Sep
Emry loves the big hit
Courtesy Montreal Gazette:
Montreal In his first season as a starter on the Alouettes’ defence, Shea Emry quickly is gaining a reputation as one of the Canadian Football League’s fiercest hitters.
“So be it,” said the native of Richmond, B.C. “I’m a middle linebacker.”
Two months ago, Emry knocked Hamilton quarterback Quinton Porter out of a game for one series. And last Sunday, Emry ended Winnipeg slotback Terrence Edwards’s day in the fourth quarter with a vicious hit while Edwards was running a crossing route.
On Monday, Blue Bombers head coach Mike Kelly
accused Emry of catching
Edwards with a “right hook from Mike Tyson,” and later that night, on his weekly radio show, Kelly said he would be sending a video of the incident to league officials in Toronto.
A league spokesperson yesterday confirmed as much. The CFL’s football operations department reviews each game after the weekend,
including any hits or plays that might warrant discipline – including Emry’s hit.
But the 6-foot, 235-pound Emry said he was simply attempting to push Edwards off his route while the receiver looked back at quarterback Michael Bishop. Emry said he put his hands out – nothing more. But Edwards appeared to be knocked out and was slow to regain his feet. Kelly has said he might not play this weekend against Toronto.
The supposed right hook, Emry said, “is a metaphor to explain what happened. It’s football. People get caught. It has happened to me before. I don’t think I hit him that hard. I just tried to push him off his route path.
“It was one of those things that happens in football. There was no intent to injure. You want to be as physical as you can, but you want them to walk off the field as well. Whatever happens, happens. But I’ve got a game this week.”
The Als will practise for the first, and only, time this week today before travelling to Hamilton for a game against the Tiger-Cats Friday night. The Als lead the East Division with a 9-2 record. The Ticats, who won only three games last season, are 6-5 and seem destined to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2004. But if they have any chance of catching Montreal, a victory this week is crucial as the Als have defeated Hamilton once this season.
“This game has big-time implications,” slotback Ben Cahoon said.
Cahoon is one of a handful of players who will be seeking more consistency from an offence that has seemingly struggled of late after appearing virtually unstoppable in July.
Although the Als scored 33 points against Winnipeg last weekend, most of the damage was produced by Damon Duval, who kicked five field goals and was named the league’s special-teams player of the week. Montreal was held to two touchdowns by a Bombers defence that surrendered
55 points the week before.
Other than the game-ending drive that finished with the Als running out the clock at the Winnipeg 2-yard line and showing mercy, Montreal had five scoring opportunities inside the Bombers’ 20. In the fourth quarter, after a Jerald Brown interception, the Als failed to score from the Winnipeg 6. Anthony Calvillo attempted two passes to Jamel Richardson rather than try to run it into the end zone with Avon Cobourne.
The Als’ record and the superb play of their defence masks what appears to be an obvious problem – one that might catch up to this team. Remember last year’s Grey Cup, in which Calgary held the Als to 14 points and only one touchdown?
“We need to do a better job of sustaining drives and putting together long drives,” Cahoon said. “I’m not satisfied with the ball we’re playing.
“But the great thing is this is a team sport. It doesn’t matter if one element or phase struggles as long as the others pick up the slack. Our defence has won several games. That’s wonderful. They deserve accolades. Offensively, I don’t think it matters. We’re on the road to constant improvement.
“Where we are is meaningless. The goal and direction’s for perfection,” Cahoon said.
