Panaro, Pringle ... pow!
Good doctor Carl helps take hurt out of run game
By GERRY PRINCE, EDMONTON SUN
Mike Pringle hasn't flipped for dinner or handed out a set of golf clubs lately. But when Pringle does, Dr. Carlo Panaro will be on the receiving end of the Edmonton Eskimos tailback's largesse.
As is his custom, Pringle has taken it upon himself to treat his offensive linemen and fullbacks each time he tops the 100-yard rushing plateau in a game.
Usually, it's a dinner out. Once, however, the payoff was a new set of clubs.
"I'll be taking care of that," Pringle said matter-of-factly.
After being held to just 70 yards in his first three games, the bull-necked back went on a rampage in Edmonton's 25-9 win over the B.C. Lions Friday night.
The victory was the first in 2004 for the defending Grey Cup champs and ended the club's three-game losing skid.
With Panaro playing right tackle in place of veteran Chris Morris and a pair rookies spelling off the O-line regulars, Pringle rumbled for 139 yards on 15 carries.
"Doc stepped in and did a great job," said Pringle of Panaro's stand-in performance. "And both (fullbacks) Mathieu (Bertrand) and Gilles (Lezi), they did a great job."
At six-foot-two and 280 pounds, Panaro admits he's hardly your prototypical CFL offensive tackle.
But the University of Alberta graduate's wrestling background paid dividends as he battled B.C. defensive end Mawuko Tugbenyoh all night.
Morris underwent arthroscopic knee surgery last week and is expected to be on the shelf until after the Esks host Hamilton at Commonwealth Stadium Saturday at 5 p.m.
As a result, Panaro will continue to pitch relief.
"I had all the reps at practice, which made it a little easier to work on some of the techniques that you need," said Panaro, who injured an ankle on the second play of the game but finished the tilt.
"Because of my size they probably laugh at me when they see me out at tackle. They're quite often facing much taller guys and quite often American guys.
"I'm fairly athletic and tenacious. I never give up, so what I maybe lack in size, I maybe make up for it in heart. Chris has been a dominant force in this league for 12 or 13 years and he has a lot more experience than I do."
TOOK SOME GOOD LICKS
Esks quarterback Jason Maas took a couple of good licks playing behind the patchwork offensive line but was only sacked once, with Tugbenyoh doing the honours.
Maas knows what it's like to take a licking and keep on ticking, both Montreal and Ottawa did a pretty good job of getting in his face during Week 1 and 3.
The Esks pivot, who went the distance completing 20 of 28 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns, also lauded the O-line's performance in general and Panaro's contribution in particular.
"When you're going against their D-line which gets pretty good pressure with their front four and to have Doc play a whole game ..." marvelled Maas.
"He hasn't played right tackle in the CFL and to go through a whole game and play that well, that's saying something.
"It says something about our whole O-line to be able to play like that. I just love those guys to death and I'm so happy to be playing behind them."
HOLES OPENED UP
So was Pringle. When the holes opened up, the 36-year-old was gone like a shot, proving to his critics he's still got game. Pringle galloped 52 yards on one occasion and 44 yards on another before B.C. defenders could wrestle him to the ground shy of the end zone.
Friday marked the 71st time Pringle rushed for 100 or more yards in a game. The Esks back now needs 604 yards to pass George Reed as the CFL's all-time rusher. Reed carried the ball or a total of 16,116 yards during his career Saskatchewan.
Naturally, Pringle was more elated by the victory which ran Edmonton's seasonal log to 1-3-0 than with his own performance.
"There's not that many times that we're going to be surrounded by this much talent when you're playing football," said Pringle, whose last 100-yard game was Sept. 5, 2003, against Calgary. "I said that last year. We have an awful lot of talent. We can do some great things. I still feel the same way. I hope the media and our fans will have patience with us. We're professional, we know what to do.
"We needed to get one win in order to get the ball rolling. Hopefully, we're about to turn the corner."
LATE HITS: The Esks defence boasted four QB sacks through the squad's first three games. With the reconfigured defensive front, Edmonton defenders chalked up five against the Lions. Singor Mobley posted two sacks while Randy Spencer, Rashad Jeanty and Albert Reese had the others ... Penalties continue to dog the Green and Gold, who were flagged 20 times for 130 yards. Both totals are season highs.
