Courtesy Vancouver Sun:

He didn’t get the nickname “Mighty Mouse” just because he can scamper upfield like a super-powered rodent. On those plays when the running back has no chance to touch the ball, Tyler Ebell puts his 5-9, 195-pound body on the line by slamming into blitzing defenders.

The newest Lion revels in his blocking ability, almost as much as he does in running for daylight.

“If anybody doesn’t think I’m a good blocker, they’re not paying attention,” Ebell says, looking toward tonight’s game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. “Any coach who breaks down film knows that I get in there and handle business.”

Indeed, Ebell’s blocking grades remained unblemished last year when he spent the entire season on the shelf after rupturing his Achilles in the training camp of the Toronto Argonauts. In 2007, his rookie CFL season, Ebell led the Edmonton Eskimos with 1,317 combined yards, which included 67 catches and 124 rushes out of the backfield. He points out another measure of his game, however, that you won’t find in the CFL media guide: sacks allowed.

“I haven’t given up any,” Ebell says of his short, 12-game CFL career. “I know my assignments, the pass protection schemes, and I know how to defend the quarterback. Football is just a [kids'] game of Capture the Flag. Only, in our case, it’s the quarterback.”

At UCLA, where he set a Bruin freshman record of 994 rushing yards, Ebell was taught by running backs coach Eric Bieniemy that “anybody can run the football. But you can’t play if you can’t block. That’s something I take pride in, even though I’m a smaller guy. I play with a chip on my shoulder. I’ll go nose to nose with anybody.”

He gets the chance to do that tonight in place of Ian Smart, who suffered a groin injury last Friday against the Saskatchewan Roughriders and is scratched for the Hamilton game. Ebell, released by the Argos when they decided to go with Jamal Robertson and Jarrett Payton as their feature backs, was signed by Wally Buono as a depth player. But the starting assignment came sooner than expected because of Smart’s lingering injury.

The Ticats are also smarting in the backfield, in a big-time way. Kenton Keith, Terry Caulley and Tre Smith are all out with injuries, leaving the principal ball-carrying duties in the hands of practice roster player DeAndra’ Cobb.

Of the 50-60 plays run by the Lions’ offence, Ebell and rookie running back Martell Mallett, who’ll rotate in, probably will figure in about 25 per cent per cent of them. Generously, fullbacks Rolly Lumbala and Alexis Bwenge might get to touch the ball between zero and five per cent of the time.

However, all four backs will figure prominently as shields for quarterback Buck Pierce.

A week after being sacked nine times against the Roughriders, Pierce is still feeling the effects of the assaults. He was lucky to escape with nothing more serious than a tweaked ankle. While focus for the debacle has been placed mainly on the offensive line, Buono said the backs and receivers have to do a better job of keeping Pierce upright as well.

“If you said it was an offensive line breakdown, it would be an incomplete statement,” the coach says. “If the receiver runs the wrong route and the quarterback holds on to the ball too long, it’s another issue. If the back doesn’t cut his guy, it’s another issue. It’s never just the five guys all the time.”

“Absolutely,” Lumbala agrees. “Buck was out there running for his life. I’m just as guilty as anyone. We didn’t really help him out a whole lot.”

Like the ruthless feline fighter of cartoon fame, Ebell aims to see that another mugging doesn’t happen on his watch. Mighty Mouse, after all, built a cinematic career by constantly subduing and punishing evil Cats much larger than himself.

“I may be small,” Ebell says, “but I’m not afraid to hit anybody.”

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