There might be no better rivalry in the CFL right now than Ottawa and Edmonton. After duking it out in last year’s Grey Cup, the two sides will meet in Sunday’s Eastern Final at a sold-out TD Place, but only one side will return to the Grey Cup.
Ottawa is aiming to make it three straight wins over Edmonton this season as the REDBLACKS claimed victory in Edmonton to open the season and then down the Eskimos at TD Place in early August. Sunday’s Eastern Final pits the best in the East against the Western crossover for all the marbles.
If you ask the REDBLACKS coaches and players, Ottawa’s winning record against Edmonton this season doesn’t mean a great deal going into the playoffs. Neither does the fact that the Eskimos beat the REDBLACKS in last year’s Grey Cup game in Winnipeg. Neither does Ottawa’s dramatic finish in last year’s East Final against Hamilton to advance to the championship game.
“I don’t think you can get caught up in the whole revenge game,” said REDBLACKS receiver Brad Sinopoli. “It’s two different teams, a different coach, different situations. We’re just trying to get to that end game. Regardless of what happened last year, we’re just trying to beat this team and move onto the next one.
As he did in last year’s East Final when he launched a last-ditch, second-and-long pass to Greg Ellingson for a 93-yard winning touchdown against Hamilton, Henry Burris will once again lead his team into the post-season. The veteran quarterback would like nothing more than hop on a plane to Toronto with his team next week.
“The guys are rested, you see an extra spring in their step at practice and guys are very excited,” Burris said. “We understand what we need to do, we’ve been in this position before. It’s been an interesting script, we’ve dealt with a lot of injuries, a lot of adversity, we’ve dropped some games we felt we should have won, but really all that doesn’t matter right now because we’ve learned from it and it’s all about moving forward and seizing this opportunity, winning one game and getting to the big show.”
Another aspect of the game the REDBLACKS aren’t worrying themselves with is whether Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly will be healthy enough to start – and be effective – after getting banged up in the East Semi-Final.
“Regardless of whether a guy’s banged up or not, you need to make the quarterback uncomfortable, no matter who it is, you need to get him off his spot,” said REDBLACKS head coach Rick Campbell.
Campbell said his players are also ready to roll against whatever Mother Nature may throw at them on Sunday.
“You never know what the weather’s going to be, but we’ve talked to the guys about how we’ve been living on borrowed time as far as this good weather we’ve been having,” he said. “We have enough guys that have played in wind and rain and snow and they know you just have to line up and play and take good care of the ball.”
Bottom line, whatever the opposing roster looks like and what the weather conditions are, nothing will distract this time from its ultimate goal.
“It’s a chance that everyone in this league shoots for, an opportunity to play in the Grey Cup game,” Campbell said. “You want to play good football for 60 minutes and that’s what we’ll be looking to do Sunday.”
With 20,000 cowbells being handed out upon entry in Sunday’s Eastern Final, the proverbial roof is sure to be lifted off TD Place as RNation looks to help lift the REDBLACKS to their second straight trip to the Grey Cup.
Limited tickets for the REDBLACKS biggest and final home game of the season are still available by clicking here, calling 613.232.6767 X1 or visiting the Box Office at TD Place.
