli as the biggest play on the first touchdown drive, a 40-yard catch by Alex Green, saw Green do most of the work on his own after catching a short swing pass (but I won’t deduct too many points as Masoli did hit Green in stride). Also, his second touchdown pass to Brandon Banks was more about phenomenal downfield blocking by the Tiger-Cats receivers and Banks’ individual speed than about anything Masoli did.

Finally, Masoli did throw his customary interception, an overthrow right to Sherrod Baltimore. All that being said, Masoli was in sync early with his receivers and looked damn comfortable leading Hamilton to a 14-6 lead after 15 minutes.

Big round for Masoli.

SECOND QUARTER

Decision: Close, but Masoli takes round number two

Wow, early on this looked like another blowout for Masoli after his third touchdown of the day to Luke Tasker with just over five minutes to go. His most impressive throw was not the quick strike touchdown to Luke Tasker, but rather his scrambling deep pass to Mike Jones, where Masoli somehow spotted Jones about 40 yards down field and delivered a perfect strike. Masoli earns some more points over Trevor Harris as the home crowd starts booing the REDBLACKS’ offence, which had generated three punts up until this point. Simple rule: if you get booed by your own fans, you’re doing something wrong as a quarterback.

Just when it seems all hope is lost for Harris, he directs his team to a touchdown drive (Dominique Davis with the quarterback sneak), and after a two-point conversion courtesy of William Powell, suddenly we have a one-score game with the Tabbies only leading 22-14. I have to deduct a couple points as Harris had the advantage of working with a short field after a solid return by Dionte Spencer, and he only needed 42 passing yards to get the major, but still, Ottawa is now suddenly back in the game.

Just before I’m about to call this round a draw, Masoli leads Hamilton to a last-second field goal aided by his 14-yard scramble (plus a Anthony Cioffi unnecessary roughness penalty), and Hamilton enters the half leading 25-14.

Tight, but Masoli wins Round Two.

 

THIRD QUARTER

Decision: Trevor Harris is finally on the board!

Yes, Dominique Davis is credited with the opening score of the third on a QB sneak, but the drive will be remembered for Harris completing passes of 19, 25, and 19 yards respectively, including that 19-yarder to Brad Sinopoli on a second-and-13. If I am going to punish the quarterbacks who are aided from long catch-and-runs by skill players, or short fields they played no part in generating, then I am rewarding points for long second-down conversions.

Much like Masoli in the first half, Harris is in control of the REDBLACKS’ offence in the third quarter as he goes 4-for-4 for 63 yards on a second touchdown drive, giving Ottawa a 29-28 lead. Masoli deserved a better fate in the third quarter, but he had outside forces working against him. A first-down conversion pass to Luke Tasker was scuttled due to a combination of Ottawa DB Michael Wakefield knocking the ball away and Tasker not securing the pass. A Brandon Banks fumble and several Tiger-Cats penalties helped also played a big part in pushing Ottawa back in the game. All that said, Harris wins the third quarter that results in his team being up 29-28 after 45 minutes.

Harris wins Round Three.

FOURTH QUARTER

Decision: Ottawa ends up winning the game 35-31, so it has to go to Harris …. Right?

Kind of. On one level, Masoli and the Hamilton offence had their chances and just couldn’t get it done, so to the victor goes the spoils. However, much of Ottawa’s success is directly tied to a roughing the kicker penalty by Hamilton’s Sean Thomas-Erlington after an overthrown pass by Harris to Greg Ellingson led to an Ottawa punt. On one side, full credit to Harris for capitalizing on his gifted second chance and helping his team to the eventual game-winning touchdown drive. But as I am trying to score this fight impartially, I need to point out this critical REDBLACKS score had as much to do with Hamilton mistakes (three penalties) then it did with their quarterback, who only needed 28 yards to find the end zone.

Jeremiah also had the added handicap of losing his best receiver as Brandon Banks could not on hold onto a pass on a second-and-six and injured his shoulder on this specific play, sidelining him for the final 12 minutes of the game. Trevor did play a big part in Ottawa grinding out some late first downs before a 40-yard run by William Powell all but iced the game.

Harris wins a tight Round Four. Neither quarterback dominates, but Harris does leave the field with his team firmly in control of the division.

The final statistics are remarkably close. Masoli finished the night with 342 yards and three touchdowns while Harris threw for 342 yards but only one touchdown pass. However, Harris did not throw an interception and completed 75 per cent of his passes compared to 68 per cent for Masoli.

I’m not gonna lie, I figured I would award the belt to the passer who came away with the victory on Friday night, but I just can’t do that. Though it is close, I have to award Jeremiah Masoli the title for No. 1 East Division quarterback. By a slim margin he did outplay his counterpart, and the loss had as much to do with Hamilton mistakes and the absence of Banks than anything wrong with Masoli’s performance. Harris benefited from that timely roughing the kicker penalty and the Tiger-Cats’ undisciplined play, which led to 12 penalties for 178 yards. But the final verdict is Ottawa won the game so while Masoli won the battle, Harris won the war.

Does this all sound a wee bit confusing? Yes, yes it does. Thankfully these same two teams meet again on Saturday so we should have a clearer idea about just who is the best quarterback east of Winnipeg. While that may be up for debate, at the very least we know that Ottawa is the best team in the East Division.