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Ottawa Redblacks' Brad Sinopoli has huge homecoming

Sinopoli (right) had 99 yards on nine catches on Saturday (Adrian Wyld, The Canadian Press)
Sinopoli (right) had 99 yards on nine catches on Saturday (Adrian Wyld, The Canadian Press)

Brad Sinopoli is still a GG — as in glue guy.

The Ottawa Redblacks receiver was sidelined last August when his Calgary Stampepders made their only visit of 2014 to TD Place, which was a rundown venue when Sinopoli was a Hec Crighton Trophy-winning quarterback a half-decade ago with the Ottawa Gee-Gees. In his first game in the nation's capital since his last university game in 2010, all Sinopoli did was work underneath the B.C. Lions' coverage for a team-high 99 yards on nine receptions during the 27-16 comeback win that pushed the Redblacks to 2-0. Almost all of Sinopoli's yards out of the No. 3 receiver slot came during Ottawa scoring drives, including chain-moving second-down catches that presaged both fourth-quarter touchdowns.

You couldn't write a better homecoming than that, but then again, scramblers thrive at going off-script.

"I've been thinking about this game for a long time," said Sinopoli, 27, whom the Redblacks signed as their Canadian receiver in the winter at a relative bargain price compared to other pass-catching nationals. "I've been looking forward to it and anticipating it. It was everything I could have imagined. The fans and the atmosphere all week was incredible. Even just driving down Bank Street, I had goosebumps coming to the stadium.

"This is just awesome. It's a great night."

Sinopoli, who missed out on Calgary's 2014 Grey Cup run after breaking his collarbone while catching a touchdown pass in a game last October, ended up scoring the night's first TD in the second quarter. He also poked a hole in the Lions' zone coverage for a 21-yard gain in the last minute of that quarter, setting up the 46-yard Delbert Alvarado field goal that put the Ottawa ahead 10-7.

"He's such a smart player," Redblacks quarterback Henry Burris (23-of-29, 296 yards, three TDs, one interception) said of Sinopoli. "It was so evident on that play just before halftime when I scrambled. He found a hole, worked himself inside and we got the completion and that allowed Alvarado to hit a field goal. He finds ways to get it dones. He found ways to get RAC [run after catch] yards and make plays and that kept us on the field in critical situations. He did all the little things for us. That's one thing about all our playmakers. They do the little things."

Ottawa made a winter splash by acquiring accomplished international receivers Greg Ellingson, Ernest Jackson, Maurice (Mo) Price, Chris Williams. The former two also had touchdowns on Saturday, with Ellingson's 30-yarder on a tipped pass on the first play of the fourth putting Ottawa up for good.

Sinopoli, though, was an X factor while working inside-out from the No. 3 receiver spot to provide Burris with a security blanket. With CFL defensive coordinators calling more zone coverage instead of man-to-man response to the crackdown on illegal contact, it will be interesting to see if offences respond by trying to find a 'baby Gronk' who can work underneath the coverage and break tackles. Sinopoli, who's 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, broke a tackle at the five-yard line on his TD catch.

"He's a big target who runs hard after the catch," Redblacks coach Rick Campbell said. "I had to face Brad in practice the last couple years [as Calgary's defensive coordinator] and I'm glad I'm on his team."

Whether Sinopoli, whom Calgary listed as a quarterback in 2011 and '12 before he moved to receiver, could have broken the glass ceiling for Canadian passers will never be known. Saturday's showing was a reminder one has to  let go of the past, yet remember why it matters. It's not often these days that a CIS all-Canadian is an impact player at a skill position in the same city where he was larger in life.

Perhaps it's not for nothing that Sinopoli's numbers with the Redblacks and Gee-Gees, 88 and 12, add up to 100. As in a perfect score, on a perfect night for the guy who played his first CIS game in '07 just weeks after the original south-side bleachers at Lansdowne were razed.

"I spent so much time here in university," Sinopoli said. "Just the way it is now with the crowd and the new stadium is amazing.

"Hey, we're 2-0," he added.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @naitSAYger.