The 1974 Sooners' Two-Game Playoff Series Against Hamilton

As mentioned in yesterday's post, here are the summaries of the 1974 Ottawa Sooners' two-game series against Hamilton.

November 2nd

November 2nd

The 1974 Sooners' Two-Game Playoff Series Against Niagara

This post comes on the heels of the announcement that the 1974 Ottawa Sooners are being inducted into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame.  

In looking at this site's content about that specific edition of the team, I was surprised at how thin it was. They're mentioned very little here.

Seeking to remedy that, I began to look for content from newspapers archives. I was quickly reminded why I've recorded so little. While there is plenty of information available, its quality is quite poor, as you'll see below.

Nevertheless...I added the team's first playoff game summary to the Sooners (Junior 1960-1980) page. That game was followed by a two-game series against Niagara. The first game's recap is directly below, from the Citizen. 

Chiarelli wasn't dicking around. The Sooners were far more dominant in the second game. Here's the summary of that one from the Ottawa Journal. 

This led to another two-game series, this time against Hamilton. I'll see what I can dig up about those two games. 

1943, Nov 6th: "Early Lead Wins For Celts"

St. Patrick's College won the Senior Interscholastic championship in 1943 behind the guidance of former Ottawa Rough Rider Bunny Wadsworth. The article below, from the Ottawa Citizen, summarized the victory against Ottawa Tech that put the team in the finals against Glebe.   

1931, Oct 5th: "Gladstones Surprise Rough Riders To Win, 13-6"

Not THOSE Rough Riders. 

This partial article from the Ottawa Citizen summarizes one of three junior games played that day. It was the first weekend of action for the league as a whole, as it launched that year. 

I'll have summaries of the other two games played that day in separate posts. 

A portion of this article was used in a post on this blog a couple of years back in which I attempted to nail down the guy who threw the first-ever forward pass for an Ottawa team. Since this was the league's first year of operation, this Art Crain dude is likely the first to do it at the junior level.

There were two other games played that day, including St. Patrick's College vs Rangers, which started at the same time as the Gladstone / Ottawas match. Crain still seems likely to be the man, as his passing prowess appears to have taken place during the first quarter. We'll likely never know for sure, but a strong argument can be made for him.

1926, Oct 11th: "Senators Set Sail For Big Four Title Win By 8-6"

Aside from the championship game summary on the Grey Cup page, there is very little content about the 1926 Ottawa Rough Riders / Senators team. We're going to remedy that a little bit today.

The following cut outs are from the Ottawa Journal and recap the team's first game that season. Ottawa were launching the defense of their 1925 championship and doing so in style, winning on a field that had been nothing but trouble for them going back to 1912. 

As a sidenote, the article also mentions that Eddie Emerson was the only player on the field to be present when Ottawa last won in Hamilton. 

He wasn't anywhere near done. According to his Canada Sports Hall of Fame biography, he would play until 1937 and in 22 seasons overall. Upon retiring from the playing field, he held the record the longest playing career, which held until 2000. 

1925, Oct. 5th: "Senators Smother Montreal In Opening Game; Score 17-1"

The game summary below is a joint effort between the Ottawa Citizen and the Ottawa Journal. The lineup and scoring recap came from the former, while the unfortunately blurry game details are from the Journal.  

Let's take a moment to properly highlight the top performers.

Connell's first name was Charlie. He is a member of the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame for his success in lacrosse, but also recognized for his ability in football and boxing.

Mulroney is Edgar Mulroney, who also played lacrosse. He played hockey as well, and became a referee following his playing days.

Tubman is Joe, a Canadian Football Hall of Fame member, class of 1968. He played from 1919 to 1931 and was the team's captain for this championship season as well as the next.   

Nov 8th, 1947, Ottawa Citizen: "Carleton College Crew Stops Queen's Team, 11-6"

"REDBLACKS name Tommy Condell Offensive Coordinator"

OTTAWA - The Ottawa REDBLACKS announced Monday that veteran CFL coach Tommy Condell has been named the club's offensive coordinator. 

Condell, 52, has helped lead his teams to five Grey Cup appearances in the last decade and brings a wealth of CFL and collegiate experience to the REDBLACKS. Most recently, Condell spent four years as Offensive Coordinator for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, a position he held since he was promoted to the role in 2019 until the end of the 2023 campaign. In his first year as OC with the Tabbies, the team went 15-3 and reached the 107th Grey Cup. He added Quarterback Coach to his duties the following season. 

“Throughout the process of getting to know Bob Dyce, time spent exchanging values and beliefs of all things related to football and beyond, made this the ideal situation for myself and family,” said Condell. “The commitment that is tangibly shown in all areas by the Ottawa REDBLACKS and OSEG to bringing another Grey Cup championship to this great city was evident early on.”

The Utica, NY native joined the Argos as Receivers Coach in 2017 and won a Grey Cup championship that year. He was promoted to Offensive Coordinator in 2018. Prior to joining the Argos, Condell had his initial run with the Ticats as Offensive Coordinator and Receivers Coach, twice reaching the Grey Cup game while also losing to the REDBLACKS in the 2015 East Division Final. 

"We are excited to welcome Tommy and his family to Ottawa. The search process for an offensive coordinator was extensive and throughout it, Tommy’s name kept rising to the up of the list," said Head Coach Bob Dyce. "Not only were we impressed with Tommy's history of successful offensive production, but he has a proven ability to win at the professional level and play to the strength of his personnel. He has a track record of coming into teams and improving offenses, especially through explosive plays and red zone success."

This will mark Condell's second time coaching in Ottawa, having served as Quarterbacks Coach, Receivers Coach and Passing Coordinator with the Ottawa Renegades. Following a two-year stint in Ottawa and a year as Offensive Coordinator for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Condell again spent time coaching south of the border before returning to the CFL. 

Condell first coached in the CFL in 1997 when he was Special Teams Coordinator for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. His American collegiate coaching credits include time with the McNeese State Cowboys, Louisiana-Monroe Indians, Southeastern Louisiana Lions and Cornell Big Red. 

uOttawa's Max Charbonneau Receives the OUA's President's Award

The image and text below are cut from a press release announcing the Conference's major award winners.

A senior season to remember for Max Charbonneau, the Ottawa Gee-Gees linebacker takes home the 2023 President’s Award as the OUA’s outstanding stand-up defensive player.

Despite missing time early last season and ultimately playing through a knee injury, the criminology major was still selected by the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers after earning a ticket to the national combine. Returning to the Garnet and Grey for a final season, however, Charbonneau showcases what being an elite tackler with outstanding consistency looks like from a middle linebacker.

A tackle-machine for the Gee-Gees this season, Charbonneau found himself atop the conference when it came to takedowns. The senior linebacker finished with 44 solo and 36 assisted tackles, good for 62.0 in total, which was second across the country. On a game-by-game basis, Charbonneau’s 7.8 tackles per contest also had him among the top three in the conference and nation.

Charbonneau also added a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and blocked kick as part of his award-winning season, becoming the first Gee-Gee to earn the award since 2017 (Jackson Bennett).

Four REDBLACKS named CFL East All-Stars

OTTAWA - The Canadian Football League announced, today, that four Ottawa REDBLACKS players have been named among the 2023 East Division All-Stars.

Receiver Justin Hardy, Defensive lineman Bryce Carter, defensive back Brandin Dandridge, and punter Richie Leone have been recognized for their outstanding performances during the season, and have been named to this year's All-Star squad.

Hardy, 31, earns his first All-Star nod, in just his second CFL season. The Washington, D.C. product broke the 1,000-yard plateau for the first time, hauling in 85 passes for 1,009 yards, and three touchdowns. He posted two games of 100+ yards through the air, and made a career-long 54-yard touchdown catch in Week 19 at Toronto.

Carter, 25, broke out with 12 sacks in his sophomore season, finishing tied for second in the CFL. A native of Steelton, Pennsylvania, Carter also ended the year with 31 defensive tackles, and two forced fumbles. He set a new single-game career high in the REDBLACKS' Week 16 win over Saskatchewan, getting to the quarterback three times.

Dandridge, 27, enjoyed an outstanding defensive season; with five interceptions, a pick six, a forced fumble, and 24 defensive tackles. He also made equally significant contributions in the return game, as when DeVonte Dedmon went down with an early-season injury, Dandridge immediately stepped in, and the Lee's Summit, Missouri native returned a punt 79 yards to the endzone in Week 2 vs Calgary. Dandridge racked up a total of 867 return yards, in just 13 games.

Leone, 31, is now a six-time divisional All-Star, and four-time East All-Star, having earned the honour with the REDBLACKS in 2018, 2019, 2021, and now 2023. The Roswell, Georgia native appeared in all 18 games, totalling 5,567 punt yards, including a a pair of 74-yarders.