1974 CFL for SOM FB
“More than just a Lark” 1974 CFL for SOM FB
Ejections_Chart for Game Misconduct Fouls (CFL Specific)
Fumble returns, Int returns, Rouges
1974CFL-Counters-Colour-LeafOutline.pdf
1974CFL-Counters-B-W-LeafOutline.pdf
Modern Format CFL Cards for SOM Football
The years 1967 to 1977 were a heyday for Eastern Canadian Professional football. During this period, the CFL’s Eastern teams won 9 out of 11 Grey Cups, with Ottawa (4 wins) and Montreal (three wins) pacing the way. Hamilton won two, and Toronto fans were in the middle of a very tough stretch for the Argos. The team went from 1952 to 1983 without a Grey Cup win.
In a lot of that stretch the determining factor was the Conference’s personnel. Montreal and Ottawa had fine defences; defences travel well in the CFL in October and November. Montreal had a fine trio on offense in FB Steve Ferrughelli, QB Jimmy Jones, and swing man Johnny Rodgers, and they were dominant enough to win the East in both 1974 and 1975. Once in the Grey Cup back up QB Sonny Wade would don a cape and carry the team to a win in 1974 and he nearly repeated the effort in 1975. In all Montreal made it to six Grey Cups in the Seventies, but cracks were showing in ownership financing. By 1982 the team would fold and re-emerge as the Montreal Concordes under new ownership.
Ottawa was annually led by their defence, the Capital Punishers. and QBs Russ Jackson (in the Sixties) and Jerry Keeling (in the Seventies.). This 1974 version of the Rough Riders had Rhome Nixon as their premier receiver; later they would pick up TE Tony Gabriel from Hamilton for their 1976 Title run. Change was afoot in 1974 in Hamilton as they traded their young star signal caller, Chuck Ealey. Ealey had won the 1972 Grey Cup. In return they received Don Jonas, a more polished downfield thrower but a player with not much left in the tank. However, Hamilton picked up a brilliant Hall of Famer in former Notre Dame QB Tom Clements in 1975.
The East had the cachet and played tough during this period. Here in the US, you could catch their games on CBC, and they were very entertaining. The Canadians ran the ball about half the time and offered a wide open passing game to boot; they also relied on exciting kicking and return games.
Montreal (9-5-2)
The Alouettes were the class of the East, with a deep and talented lineup including runners Ferrughelli and Jones and The Everyday Superstar, former Husker Johnny Rodgers. Their real edge this year was a nasty defence that contested every run even on short yardage, which is tougher in Canada because the defensive line there lines up a yard back of the line of scrimmage. All- Canada defenders LB Mike Widger and DB Dickie Harris led a deep and talented lineup that allowed the lest yards and tied Ottawa for second least points allowed in the 1974 CFL.
Finishing 9-5-2, Montreal earned the home field for the Eastern Conference Finals where they bludgeoned the Rough Riders 14-4. The 62nd Grey Cup was played in a wet and cold Empire Stadium in Vancouver, and the defence knocked the Eskimo’s MOP quarterback, Tom Wilkerson out of the game with the score tied at 7-7, and from there the ALs ground out a 20-7 win for the championship behind Ferrughelli and the clutch quarterbacking of Sonny Wade.
Ottawa (7-9)
The defending 1973 Grey Cup champs still had the great defense, but injuries to starting QB Jerry Keeling and FB Jim Evenson and an off year for backup QB Rick Cassata doomed the offense. Cassata threw for only 1254 yards, roughly half of his 1972 output; after the season he left for Hawaii of the World Football League. Ottawa scored only sixteen points per game and only receiver Rhome Nixon (54 catches, 950 yards) had a great year among the skill position players. Ottawa moved several players in and out at fullback alongside emerging HB Art Green, who gained almost 1200 yards combined from scrimmage, but the Rough Riders still ranked down near Calgary in rushing prowess.
The defense, however, had All-Canadian performances at every level, with defensive lineman Wayne Smith, linebacker Jerry Campbell, and defensive backs Al Marcelin and Dick Adams leading the team to a 7-9 season. That ledger record was good enough for a third place finish in the East. The Riders then engineered a surprise 21-19 Semi-Final win over Hamilton on the road at Ivor-Wynne Stadium before dropping the Eastern Final to the Alouettes at Montreal’s Autostade in a hard-fought 14-4 rematch of the regular season’s final series.
Hamilton (7-9)
Hamilton did something unusual for a team contending for a playoff berth- they traded their young quarterback, Chuck Ealey to Winnipeg for another, older starter, Don Jonas. Ealey famously is one of the two undefeated QBs in college football history, leading Toledo to 35 consecutive victories and three straight Tangerine Bowl wins. He was the CFL’s first Black QB starter and he led the Tiger-Cats to the 1972 Grey Cup, ending with a 13-10 win over Saskatchewan. But the word was out on Ealey’s playing tendencies, especially his tendency to hold the ball and look for big plays on the ground. By 1974 teams had adjusted to playing against him. So Hamilton moved him in the prime of his career for the 33 year-old Jonas, who had thrown for 4,000 yards as recently as 1971, the year he was the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player.
The trade seemed to work; after a 2-4 start the team had won 4 in a row to stand at 6-4 and fully in contention. After a close loss to Edmonton, though, the wheels came off; the team lost five in a row to set up a last game showdown with the rival Argonauts for an Eastern playoff spot. This match they did win, 26-24, but Ottawa ended the run 21-19 the next week in Hamilton and Jonas left the team afterward to join CBC as a CFL broadcaster in the offseason. Fullback Andy Hopkins stood out as an Eastern All Star with 943 rushing yards, and TE Tony Gabriel made All-Canada tying for second in catches with 61 and 795 yards receiving.
Toronto 6-9-1
The Argos lost seven of their first ten, and while they improved down the stretch they missed the post season again. But this was nothing new during this era. The 1970s were a notoriously difficult decade for the Toronto Argonauts, often referred to as a "lean decade" for the franchise. Despite high attendance in the latter part of the decade, the team missed the playoffs in five of the seven years from 1972 through 1978. Future Raider Mike Rae produced 2501 passing yards and 15 major scores, and Ed Shuttlesworth and Doyle Orange tag teamed as competent runners, but Toronto only mustered 281 points. Former Ohio State lineman Jim Stillwagon held down the fort up front but the Argonauts were undermanned on defence, too. Kicker Zenon Andruzyshyn produced 134 points on 32 FGs and 23 booming singles, though.
Edmonton 10-5-1
The Eskimos were on the verge of breaking out into one of the CFL’s great dynasties. Led by MOP Tom Wilkinson, the Edmonton offence scored the most points in the 1974 CFL (345) while their defence allowed the fewest (247). New signee Ronnie Estay anchored a fearsome pass rush that led the CFL in tackles for a loss, and two way player Larry Highbaugh made the All Canada team as a cornerback and part-time receiver. Halfback Roy Bell tallied over 1300 yards and running mate Calvin Harrell had ten major scores, leading the league with nine on the ground. Bookend offensive tackle All Stars in Charlie Turner and Larry Watkins, and Dave Cutler at kicker rounded out a tremendous supporting cast.
If the team had a weakness it was Wilkinson’s health. While the Edmonton backup QB, Bruce Lemmerman, was a decent player he could not match Wilkinson’s efficiency (66 pct completions) or ball security (2.7 pct interceptions). Really, no one in the 1974 CFL could, but when it mattered and both men faced each other in the Grey Cup Montreal backup Sonny Wade came close enough in a 20-7 win. But the next year Edmonton would have their revenge, winning the Grey Cup rematch by a mere point, 9-8 in the championship game in Calgary.
Saskatchewan (9-7)
The “Ronnie and George” show was still potent but coming to a close, as FB George Reed would retire at the end of the next year. The Little General, Rider HOF QB Ron Lancaster, of course was still going strong. But from 1963 to 1975 these two franchise foundational players (and best friends) would set a very high standard for the Roughriders. They still had enough in the tank to lead the league in rushing (Reed, 1447 yards) and touchdown passes (Lancaster, 20). Lancaster added 2873 yards through the air, and Saskatchewan led the CFL in total offence, with 359 yards per game.
Their defense was also pretty solid, holding opponents in the wide open West to 289 points, or 18 points per game. So how did this team win only nine games? After starting 3-1, they went through a stretch where they won only two of eight, and only a closing run of three wins against BC and Montreal saved their season. New coach John Payne saw Lancaster’s age, 35 and he sought to find a replacement, and he was enamored with an off-season new signing, ex- Cleveland Browns QB Randy Mattingly (Don’s brother.). During the middle of the season Payne sought to give Mattingly game experience whenever Lancaster struggled and in blowouts, a situation that did not sit well with the veteran. Once they returned Lancaster to the helm full time he engineered a Roughriders run all the way to the Western Finals, where, after beating BC in Regina in the West Semis they dropped a tough 31-27 loss in Edmonton.
In 1974 Mattingly threw 4 TDs and 6 ints in limited work, was later traded to Hamilton and left the CFL inside two years. Meanwhile Lancaster played until he was forty.
BC (8-8)
For two thirds of the season the Lions looked like genuine contenders, with a pair of thousand yard rushers in FB Lou Harris and HB Monroe Eley, a solid helmsman in former Michigan QB Don Moorehead, and an excellent receiver in slot back Jim Young. The dual achievement by Harris and Eley was a first in CFL history, and it helped lead them to an 8-4 start and a shot at a Western regular season title. But Moorehead suffered injuries to his throwing hand and knee, and neither reserve QB Karl Douglas nor trade acquisition Pete Liske could move the team in ensuing weeks. As Moorehead missed time, the team lost its last four to finish at only 8-8. The losses forced the Lions to travel to Regina for their first game in the playoffs, where they had not won since 1965. (Some things never change!) Saskatchewan ended BC’s season unceremoniously in the Western Semifinals 24-14.
Winnipeg (8-8)
Chuck Ealey came over from the Tiger Cats and he engineered a Blue Bomber 4-3 closing stretch to just miss the post-season on tie breakers with BC. The Winnipeg defence allowed the most points in the CFL but they still won games on blocked kicks and returns. (Some things never change!). Tom Scott made the Western All Star team with his runs and clutch catches and the team posted a top rushing season on big plays from an ensemble cast. FB John Bledsoe, HB Jim Washington and FB Dave Buchanan tallied over 1500 rushing yards and the combination of Scott and Ealey added 500 more. But three losses to open the season doomed the team before the Ealy trade.
Calgary 6-10
As in past years the Stampeders used a ball control passing attack with Pete Liske as the trigger man; with Receivers Rudy Linterman and second year man Tom Forzani manning the passing lanes. But for the second straight year the team also featured an anemic rushing attack. The Stamps finished with the same record as in 1973, 6-10, and in the deep cellar of the Western Conference.
No comments:
Post a Comment