Nov
Esks need to be ready for the Calvillo/Cahoon combo
Courtesy Edmonton Journal:
Ben Cahoon has a knack for getting things done. Anthony Calvillo has a penchant for finding his man.
Put them together and the Edmonton Eskimos are likely destined for some difficulty come Saturday.
Just how good is Cahoon, the Montreal Alouettes slotback, at making himself readily open to one of the best quarterbacks in the Canadian Football League?
“He has a tremendous rapport with the quarterback, it’s almost like they can find themselves in the Piazza San Marco at the carnival in Venice,” laughed Eskimos head coach Danny Maciocia, making reference to one of busiest landmarks in Italy, which draws tens of thousands of visitors.
“It’s unbelievable how they have an understanding of each other. When a big play needs to be made, (Calvillo) has a tendency to find him and he always gets the required yardage to move the (yard) sticks or score.”
Cahoon, the East Division finalist for the Most Outstanding Canadian award up against Edmonton’s Kamau Peterson in the West, is not to be taken lightly. One of the most prolific pass receivers in the past 10 years, he may make Maciocia wish he was in an altogether different Italian landmark — the Vatican praying for relief.
“A real crafty receiver,” said Esks defensive back Lenny Williams, who will share in some of the responsibility of guarding Cahoon, along with Jason Goss and linebacker Shannon Garrett when the teams meet in the East Division final. “It’s only my second year, but he’s extremely crafty and Calvillo does a good job of getting him the ball. Even when you’re in position to hit him, he takes the hit or he can stop on a dime to get away from the hit. He’s very slippery.”
And the 36-year-old is fired up. Not happy with the Alouettes’ final performance of the regular season — a 37-14 loss here in Edmonton — the veteran receiver, who just turned in his seventh-straight 1,000-plus yard season, let his feelings be known.
“No excuses, we came out and played bad,” Cahoon said of the loss. “It was a poor football game on our part, but that’s in the past, we’re moving on and we’re hoping that was an exception on our part.”
After having a week off in earning the bye as East Division regular-season victors, Cahoon and Co. now take on the Eskimos, who downed the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 29-21 in Saturday’s East semifinal crossover.
“I think we used (bye week) well. We should be well rested and prepared,” said Cahoon, who will have Calvillo back at QB, unlike the Halloween stop in Edmonton.
“It’s tough you know. You want the bye, it’s always a goal and something to earn, but when it’s here, it’s awkward — not natural.”
But recent practices were very crisp, explained Cahoon, who spent part of
his youth in Edmonton and Red Deer where his father Kenneth studied at the University of Alberta and then coached at Red Deer College. That crispness could spell problems for the Esks defence.
