Fast start to sack race

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/07/2010 (5902 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You know Phillip Hunt is on a roll when he registers sacks in his flip-flops and board shorts.

Sometime between the lights going out at the old Polo Park football field Friday night and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers beginning preparations for the Toronto Argonauts on Monday, the defensive end wound up being credited with another quarterback sack in Winnipeg’s convincing 49-29 win over Hamilton.

Now that he’s making life miserable for CFL pivots on and off the field, what does Hunt do for an encore against the Argos at Canad Inns Stadium Friday?

"You just work hard to get some kind of result out there," said Hunt, still glowing somewhat after his career-high three sacks, two tackles and a forced fumble against the Ticats. "I’d like to have the same results, but every time out won’t be a three-sack game. My job is to disrupt the quarterback, so anything I can do with that part of the rush… then I’ve done my job."

The 6-foot-1, 248-pound import feasted on Hamilton rookie right tackle Simeon Rottier in Week 1, as Winnipeg put up a total of seven sacks in the season opener, and against the Argos, the Bombers will butt heads against an offensive line that allowed a league-high 55 sacks in 2009.

Unless the Toronto coaching staff does a major line dance and shifts grizzled veteran Rob Murphy over from the left side to keep Hunt in check, right tackle Chris Van Zeyl — a non-import who only has four career CFL starts under his belt — will be the only obstacle between Winnipeg’s newest pass rush sensation and new Argos quarterback Cleo Lemon.

Another rookie tackle on a nearly unchanged Argos’ line, in front of a quarterback with no CFL experience?

At first glance, the stars appear to be once again aligned Hunt’s way.

"You have to realize that he is still a rookie, too," Bombers D-line coach Richard Harris offered, pointing out that the 24-year-old has only made six career CFL starts at this juncture. "Phillip is a good player, but I guarantee you that last Friday’s performance alerted the league and we won’t be able to surprise anybody anymore. We have to rise up against that, to show that we can still be effective even when there’s some film out there now."

Like Harris, Hunt is fully aware of the repercussions a successful performance brings. Teams are fully aware of the danger his speed rush brings and his Blue and Gold No. 53 will be burned into the brains of every CFL tackle, tailback and fullback asked to provide some QB pocket protection going forward.

That’s why the Houston product is quick to dismiss his current title as CFL sack king (his three QB takedowns lead the loop heading into Week 2, by the way). No, he’s more excited about how dominant the Bombers’ defensive line (which includes DE Odell Willis, DT Doug Brown, and DT Dorian Smith) can be against teams who have game-planned a counter scheme for them.

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"I understand the secret’s out now," Hunt said. "Some teams might show their protection a little bit more towards me, but that’ll just open up things for the other guys on the line to come through. That’s what makes this group dangerous. You can’t just worry about one of us."

Nor can you worry about the numbers, Hunt adds. There will be no planned encore, no set sack number to meet when the Bombers face the Argos, so don’t even ask.

"I’m not good at predictions," he said. "Playing hard is my forte and it just so happened that I got a career game out of last week.

"I look forward to doing something like that again… stay tuned."

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca