Ottawa Renegades Official Site

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Renegades drop first home game of season to Eskimos Thursday

Ottawa loses 29-21 to Edmonton in front of 17,606 at Frank Clair Stadium

Renegades receiver Pat Woodcock broke out for his best performance of the season. The veteran grabbed a game-high seven catches for 98 yards and a touchdown, nearly helping Ottawa record a come-from-behind victory Thursday night against Edmonton.

Official Game Stats

OTTAWA - Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Ricky Ray proved he is a legitimate threat as a Canadian Football League quarterback Thursday night. A week after his worst performance in the CFL, Ray played error-free football; had three touchdown passes, didn't throw a single interception and threw for 233 yards on 20 of 30 pass completions in a 29-21 Eskimos win over the Ottawa Renegades at Frank Clair Stadium.

Ray's counterpart, Ottawa quarterback Kerry Joseph, turned in another solid performance, finishing with 25 completions on 39 attempts for 335 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. A week after the best game of his career, running back Josh Ranek battled his way to 85 total yards from scrimmage, including a 35 yard touchdown pass in the third quarter.

With the win, Edmonton (4-1) sweeps the season series against Ottawa (2-3) for the third time in four years and moves into first place in the West with eight points. The defeat was the Renegades' first home loss of 2005 after the club had just come off winning two if its last three games.

"We took a step sideways," admitted Renegades head coach and general manager Joe Paopao, addressing a post-game news conference. "We have got to come out faster than we did."

The Ottawa offence struggled to find a rhythm Thursday, as the game was highlighted by a series of delays. Injuries dominated the match and greatly disrupted the flow of play. The extremely high humidity levels in Ottawa resulted in several players on both teams suffering dehydration and cramps.

The Renegades trailed 22-2 at the half, despite controlling the time of possession, having more rushing yards (74-49) and equal first downs (eight) as Edmonton. The Eskimos excelled on special teams. Esks return man Tony Tompkins, who finished with an impressive 259 yards returning, turned in one of the game's pivotal plays -- a 96-yard punt return for a touchdown that put his team ahead by 20 going into the break.

"We can't afford to put ourselves in that much of a hole at the half," acknowledged Renegades receiver Pat Woodcock, who had a breakout game hauling in seven balls for 98 yards (game-high) and a touchdown (first of the season).

Said Joseph, echoing his teammates' sentiments: "We didn't get into a good rhythm early and that cost us. The only thing that matters is we lost the game - not what kind of numbers anyone put up. We need to come back and play better."

In addition to Ray, Edmonton also had exceptional performances from defensive lineman Joe Montford (two sacks) and running back Ron McClendon (96 all-purpose yards and a touchdown).

"Give them full credit. There is a reason why they are the No. 1 defence in the league in a lot of categories," said Paopao. "They're people in the box are pretty physical and have size."

But perhaps no one player stood out more than Tompkins, a rookie out of Stephen F. Austin University who is only 22-years-old.

"He's pretty special and he was unbelievable out there," said Paopao of Tompkins, who brought back eight punts for 205 yards, including the big touchdown. "We tried to pin him close to the sidelines and get out of bounds but he made some plays and they gave him a crease to run and he took advantage. (Tompkins) is pretty good. He was running like Houdini out there."

Ottawa refused to throw in the towel even when trailing big and outplayed their opponents for much of the second half.

Joseph distributed the football to eight different targets Thursday night, but most often to Woodcock, who caught a pivotal touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the issue in doubt with under two minutes remaining. Joseph also found Ranek over the middle to begin the third quarter for a 35-yard touchdown pass and four times went to Jason Armstead, who finished with 77 yards receiving. Yo Murphy had three catches for 41 yards, including a third-and-long conversion that set up the Woodcock score.

Renegades defensive back Korey Banks continued to shine, frustrating Edmonton receivers with strong coverage in the second half and forcing a third quarter fumble that Ottawa defensive tackle Jerome Haywood recovered.

Despite the loss, Ottawa proved that they have the ability to stay competitive late with the elite teams of the CFL; fans had visions of the Renegades' epic Canada Day comeback in their heads as their team threatened to pull off another amazing series of heroics late in the game. A 17-point deficit became 15, then eight, but a failed on-side kick late in the game, however, as well as two late penalties, dashed any dreams of last-second miracles by the Renegades.

Next up for the Renegades is a key road match-up against the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday, July 29. This is the first contest between these two teams this season and will be the first chance Ottawa has to get a look at the new-look Saskatchewan team as they look to rebound from their first home loss of the season and get back to a .500 record.

Ottawa returns to action on home turf Thursday, August 11 for a Week 8 affair against Saskatchewan at Frank Clair Stadium. Tickets are available either at the Renegades ticket office (1015 Bank Street), on the Internet (http://www.capitaltickets.ca), by phone (613.599.3267 or 877.788.3267), any Sports Experts location in the Ottawa and Gatineau regions as well as the Corel Centre Box Office in Kanata.

NOTES: Off the field, Ottawa fans were treated to a double performance from the often duplicated, never imitated Jonathan T. Henry, who amazed fans with his outstanding vocal abilities, well-crafted showmanship, and semi-competent dancing maneuvers. His incredible talent being put on display made the loss a little easier for the Ottawa faithful to handle... A late injury to Renegades kicker Matt Kellett forced punter Pat Fleming to take over kick-off and field goal duties... The Renegades were banged after the game. Linebacker Keaton Cromartie is "out indefinitely" according to Paopao after hyperextending his knee. He will go for an MRI on Friday, July 22 for further observation. Offensive lineman Mike Sutherland, getting his first start of the season, re-injured a hand that was broken in training camp and is expected to miss 2-3 weeks. Ranek sprained a knee but will be okay for next week based on an early assessment. Murphy and fellow receiver Frank Cutolo played with a slightly separated shoulder. Kellett has a groin injury.