2016 Honours

Ottawa REDBLACKS
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Didn’t take long…

QB [b]Trevor Harris[/b] and REC [b]Chris Williams[/b] were both received recognition from the Canadian Football League on Tuesday. The duo connected for a pair of touchdowns en route to the REDBLACKS 45-37 overtime win over the Edmonton Eskimos Saturday night at Commonwealth Stadium.

Harris made his REDBLACKS debut midway through the third quarter after Henry Burris was forced out due to injury. On his first snap Harris connected with Williams for the 71-yard score to tie the game. Two plays later, Harris found Williams again for a 37-yard touchdown to give the REDBLACKS the lead.

The Waldo, Ohio native opened his REDBLACKS career in impressive fashion completing his first nine passes, finishing the night going 17-19 for 292 yards and three touchdowns.

Harris found Williams six times, twice for a touchdown, to finish the night with eight receptions good for 176 yards and two touchdowns as the REDBLACKS claimed their first-ever win in Alberta and the first win for an Ottawa football club in Edmonton since 1983.

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Ottawa REDBLACKS quarterback Trevor Harris was named a Shaw CFL Top Performer for the second consecutive week following the REDBLACKS’ 28-13 victory over their rival Montreal Alouettes.

In his first start as an Ottawa REDBLACK, Harris passed for 395 yards on 20 completions, including a trio of touchdown passes. Harris found Ernest Jackson for a nine-yard touchdown four minutes into the second quarter to give the REDBLACKS a 7-2 lead. With under a minute to play in the opening half, Harris rolled out of the pocket and found Greg Ellingson in the end zone for the 13-yard score.

In the fourth quarter, with the Alouettes closing the gap to a single possession, Harris threw a 52-yard major to Chris Williams to extend Ottawa’s lead to 26-13.

Though two games, the Edinboro product leads the league with 687 passing yards and touchdown passes with six, while throwing no interceptions. He has also completed 82.2% (37 of 45) of his passes this season.

Chris Williams continued his hot start to the season and was named a Shaw CFL Top Performer of the Week for the second straight week.Williams made it back-to-back weeks notching over 170 receiving yards and scoring a touchdown.

In the REDBLACKS’ win over the Alouettes, Williams caught seven passes on seven targets for 187 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown reception.

The speedster from New Mexico State also accumulated 236 total yards. Williams returned four punts for 20 yards and returned a missed field goal 29 yards.

In two games, Williams leads the league in receiving yards (363 yards) and is tied for touchdown catches (3) as well as receptions (15). The Rio Rancho, NM native finished 2015 with five touchdowns and 88 receptions for 1,214 receiving yards in 16 games.

3

Ho-hum.

OTTAWA-GATINEAU – For a third straight week Ottawa REDBLACKS wide receiver Chris Williams has been named among the CFL Top Performers, the Canadian Football League announced on Tuesday. Williams put in a stellar and record-breaking performance in the REDBLACKS home opener last Friday in front of a sold out crowd at TD Place as Ottawa and Calgary played to a 26-26 stalemate.

The Harris-to-Williams connection, that helped Ottawa claim victories in their opening two games against Edmonton and Montreal, proved lethal against the Stampeders. The duo connected on the first series of the game for Williams’ fourth touchdown of the season. His fifth came in the second quarter – a 52 yard score – that saw wide receive show off his explosive speed. Harris and Williams connected for a third time in the fourth quarter for his third touchdown of the game. He finished the night with 10 receptions for 130 yards and three touchdowns.

Williams set a CFL record for most receiving yards in three games to start a season with 493. In addition to the 493 receiving yards, Williams also has 25 catches and six touchdowns along with 32 yards total on punt returns sending his total offence over 500 yards through the opening three games.

4

Makes sense…

OTTAWA-GATINEAU - There was no hotter connection to start the 2016 CFL season than Harris-to-Williams and on Wednesday the CFL named the Ottawa REDBLACKS tandem Shaw CFL Top Performers of the Month.

CFL Top Performers of the Month - July (Weeks 1-6):
1 - Chris Williams (Ottawa REDBLACKS)
2 - Trevor Harris (Ottawa REDBLACKS)
3 - Mike Reilly (Edmonton Eskimos)

Chris Williams took the CFL by storm to start the season hauling in catch-after-catch scoring clutch TD after clutch TD for the REDBLACKS. Heading into August, Williams leads the CFL in receiving touchdowns (6) and is second in both receiving yards (625) and catches (38). Add in his punt and kick return totals and Williams has earned over 800 yards of total offence for the league’s highest scoring team…

Ottawa’s high-octane offence through the first month of the season is thanks in large part to quarterback Trevor Harris who took over the reigns in the REDBLACKS Week 1 Grey Cup rematch against Edmonton after Henry Burris went down to injury. Harris threw two massive touchdowns, both to Chris Williams, on his first two series helping Ottawa to a Week 1 win. Despite going down injured early in Week 5, Harris remains among the league leaders in passing yards (1,499) and passing touchdowns (9). The Waldo, OH native threw for over 390 yards in three straights weeks (Weeks 2-4) and set a CFL record in Week 4 when he completed 28 of 31 passes for the highest pass completion percentage in a game (more than 30 passes).

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I wonder who gets the start on the 19th against the Als, Burris or Harris?
Do they owe Burris the start? are they going to stick with him even if he stumbles?

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I wonder who gets the start on the 19th against the Als, Burris or Harris? Do they owe Burris the start? are they going to stick with him even if he stumbles?
I think the start will go to Burris, no question. Assuming Harris is healthy by then, should Burris struggle, Harris will get the nod. We haven't had many updates on the progress of Harris other than he's "ahead of schedule", but my gut tells me he won't be 100% for the game vs the Als. We don't want him coming back too soon, which I'm pretty sure is what Hank did.