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December 14, 2020

REDBLACKS add eight players to their roster

The Ottawa REDBLACKS have made their first few moves of the off-season, signing defensive back Jonathan Alston, wide receiver Amba Etta-Tawo, quarterback Caleb Evans, linebacker Dimitri Holloway, running back Detrez Newsome, linebacker Jawuan Johnson, defensive back Marcus Lewis, and offensive lineman Benjamin Petrie.

Marcus Lewis

Lewis signs with Ottawa following a strong college career, recording 65 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 3 Interceptions, 5 pass deflections and 2 fumble recoveries in 27 games split between Florida State and Maryland.

American defensive back Marcus Lewis

HEIGHT: 6-1 | WEIGHT: 197lbs | BIRTHDAY: 7/29/1996
HOMETOWN: District Heights, Maryland | SCHOOL: Florida State (2015-2016) & Maryland (2017 to 2019)

Benjamin Petrie 
Petrie is a Waterloo native who played his university football with Guelph in the OUA. Petrie played for the Gryphons from 2016 to 2019.

Canadian offensive lineman Benjamin Petrie
HEIGHT: 6-3 | WEIGHT: 290lbs | BIRTHDAY: 5/17/1997
HOMETOWN: Waterloo, ON | SCHOOL: Guelph (2016-2019)

Jonathan Alston
A North Carolina native, Alston switched to defensive back during his final year in college and made an instant impact at that position for NC State. He recorded 54 tackles, 5 Tackles for lost, 1 sack, 3 interceptions and 7 passes deflected in 13 games during his senior year back in 2017. After his college career, the now 26 year-old, signed with the Miami Dolphins in 2018 and joined the Detroit Lions in 2019. Alston played college with current REDBLACKS’ Jerod Fernandez.

Amba Etta-Tawo
Etta-Tawo joins the REDBLACKS after building his impressive resume across the NFL. He played college football at Maryland from 2012 to 2015 and at Syracuse in 2016. During his college career Etta-Tawo recorded 1 920 receiving yards and 15 TD over his collegiate career, including 1 482 yards and 14 TD during his lone season at Syracuse in 2016, good for the most prolific season by a receiver in Syracuse’s history. Etta-Tawo teamed up with fellow REDBLACKS’ Ervin Philips to set the ACC season record for most pass receptions by a pair of teammates. He was invited to the 2017 Senior Bowl and attended the 2017 NFL combine. Named First team all-ACC in 2016. He went on to spent the last three seasons with four NFL organizations: Jacksonville Jaguars (2017), Kansas City (2017), New York Giants (2017-2018), Houston (2018) & New York Giants (2019-2020).

Caleb Evans
Quarterback Caleb Evans joins after three incredible seasons down south with the Warhawks of the University of Louisiana Monroe. The Texas native recorded 9 520 passing yards, 58 TDs and 34 interceptions in 42 career games in college. He also ran for 2 162 yards and 36 TDs, making him responsible for a total of 11 682 total yards and 94 TDs. He is the all-time leader in rushing TD at Louisiana-Monroe and the all-time leader for rushing yards for a ULM Quarterback. Only one of three QB to throw for more than 10,000 yards of total offence. Some REDBLACKS fan might remember his brother, Lance, who was signed by Ottawa in 2017 and competed in training camp in 2018.

Dimitri Holloway
The 6’2” and 220lbs linebacker Dimitri Holloway arrives to Ottawa after a dominant college career at James Madison from 2015 to 2019. He recorded 329 tackles, 27 tackles for lost, 4 sacks, 8 pass deflections, 4 forced fumbles & 3 fumbles recovered in 54 career games. Holloway studied Sport and Recreation management.

Detrez Newsome
Newsome is a running back who played college for Western Carolina, where he ranked second in the school record books with both 3,728 career rushing yards and 37 career rushing scores. He also recorded 16,100-yard rushing games, good for second in program history. He finished as WCU’s all-time leader in touchdowns scored with 46, adding seven receiving TDs and two kickoff returns for scores. Newsome added 2,279 career kickoff return yards to close his career first in WCU’s record book for all-purpose yards with 6,969 yards. In 2018, Newsome played in 9 regular seasons games with the Los Angeles Chargers, 68 yards of offence in 13 touches in addition of 2.5 special teams tackles.

Jawuan Johnson
Linebacker Jawuan Johnson joins the REDBLACKS after spending the 2019 season in the Seattle Seahawks’ organization. Johnson started his college career at Northern Illinois from 2014 to 2017 and transferred in 2018 to Texas Christian University. At the University level Johnson recorded 214 tackles, 31.5 tackles for lost, 5 sacks, 7 interceptions, 3 defensive touchdowns, 4 pass deflections, 5 fumbles recovery and 5 forced fumbles.