IT WASN’T PRETTY, BUT REDBLACKS TOUGH OUT WIN OVER TIGER-CATS
Maybe the Ottawa Redblacks really aren’t that good — geez, they sure stank at times Friday night. Or maybe they’re a team finally learning to deal with adversity.
All that really matters, though, is the Redblacks (8-9-1) beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (5-12) 41-36 in their final game of the regular season. A B.C. win over Toronto next week would give Ottawa the East title and a bye to the division final.
“It’s big, it puts the ball back in (Toronto’s) court,” Redblacks coach Rick Campbell said. “Now they have to go out and win on the west coast.”
Good thing the Redblacks had Diontae Spencer on their side. The receiver/returner set a league record for all-purpose yards in a game, with 496 (133 in catches, 165 on kickoffs, 29 on a missed field goal and 169 on punts). Running back William Powell also went past the 1,000yard rushing mark for the season with a game-winning 43-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds left.
“It feels amazing,” Spencer said. “Everybody looks for that spark. Sometimes, I want to be that guy. I want the ball to make some things happen. We got the win, that’s the most important thing.”
It sure didn’t look like the Redblacks had any chance of winning. They were sloppy, they made way too many mistakes (five turnovers) and they made a questionable coaching decision or two — like leaving Trevor Harris in for a second-and-short gamble. The QB was whacked hard and left the game with what looked like an injury to his right shoulder, though he later returned.
“It wasn’t pretty, we have a lot of work to do, we need to be better,” Campbell said. “They’re a very good football team, we made some mistakes of turning the ball over too much and having penalties and we still found a way to beat them.”
The fans were impatient at times. The first boos came on a Harris incompletion on the final play of the first quarter, at 7:41 p.m. The Redblacks were already trailing 16-0.
Harris was swarmed under for a sack at his own one-yard line 5½ minutes into the first quarter, forcing the Redblacks to give up a safety. The Ticats offence then got into the act, with Jalen Saunders scoring on a six-yard touchdown pass from Jeremiah Masoli.
The momentum continued to swing in the Ticats’ favour when Ryan Lindley ran into a wall of defenders on third-and-inches and was stopped short. Hamilton got the ball on the Redblacks’ 37-yard line and took advantage of the turnover with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Banks.
Spencer gave the Redblacks some life with a 61-yard punt return. Ottawa was lucky to even have a chance at a field goal when Don Unamba couldn’t hang onto a deflection on a ball bobbled by Greg Ellingson.
A 13-yard field goal by Kenny Allen made it 19-3 for the Ticats. A 53-yard field goal by Maher with 6:31 left in the first half pulled Ottawa to within 13.
With Harris out of the game, backup QB Drew Tate lobbed a pass to Juron Criner, who busted through some traffic and took it 39 yards for a touchdown. Powell ran in for the two-point convert.
With Harris back in the game, Ottawa marched down the field and was heading toward a halftime lead before Spencer coughed up the ball on the Hamilton nine-yard line. The Ticats missed a 47-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.
On Ottawa’s first drive of the second half, Powell burst through a hole to the left and dashed for 24 yards. The Redblacks survived a third-down gamble and Ellingson fought his way into the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown. Powell scored the two-point convert. Ottawa led for the first time, 22-19.
The Ticats grabbed the lead on a 42-yard TD pass to Banks. On Ottawa’s next possession, Harris drove the Redblacks down to the Ticats’ 10. But, on the next play, a pass that was too high was picked off by Unamba.
Ottawa blew another chance to score when an Ellingson bobble dropped into the hands of Hamilton’s Courtney Stephen and Hamilton had the ball on its own 28. An eight-yard touchdown pass to Luke Tasker and a convert made it 33-22.
The Redblacks closed the gap to 33-28 with 5:34 left on an eight-yard touchdown run by Powell. Criner then made a diving catch for a touchdown with 3:37 left. The two-point convert attempt was intercepted.
Allen’s 43-yard field goal gave Hamilton a 36-34 lead with 1:25 left. tbaines@postmedia.com