"Ottawa Sooners Under New Ownership"

The following article was written by Everett Hanmer. You can read the complete version on the Ontario Football Conference website.

The new owner of the Ottawa Sooners wants to bring a national championship to the city. Entrepreneur and Businessman Kevin Ling now owns the organization, taking over from John and Tammy Allaire.

Ling has been a fan of football his whole life and grew up playing the sport. Ling is from Burlington which is where he was first introduced to the Sooners. “We used to play the Sooners every year when I played junior ball. The Sooners were familiar to me as an opponent.”

Ling knows that the Sooners are a part of the football culture in Ottawa. “When people think about football in this town they think about the Redblacks and the Ottawa (Rough Riders) and if you’re not talking about them, you’re talking about the Ottawa Sooners.” 

Since taking ownership Ling has wasted no time, as he already has a number of candidates he is planning on interviewing for the head coaching position. 

Ling says that giving back will be a part of the Sooners. “I think as a team that will be a big part of what we do to rebuild this organization because the Ottawa Sooners are part of the City of Ottawa.”

Ling was recently on TSN1200 to talk about this. I tried, but failed, to embed the player into this post so I can only provide this link. 

This is comforting being that I feared the Sooners might be done for the foreseeable future. I would have hated to see a 60-year old club just disappear unceremoniously. I'm hoping the club can participate in other age categories as well, but one thing at a time. For now, welcome back to the junior ranks, Sooners! 

(November 25th) "REDBLACKS re-sign Norman, Salmon and Texada"

These are coming in so fast that I've fallen behind in posting them! 

The Ottawa REDBLACKS announced Thursday that they’ve re-signed a trio of defensive players for the 2022 season, with linebackers Dwayne Norman and Shaheed Salmon, and defensive back Ranthony Texada extending with the team.

Norman, 26 joined the REDBLACKS for his fourth CFL season, after spending three with the Calgary Stampeders. In a career-high nine games this season, the Jacksonville, Florida native recorded three special teams tackles, and three defensive tackles, along with his first career sack, and forced fumble.

In his sophomore season with Ottawa, the 26 year-old Salmon suited up for 12 games. Hailing from Tampa, Florida, he tallied 12 tackles on special teams, as well as a forced fumble, and four tackles on defence.

Texada’s first CFL season saw him appear in three games for the REDBLACKS. The 26 year-old Smyrna, Georgia, product recorded a total of 11 tackles, including a career-high of six against the Montreal Alouettes on November 19.

I like what interim GM Jeremy Snyder and interim assistant GM Jean-Marc Edme are doing here. Following the termination of Marcel Desjardins, the only person to work the role of general manager in the team's existence, re-signing their own free agents is the only method those two men have at the moment of demonstrating that they deserve to stick around. They are making the most of it.

I've seen some grumbles about essentially bringing back the same team that just went 3-11. By my count, they have 49 players under contract for 2022, some of whom are "futures" types that have yet to play for Ottawa. They can still bring in dozens of new faces to compete for spots.

To be honest, there are a few of the guys signed over the past couple of days that I could do without seeing in 2022 but until you've found a replacement, better the devil you know. Signing them now does not guarantee them a significant role in 2022, or any role for that matter.

What does irritate me with each announcement is the player salary cap implication. We'd been told numerous times that the team was spending right to the cap in 2021, as they always have. Yet a large part of the strategy in signing these players now is so a portion of the salary is applied against unused 2021 cap space.

I believe that this was the plan all along, with 2021 essentially being an audition for 2022. I think they were content to field what they perceived to be a decent club on the relative cheap in 2021 (as a result of revenues expected to be way down) with the goal to make a more legitimate attempt in 2022 when things are relatively back to normal.

2021 results were probably far worse than they'd anticipated though. By the time fans began to loudly question the team's effort to field a competitive product and the REDBLACKS tried to right the ship (when Kenny Stafford was added along with five other players at mid-season), things were too far gone to turn around.

Who knows if that mid-season "splurge" on Stafford and company and the money being spent now would have helped if it had been spent in June? Perhaps not. But it might have at least avoided the perception that the team was not putting in a full effort. Long-time fans here don't need to be reminded of those days and few things will turn off any fan base than the perception that the club is not committed. If nothing else, Snyder/Edme are dispelling that notion with every re-signing. 

(November 24th) "REDBLACKS re-sign Gosselin, Dubois, Onyeka"

The Ottawa REDBLACKS continued a busy off-season on Wednesday, signing three Canadians including fullbacks Anthony Gosselin and Marco Dubois and defensive lineman Kene Onyeka to contract extensions for 2022. 

Gosselin will return for a fifth season next year following another strong display as a key piece of Ottawa's special teams unit. The 29-year-old Sherbrooke product appeared in 12 games this year, also pulling in four of five passes for 20 yards. 

Dubois, also an integral piece of the REDBLACKS special teams unit, appeared in 13 games during his third CFL campaign in 2021. Dubois, who is from Lasalle, Quebec and went to school at Laval, also caught two passes for 29 yards. 

Onyeka took a big step forward during his sophomore CFL season. While appearing in all but one game in 2021, the 25-year-old former Ottawa Gee-Gee had 14 defensive tackles, eight on special teams, a forced fumble and the first two sacks of his career. 

"REDBLACKS re-sign defensive backs Sherrod Baltimore and Brandin Dandridge"

OTTAWA - The Ottawa REDBLACKS re-signed a pair of American defensive backs on Tuesday, locking up Sherrod Baltimore and Brandin Dandridge to deals for 2022. 

Baltimore, a veteran of 47 CFL games over four seasons with Ottawa, quickly became a fan favourite as a walk-on in 2017. Since then, he has recorded 112 defensive tackles, two interceptions along with one in the 2018 Grey Cup game, and a forced fumble. 

Dandridge, who played four games in 2019 with Ottawa before rejoining the team and dressing for eight games in 2021, impressed with four interceptions along with 11 defensive tackles. 

"REDBLACKS Enter Off-Season On High Note After Comeback Victory"

MONTREAL — The Ottawa REDBLACKS found a way to end a disappointing season on a high note.

The team snapped a six-game losing skid in their season finale by storming back late to claim a 19-18 victory over the playoff-bound Montreal Alouettes, and multiple players stepped up to give Ottawa hope heading into an important off-season.

Ottawa Redblacks quarterback Caleb Evans leaps over the pile to score a touchdown against the Montreal Alouettes during fourth quarter CFL football action in Montreal on Friday, November 19, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Quarterback Caleb Evans posted one of his best performances of his rookie season by rushing for two scores and throwing a pair of two-point conversions in the second half — including the game-winner with eleven seconds left.

...

Head coach Paul LaPolice saw his team finish with a 3-11 record, including just one win at home, but he said he was proud of the determined effort they sustained throughout the difficult season.

Getting the most out of a young offensive line while also trying to solidify the quarterback situation was just one of the challenges the team faced throughout the year.

“I’m humbled by what happened to our season and our record, but I’m proud of the men in this room,” LaPolice said. “The resiliency they have each week, how they showed up, and they didn’t turn fingers. They just tried to work to get better and continue to grow.”

Evans completed 18 of 29 passes for 173 yards while also adding 56 rushing yards in the Week 16 win. The 23-year-old quarterback shined on the game-winning drive by only missing one of his seven pass attempts with the game on the line.

Despite starting with the ball deep in their own end with just three minutes on the clock, Evans found a way to guide the offence the length of the field for the win.

...

Along with the play of Evans, Ottawa was also powered by a defence that didn’t surrender a single point in the second half.

The unit finished with three sacks and two forced fumbles, including a late turnover in the fourth quarter that led to the game-winning drive. Defensive lineman Davon Coleman pounced on both fumbles to secure possession for Ottawa.

Another major bright spot was the play of dynamic running back Timothy Flanders, who led the team in both rushing and receiving.

Flanders gained 62 yards on 10 carries while also contributing 67 receiving yards, and his 39-yard screen play with under two minutes remaining was the catalyst on the decisive drive. The 30-year-old CFL veteran finished the season as Ottawa’s leading rusher.

"REDBLACKS re-sign linebacker Avery Williams"

OTTAWA - The Ottawa REDBLACKS have locked in one of the stars of their defence, signing American linebacker Avery Williams to a one-year contract extension. 

A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Williams has been among the CFL leaders in tackle all season, currently sitting in third place with 83. The 27 year-old also has posted a sack, and a forced fumble that he recovered, along with the first interception of his CFL career.

Rodney Estimé, Nathan Clark Named to OUA All-Rookie Team

The OUA named its rookie players of the year earlier today. Rather than list an entire line-up with players from the various programs, it appears they chose to name a single player from each team instead. 

In uOttawa's case, the selection was receiver Rodney Estimé. 

Photo Credit to Spencer Colby / The Charlatan

For Ottawa, Rodney Éstime came out of the gates on a mission, starting his university career with eight catches for 149 yards for an average of almost 19 yards per reception. He would finish the season with averages of five receptions and 70.5 yards per game, ranking sixth in the OUA in both categories. His 13.8 yards per catch and 359 total yards receiving also put the Montreal, Que. native in the top 10.

Defensive lineman Nathan Clark was the selection for Carleton. 

Nathan Clark, a defensive lineman from Kingsley, N.B., first found his footing in one of the biggest games on the university sport calendar, picking up a pair of assisted tackles in the Panda Game. He would chip in another three tackles in his following two games before capping of the regular season with his strongest outing to date (3.5 tackles, 1 tackle for loss).

A couple of names to file away for future seasons! The quoted text above is from the OUA's press release.

"REDBLACKS re-sign Canadian trio"

OTTAWA - The Ottawa REDBLACKS locked up three key Canadian contributors on Tuesday as the club announced contract extensions for defensive lineman Nigel Romick, running back Brendan Gillanders and defensive back Justin Howell.

Romick has been with the REDBLACKS since the club’s inaugural season in 2014 and has become one of the most effective and consistent special teams players on the roster. In 90 career CFL games, Romick has 91 special teams tackles, 14 defensive tackles and a sack, the latter coming this season.

Gillanders joined the REDBLACKS in 2016 after spending the first two years of his career with the Toronto Argonauts and a university career with the Ottawa Gee-Gees. Another critical piece of Ottawa’s  special teams game, Gillanders recently celebrated his 100th CFL contest. Since his rookie season in 2014, Gillanders has 61 carries for 282 rushing yards, as well as 338 receiving yards on 38 catches.

Howell, a former star with the Carleton Ravens, is wrapping up his third CFL campaign, all with the REDBLACKS. Playing a mix of special teams and safety, Howell has seen his role increase since his rookie season. Heading into Friday’s season finale, Howell has set new career highs in defensive tackles (20) and special teams tackles (9).

Oct 29th, 1949: Carleton 06 @ uOttawa 24

While appreciatively watching the OUA semi-final game between uOttawa and Queen's on OUA.tv, I also took some time to split some of the information about the garnet and grey between a few more pages specific to certain eras.

1949 to 1970 was selected as one period of time. The team joined the Ottawa-St. Lawrence Football Conference in 1949 so it felt like a good starting point. That time range includes the Matt Anthony-coached years and right through to an appearance in the National Championship game with Bob O'Billovich at the helm.

The smaller segments will make it easier to record the program's long history. I plan to include more game summaries on each dedicated page as well as individual and team honours and so on to the results that are already displayed. Having one page for a program that dates back to 1881 was becoming cumbersome.

The game below against Carleton, pre-Panda, is from that 1949 season. I thought it made a fine addition. A few more have been added as well here and there on this new page, with many more to come.

2021 NCAFA Midget Championship Highlights

A big thank you to the fine folks at HESN for putting this video together for a game I would have loved to get to but couldn't. 

June 24th, 2004: Toronto Argonauts 10 @ Ottawa Renegades 20

In making small updates to various pages, I happened to notice that while I have several Renegades recaps posted, they are all from 2002 and 2003 so I thought I would throw one down from the highly-disappointing 2004 season.

Ottawa hosted the Grey Cup game that year. Some members of the Renegades ownership group decided this was a good opportunity to cash in to offset some earlier losses. The team went cheap as a result and so a 3-0 start to the regular season crumbled into a 5-13 record and the team on the outside looking in come playoff time.  This is the second of those initial three victories. 

OUA Quarter Final: uOttawa 27 @ Toronto 17

Avenging an 11-10 loss in the first game of the season, the Gee-Gees ran over the Blues to set up a game in Kingston versus Queen's this coming weekend. Photography by Seyran Mammadov.

Full recap.

In the second quarter (leading 3-0), the Gee-Gees engineered at 76-yard drive down the field into Toronto territory that was capped off with a one-yard J-P Cimankinda touchdown run.

The Varsity Blues responded to get on the board in the waning seconds of the first half with a 26-yard field goal.

The Gee-Gees got their second turnover of the game on the opening kickoff of the second half, recovering a fumble and turning it into points on another Fair field goal to extend their lead to 13-3.

Later in the third, the Varsity Blues brought the game back within striking distance on a 55-yard touchdown pass from Clay Sequeira. The Gee-Gees wasted no time responding marching down the field and finding the end zone again on a 13-yard touchdown scamper by Dawson Odei.

Ottawa iced the game moments later when Chris Ciguineau picked off Sequeira and returned the ball 40 yards for the touchdown.

Toronto's comeback bid came too late, scoring again with 2:10 remaining in the game. A two-point conversion and onside kick attempt were both unsuccessful and the Gee-Gees were able to run out the clock to secure the win.

"Bob Simpson: How We Won Grey Cup"

While suffering through yet another Redblacks loss, I completed the bulk of the work on the page dedicated to the Rough Riders seasons between 1945 and 1960.

1960 was a Grey Cup winning season so while gathering some details about that year, I took some time to also fatten up the Grey Cups page. I've now added a more standard game summary article by Jack Koffman for the Ottawa Citizen.

While looking for that additional content, I also came across the following article by Riders receiver Bobby Simpson. It appeared the Monday after the Grey Cup game in his hometown newspaper, the Windsor Star. As you'll see, it's essentially his take on what caused Ottawa to be capable of taking home the Cup and provides an interesting perspective, I think.

Oct 21st, 2017: "Ward makes history, Gee-Gees secure fourth-seed in OUA Playoffs"

Following today's announcement that the Ottawa REDBLACKS were bringing back kicker Lewis Ward for the 2022 season, the team ran a contest in which they asked fans to name their favourite Ward moment.

One gentleman brought up Ward's record-setting performances with the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees and so this post will copy partial recaps of the two games at the end of the 2017 season in which Ward made a little OUA and team history. Thank you, Steven Drover, if you happen to drop by, for the post inspiration. Excellent choice of Ward moment(s) on your part.

October 14th, 2017

The Gee-Gees football team moved to 5-2 and will finish no lower than fourth in the OUA standings, clinching a home playoff game thanks to a 40-30 victory over the Waterloo Warriors (4-4) on Saturday afternoon. Playing at Gee-Gees Field, Ottawa got another game-changing play late in the fourth quarter from Jackson Bennett, while fifth-year kicker Lewis Ward added an OUA record to his historic career points and field goals made totals.

Ward began the game for Ottawa with three field goals in the opening eleven minutes of play from distances of 15, 37, and 32 yards. The first set Ward atop the OUA All-Time record books for most field goals in a career, and he finished the day four-for four with a career total of 88.

"It was different, and it made me excited about how the day was going to go," said Ward of the busy start to the day. "We've had a good strong tradition of kicking and I hope that it continues. We're here to win football games and kicking is a big part of it if we do our jobs," continued Ward. "Matt [Falvo] was a big influence for me when I first started here in terms of how he went about things."

Ward now ranks second in U SPORTS history for field goals made in a career and sits three back of record-holder Johnny Mark from the Calgary Dinos, 2011-15. He also inched up the U SPORTS all-time rankings in points and now sits fourth, two points behind Gee-Gees record holder Neil Lumsden.

October 21st, 2017

A long road-trip to London, Ont. to close the regular season resulted in a tough 63-10 loss to the nationally fourth-ranked Western Mustangs.

With more than a handful of starters not suiting up, Ottawa struggled to get rhythm on offence, with the defence left on the field to deal with a Mustangs' potent attack.

The lone Gee-Gees touchdown came on a 60-yard interception return by Jamie Harry, who has been a star in the secondary this season. The interception was Harry's fifth of the year, which tops the OUA and is second overall in the nation.

One week removed from breaking the all-time OUA record in field goals made, fifth-year kicker Lewis Ward took aim at the school record for most points in a career.

The mark to beat of 410 points was set by CFL and Gee-Gees Hall of Famer Neil Lumsden, who racked up points as both a running back and a kicker from 1972-75.

With an extra point and a field goal on Saturday, Ward etched his name in the history books, becoming the owner of the new school record of 412 career points.

"REDBLACKS Kicker Lewis Ward Returning for 2022"

Preparation for 2022 continued Wednesday as the Ottawa REDBLACKS announced the signing of record-setting kicker Lewis Ward to a contract extension.

“Lewis Ward exemplifies what it means to be a REDBLACK,” said interim general manager Jeremy Snyder, “He works tirelessly at his craft and performs when called upon. We are excited to have Lewis in the fold for the 2022 season.”

After a record-breaking five-season career with the University of Ottawa GeeGees, Ward signed with the REDBLACKS in January of 2018. Not only did he break the single-game field goals record in his rookie season (seven), but Ward also set the professional football record for consecutive field goals made, with 69, and became the first kicker to ever win the Most Outstanding Rookie award in 2018, finishing the season with an all-time best field goal accuracy record of 98.1%.

The Kingston, Ontario product has converted on 90% of his field goal attempts thus far in 2021, making good on 27 of 30. Through 12 games, Ward has produced a total of 93 points for the REDBLACKS.

"REDBLACKS re-sign punter Richie Leone"

The Ottawa REDBLACKS re-signed a major piece of their special teams on Tuesday, locking up punter Richie Leone for the 2022 season. 

"Richie is consistently at the top of the league in all punting statistics and he continues to improve each season," said REDBLACKS Interim General Manager Jeremy Snyder. "We expect even more growth from him in the future and it’s another building block for 2022."

Leone, a six-year CFL veteran, has steadily established himself as one of the league's best punters. With two games left in the season, Leone leads the CFL in total punt yards (4,267 yards) and sits second in average punt distance (46.9). Leone joined the REDBLACKS for the 2018 season following two years with the BC Lions and time with the Arizona Cardinals organization.

"REDBLACKS re-sign DeVonte Dedmon for 2022"

OTTAWA - The Ottawa REDBLACKS have re-signed dynamic returner/receiver DeVonte Dedmon to a one-year contract extension, the club announced Tuesday. 

 

"We're excited to keep DeVonte in red and black for next season," said REDBLACKS Interim General Manager Jeremy Snyder. "DeVonte’s skill set is special and has the reputation of altering the game when he is on the field. He is a true threat with the ball in his hands to score at any time. This is the first step of many to build for a better 2022."

 

The 2021 campaign marked Dedmon’s second CFL season (not counting the cancelled 2020 season) and the 25-year-old from Virginia has been nothing short of electric. In just nine games this year, Dedmon has returned 41 punts for 637 yards and two touchdowns while also returning 41 kick-offs for 1,011 yards. Offensively, Dedmon turned 12 offensive targets into 10 catches for 98 yards, in addition to rushing for 65 yards and a touchdown on nine carries.