"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.

Nepean At The 1954 Red Feather Tournament

As explained previously, the Red Feather Tournament featured a series of exhibition games between high school football teams from various parts of Ontario with the purpose to raise funds for charity and to promote sportsmanship. For results involving teams from the Ottawa region, click on the "Red Feather Tournament" tag on the right side of the page under "Activity". 

While it was an exhibition, the events of 1954 demonstrated that the tournament was taken quite seriously, at least locally. 

When the time came to choose a participant, the Nepean and St. Patrick's teams each had equal 3-0 records. Nepean was chosen by vote of the league's directors, upsetting some St. Patrick's supporters. There were some that felt that the two eligible clubs should have a playoff match to determine that year's participant. On the other hand, one Bob Landau explained the reasoning behind Nepean's selection in a letter to the Ottawa Citizen.

And so off went Nepean.

They would lose 9-0 to the Tournament champion University of Toronto Schools team. No doubt those who felt strongly that St. Patrick's should have been the Ottawa rep (or at least given the opportunity to compete for the selection) were left to wonder what might have been.

The dispute generated a little buzz when the two teams prepared to meet for the final game of the regular season.

St. Patrick's furthered their argument when they shut out Nepean (though I doubt any bones were actually shattered) 14-00 to capture first place in the six-team league.

The playoffs beckoned. Nepean was upset by Fisher Park in the semi-finals so they would not get another shot at St. Patrick's. The "Celts" ended up winning the senior championship.

Did St. Pat's success throughout the rest of the season, and against Nepean specifically, invalidate the selection of Nepean for the Red Feather tournament though? Not in the mind of Citizen letter writer CG MacNay. 

Indeed. We're certainly not in a position to know who was throwing punches and knees, perhaps Nepean was equally responsible for that type of behaviour when the two teams met. But it does seem like those who were vocally opposed to Nepean being sent to the tournament were missing its point by a fair margin.

Sept 2nd, 2002: uOttawa 43 @ Toronto 00

Results of the 2002 university of Ottawa Gee-Gees season have been added to that team's page, including a couple of game recaps that were "crop, copy and paste" friendly from the Ottawa Citizen.

I want to emphasize the first game of that season because it was Denis Piché's head coaching debut. Piché would lead the team to a 44-20 regular season record and make them perennial playoff participants so that game seemed noteworthy.

Import #1 (and #2)

Recording results from the 1957 Rough Riders season earlier today produced two points of interest. Unexpectedly, one of them was from 25 years prior.

The first (and current to that article) notable event came in a convincing road victory against Toronto. Ottawa won 55-14 and in doing so, it appeared as though Bobby Judd had a record-setting play. Judd ran back a missed field goal 112 yards for the game's first score, a rather rare occurrence. 

It was said to be a record-setting play but...not so fast! The record book just didn't quite go far enough, it would seem. And in investigating that play, the Ottawa Citizen brought up the other detail that got my eye. 

I wish the above article's writer was properly credited but I'm sorry to say that's not the case.

It is the reference to "first two imports" in the second paragraph that I found interesting. It never occurred to me to try to find out who the first American Rough Rider was, let alone the second. Yet that information just fell right into my lap. Sweet!

Wally Masters is an Ottawa Hall of Fame inductee so tracking down his career is relatively easy. I posted his obituary about 13 months ago here.

Swede Carlsen is a whole other deal. As you may have guessed, "Swede" is more of a nickname. I believe his first name is actually Rolf but I've seen it spelled in the more traditional English manner of "Ralph" as well.

That's going to be a bit more problematic for research purposes but nevertheless, knowing he and Masters are the team's first official import (i.e. American) players is a neat new piece of trivia.

Oct 28th, 2021: uOttawa 24, Carleton 19

Oct 29th, 2021 - A fourth quarter touchdown scamper from Ben Maracle proved to be the difference for the Gee-Gees football team, who defeated the Carleton Ravens 24-19 Thursday evening in front of a frenetic TD Place crowd (RBR edit: the OUA website shows attendance at 1248). 

Maracle accounted for three touchdowns on the day – two on the ground and one through the air – as the Gee-Gees wrapped their regular season with a 3-3 record. 

...

Ottawa started the scoring early, moving their way down the field with ease on their first drive of the game, capped off by Maracle's first touchdown run.

Following a Campbell Fair field goal, Daniel Oladejo flew through the air to haul in an arching Maracle touchdown pass – the most acrobatic touchdown of the Gee-Gees season.

The Ravens got 10 points back to close out the second quarter, making the score 17-10 at the interval. 

The offences sputtered to start the second half, with Carleton only managing a third quarter field goal. 

Early in the fourth quarter, the Garnet and Grey took over the ball around midfield and some tough running from Dawson Odei moved the ball into the red zone. Maracle tucked and ran for his second rushing TD of the game.

The Ravens made it interesting late by finding the end zone, but standout rookie Eric Cumberbatch made a key pass breakup to prevent a two-point convert. Odei then took over with several punishing runs to finish the game and secure Ottawa's second victory of the year over their crosstown rivals.

The summary above does not name JP Cimankinda but attention really should be drawn to his performance, as the rushing statistics below will underscore. He was adding up yardage in large chunks, particularly in the first half.  

A more complete recap with quotes is available on geegees.ca.

Photo by Spencer Colby/The Charlatan

Dec. 11th, 1955: The Ottawa Rough Riders Hire Frank Clair

After a spell of spotty internet service, I was finally able to resume activity on this blog last night.

I spent a few minutes last night adding the results of the 1955 Ottawa Rough Riders season, one of the less inspiring showings for that club in that era. They won three games that year after winning only two in 1954.

A change was needed and it came in the form of Frank Clair.  Prior to moving on to adding the 1956 results, I wanted to share the article relative to his hiring at the end of 1955, being that it was a key turnaround point in the franchise's existence.