With all the tragedy of the previous week, including the loss of both Jose Fernandez and Arnold Palmer on the same day, a third incident from Sunday, September 25th received a lot of attention north of the border, but might not have made the rounds as much on ESPN and other sports new roundups. Early in the morning, Mylan Hicks, a 23-year-old cornerback on the Calgary Stampeders’ practise roster, was shot and killed in a nightclub on the outskirts of the city. Hicks had come north to pursue his football dreams after a four-year career at Michigan State and a tryout with the San Francisco 49ers, and looked to be making excellent progress in his journey to be a regular player on the roster. Police are currently investigating the matter, and have a suspect in custody, who has been charged with second-degree murder. Despite the good news of having a suspect charged with his murder, it’s an incredibly sad ending for a young man who was living his dream, and I can only imagine what his family, friends and teammates are going through at this terrible juncture.

WEEK 14 RECAPS

Toronto 12 vs. Ottawa 29: Ottawa won the season series 2-1 in a defensive struggle; the unquestioned highlight of the game for the REDBLACKS was a missed field goal in the second quarter by Argos kicker Lirim Hajrullahu that was returned 109 yards for a touchdown by return man Jamill Smith, his first in an Ottawa uniform. The REDBLACKS were up 13-0 after the return TD, and it was simply too much of a hole for Toronto to come back from. Head coach Scott Milanovich pulled starter Dan LeFevour at the half and replaced him with new acquisition Drew Willy, who is still getting acclimatized to the playbook, in the hopes of kickstarting the offence; however, it wasn’t nearly enough, and Toronto couldn’t get any offensive flow going. The win comes at a price, though, for Ottawa: after a game-long battle with All-Star defensive end Shawn Lemon, tied for the CFL lead with 10 sacks this season, the REDBLACKS lost All-Star left tackle SirVincent Rogers to an ankle injury, which required surgery this week and will end his season. That’s a big blow for Ottawa, who made excellent use of his ability to protect the pocket and stop the league’s top pass rushers cold consistently. It’s not clear yet as to who will be taking his place on the offensive line.

PICK: Ottawa

RESULT: Ottawa

BC 23 vs. Edmonton 27: Despite a strong Lions defence, Mike Reilly and running back Shakir Bell were the difference-makers for the Eskimos in this game, with Bell, filling in for an injured John White, ran for 108 yards on 23 carries, while Reilly threw for 300 yards and a touchdown, as well as pick, once again. Reilly’s strong arm was able to keep Edmonton driving late in the game, allowing Sean Whyte to kick two field goals in the 4th to finally put the Eskies ahead for good. BC led for much of a very tight game, leading 15-14 at the half and 23-21 in the fourth, but the up-and-down play of QB Jon Jennings, who threw for 278 yards, 2 TDs, and 2 interceptions, ended up costing the Lions in the end, since the picks came at a crucial time in the 4th and allowed for Mike Reilly to march down field to set up the winning points.

PICK: BC

RESULT: Edmonton

Winnipeg 34 vs. Calgary 36: They’re the league’s best for a reason. Calgary led 27-7 at the half, and despite a furious comeback from Winnipeg, including a 20-point fourth quarter, the Stampeders managed to hang on for their tenth straight win, and became the first team this season to clinch a playoff berth. Both quarterbacks had good games, with Bo Levi Mitchell emerging the stronger of the two; Mitchell went 29-43 for 361 yards and 2 TDs, while Eastern Washington successor Matt Nichols finished his night 27/44 for 287 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 pick. Winnipeg’s seven-game win streak is snapped, but don’t expect to see Winnipeg slide back into early-season mediocrity after this loss.

PICK: Calgary

RESULT: Calgary

Hamilton 18 vs. Saskatchewan 20: Turns out the injuries were too much for Hamilton to handle… Saskatchewan won their second game in a row, and just their third of the season, thanks to a late drive from Mitchell Gale, stepping in at quarterback in the third quarter for an injured Darian Durant, who had been having a strong game before his departure; Gale led a three-minute drill downfield to set up Tyler Crapigna to kick the winning field goal as time expired. The other big controversy from this game was Ti-Cats head coach Kent Austin slapping an official in response to Hamilton receiving an illegal procedure penalty; in response to his actions, he received a $10,000 fine from the league, the largest in league history, as well as being banned from the sideline for the next game against Calgary, the first time in CFL history that actions that drastic had ever been taken. After a disappointing game from the Tabbies, the loss of their head coach at field level (he will be allowed to be in the spotter’s booth) will be a major blow against the league’s best team.

PICK: Hamilton

RESULT: Saskatchewan

BYE: Montreal (3-9)

WEEK 15 PREVIEWS

Edmonton (6-7) vs. Winnipeg (8-5), Friday, September 30th, 8:30 PM EST: The Bombers look to shake off a loss last week which could have ended much differently if they’d not gotten off to their slow start. Edmonton looks to build on the positives from last week, including a strong run game and a secondary that stepped up in a big way, and try to get back to .500 on the year. Against the Blue Bombers’ ball-hawking secondary, expect the Eskimos to put some more emphasis on the run game to try and prevent any dangerous throws from Mike Reilly, who, despite being able to place throws into tight coverages with the best of them, simply can’t afford to make any mistakes this game in order for the Eskimos to stay in the playoff hunt.

PICK: Winnipeg

Calgary (11-1-1) vs. Hamilton (6-7), Saturday, October 1st, 4:00 PM EST: No head coach for the Tiger-Cats, a long injury list, and the league’s best team coming to town. It sounds like a cliched movie script, but it’d be a lot to expect a Hollywood ending this time around. With Zach Collaros in need of more weapons to spread the ball around like his counterpart Bo Levi Mitchell will do for the Stampeders, it’ll be likely that the Calgary D will be able double cover Luke Tasker and whoever the hell else is supposed to be catching passes this week while the rest of the team heals up.

PICK: Calgary

Ottawa (6-5-1) vs. BC (8-4), Saturday, October 1st, 10:00 PM EST: The REDBLACKS visit BC Place for the only time this season and look to avenge a loss where the Lions beat them back in Week 10, when a few key errors allowed for the Lions to pull away late in the game. With the offensive line currently under reconstruction with the big, big loss of SirVincent Rogers, the best left tackle in the league, in last week’s game, it won’t be a shock to see QB Trevor Harris get knocked down a lot in this game. If BC can keep the heat up, then expect a more discombobulated Ottawa offence than normal.

PICK: BC

Toronto (5-8) vs. Montreal (3-9), Sunday, October 2nd, 1:00 PM EST: Despite coming off the bye, Montreal remains in a state of disarray. QB Rakeem Cato and receiver Duron Carter and Kenny Stafford have had a number of issues with each other in practise, and players are still not happy with the trading of veteran QB Kevin Glenn back to Winnipeg, where he had some of his best years as a starter. GM Jim Popp has stepped down as head coach and has passed the reins over to Jacques Chapdelaine, who was serving as the special assistant to the Offensive Coordinator, Anthony Calvillo. Chapdelaine, who had a 6 year career in the CFL with 4 teams from 1983 to 1989, becomes the first-ever Francophone head coach of the Alouettes, a sign that Quebec football has come a long way in developing home-grown talent. This is also Chapdelaine’s first CFL head coaching job; while he’s served as OC with a number of teams, his best experience as a head coach comes with the Universite de Laval Rouge et Or, perennial Canadian Interuniversity Sport football powerhouses. Chapdelaine served as the Laval head coach from 1997-2000, delivering the school’s first Vanier Cup, the Canadian national title, in 1999, an impressive feat considering the program was founded only four years previously. The Alouettes are hoping that Chapdelaine can be the man to right this ship, because the Alouettes are in need of a major culture change. For the Argonauts, recent acquisition Drew Willy will get his first start at quarterback after coming in relief of Dan LeFevour last week in the loss to Ottawa. If Willy can demonstrate an ability to consistently make big plays down field and limit his turnovers, there’s a real question as to what Toronto when Ricky Ray comes off injured reserve; the issue with an aging Ray and ineffective LeFevour is in their hesitancy to air the ball out and go deep; the Argos are tired of nickel-and-diming a serious of slants and checkdowns to keep moving downfield. With Willy’s big arm, there’s hope in the Toronto office that the future may be here – but if it is, what will become of Ricky Ray?

PICK: Toronto

BYE: Saskatchewan (3-10)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Reilly, EDM – 4353
2. Mitchell, CGY – 4297
3. Jennings, BC – 3308

Passing TDs

1. Mitchell, CGY – 24
2. Rielly, EDM – 21
3. Collaros, HAM – 17

Rushing Yards

1. Messam, CGY – 810
2. Whitaker, TOR – 738
3. Harris, WPG – 677

Receiving Yards

1. Bowman, EDM – 1400
2. Walker, EDM – 1248
3. Roosevelt, SSK – 1095

Sacks

1. Chick, HAM – 10
2. Hughes, CGY – 10
3. Lemon, TOR – 10

Interceptions

1. Leggett, WPG – 6
2. Heath, TOR/WPG – 5
3. Wall, CGY – 4

Field Goals

1. Paredes, CGY – 44
2. Medlock, WPG – 41
3. Milo, OTT– 35

Game picks this week: 2-2

Game picks this season: 33-24