VANCOUVER — The Ottawa REDBLACKS will travel west for their longest road trip of the season as they take on the BC Lions from Vancouver to close out a Friday Night Football doubleheader.
With a win over the Lions in Week 17 the REDBLACKS would give themselves an opportunity to tie for third place in the East Division as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are on a bye week.
Despite suffering a 25-11 loss to the Calgary Stampeders in Week 16, the BC Lions still managed to clinch a playoff spot. Aided by losses from Ottawa and Hamilton the Lions secured their spot in the postseason for the first time since 2018.
The REDBLACKS and Lions last squared off in a Week 4 matchup from the nation’s capital. A game which saw the Lions escape with a narrow 34-31 win.
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Entering Week 17, the REDBLACKS will attempt to spark their offence after being held to less than 20 points in their two losses to the Toronto Argonauts. Ottawa has been held under 20 points a total of seven times this season and they currently rank last in average points per game, scoring and average of 20.3 points.
Quarterback Nick Arbuckle will get the start for Ottawa as they plan for BC, but head coach Paul LaPolice has shown that he is willing to utilize both of the quarterbacks on his roster. In their Week 16 loss to Toronto it was Arbuckle who opened the game for Ottawa, but Caleb Evans was called on to lead the REDBLACKS onto the field for the second half of action.
Arbuckle has completed 115 passes for 1,371 yards during his time with the REDBLACKS and has demonstrated an ability to be effective at moving the ball down the field. However, he has managed just one passing touchdown during his tenure in the nation’s capital.
Watch the game live here PPV. Ottawa REDBLACKS @ BC Lions, Oct. 1, 04:30 CET (4:30 am, 10:30 pm ET, Sept. 30).
Finding the end zone will be critical in their matchup against the Lions. As an offence, the REDBLACKS have managed 44 red zone opportunities this season and have scored just 19 touchdowns, a red zone conversion rate of 43.2 per cent.
On the ground, Running back Devonte Williams has carried the bulk of the workload for Ottawa, rushing for 395 yards with an average of 5.1 yards per carry.
LaPolice has also relied on his quarterbacks to move the ball on the ground, Evans has delivered 303 yards on 65 carries and has scored a team high 10 touchdowns. The REDBLACKS can pose quite the threat for a Lions defensive front that allowed over 100 yards and two scores on 19 total attempts against Calgary last week.
Defensively the REDBLACKS have allowed the second fewest points in the East Division, but have inversely allowed opponents to operate with a tremendous amount of efficiency when in the score zone.
Ottawa has been tasked with defending their goal line 40 times this season and have given up 27 majors. Allowing their opponents to score a touchdown on 67.5 per cent of their red zone opportunities.
Defensive lineman Lorenzo Mauldin is a game-time decision, should he be available he will be one of the keys to limiting Vernon Adams Jr. and the explosive ability of the BC offence. Mauldin has proven to be one of the most disruptive pass-rushers this season and his 12 sacks are the most in the league.
IN HIS FIRST TWO STARTS WITH THE BC LIONS, VERNON ADAMS JR. HAS COMPLETED 37 PASSES FOR 445 YARDS (THE CANADIAN PRESS).
Adams will make his third start under centre for the Lions, but he will be without one of his go-to targets. Receiver Bryan Burnham is expected to miss time after suffering a fractured wrist in the team’s Week 16 loss to Calgary.
Adams will be reliant upon the likes of Dominique Rhymes, Lucky Whitehead, Jevon Cottoy and Keon Hatcher, but the injury to Burnham opens the door for Jacob Scarfone. The Canadian receiver has dressed in 13 games for the Lions this season and has caught five passes for 51 yards, including a touchdown pass in Week 12 against Saskatchewan.
Ahead of the Week 17 matchup, Scarfone told team media that he’s simply focused on helping the team win.
“I’m just trying to do my job,” Scarfone told BCLions.com. “You can’t replace a guy like Bryan, everyone knows that. It takes a collective effort from everyone to step up a little bit to keep things rolling.”
Running back James Butler has been a dual threat all season long and will also be looked upon to help fill in for the missing Burnham. Through the 2022 season Butler has averaged 4.4 yards per carry and seven yards per reception.
When it comes to stifling the pass, no one does it better than the Lions secondary. They’ve surrendered an average of 238.8 passing yards per game, the fewest of anytime.
The BC secondary boasts a veteran group of defensive backs that features Garry Peters, Loucheiz Purifoy, T.J. Lee and Marcus Sayles. The Lions defensive back end has allowed just 15 touchdown passes this season, the third fewest league-wide and have forced 14 interceptions, tying them for third most.
The Toronto Argonauts managed to intercept the REDBLACKS five times in their Week 16 matchup, two of which they managed to return for a score. BC and their group of pass-defenders should have an opportunity to make plays while the ball is in the air come Friday.
Lions head coach Rick Campbell has felt good about his team’s energy in practice following the loss to Calgary. Telling team media he’s excited for the opportunity to right the loss.
“I think we’re hungry to come back,” Campbell told BCLions.com. “Anytime you have a setback you look forward to getting back at it and getting back in the win column. Ottawa’s record isn’t what they want it to be but they’re 2-2 in their last four games. Usually their games are close and we need to play good football.”
Campbell was not exaggerating when mentioned their games with Ottawa were close. The Week 4 meeting between the Lions and the REDBLACKS was decided by just three points.
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