Sloppy Redblacks fail to gain ground

Lowly Riders push Ottawa below .500

Give the Saskatchewan Roughriders credit. They may have had the Canadian Football League’s worst record, but they didn’t play like it on Friday night.

Give the Ottawa Redblacks a tongue-lashing. They spent the first half playing as if they hadn’t taken the Roughriders seriously, and they eventually paid for it with a 32-30 overtime defeat that dropped the Redblacks to 6-7-1 and below .500 for the first time since their expansion-year campaign in 2014.

Not only that, the Redblacks blew an opportunity to solidify their position atop the CFL’s East Division and, instead of thinking ahead to a potential home playoff date, their fans have to be wondering if the Redblacks will be in the post-season at all.

They’re only one point ahead of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (6-8-0), their opponents in the next two games, and the Toronto Argonauts (5-9-0) and Montreal Alouettes (49-0) are within striking distance, too, and it’s likely only two of the four will qualify for runs at the Grey Cup.

The Roughriders, whose 30-29 victory against the Redblacks on July 22 was their only positive result of the first half of the season, are 4-10 after extending their winning streak to three before a crowd of 24,668 at TD Place stadium.

The Westerners got the job done with six field goals and two converts by Nepean’s Tyler Crapigna — the last in overtime — and touchdown catches by Nic Demski and Rob Bagg.

The Redblacks managed one touchdown by Chris Williams, two fourth-quarter scores by Greg Ellingson and another by Henry Burris. Yes, him. More about that later. For now, though, a loss is a loss. “Football comes down to making pays, and it’s about coaches getting guys in good positions to make plays and also players stepping up and making plays that need to be made,” Redblacks head coach Rick Campbell said. “We’re not doing enough of that right now and we have to find a way to do it.”

Crapigna’s first field goal and a 10-yard touchdown throw from Darian Durant to Demski gave the Roughriders a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, and a fumbled snap by Redblacks punter Zach Medeiros allowed them to make it 13-0 in the second quarter.

The summary assessment was that the Redblacks were lucky to be down only 13, and a burst of offence got them back in the contest, as a 10-play, 89-yard drive was capped by a 20-yard touchdown pass from Trevor Harris to Williams, and Chris Milo added the convert.

Crapigna made it nine points when he booted a 51-yarder early in the third quarter, but things took a turn on the next Riders possession. Durant made an ill-advised decision to toss the ball backwards past Curtis Steele while under pressure, and the play resulted in a 21-yard loss and a forced punt that Jamill Smith returned across mid-field to set up the next Redblacks drive.

The Redblacks went for the gusto on second-and-short late in the third quarter, but the delivery by Harris was a little short and Williams came up limping. He never returned, but at least he wasn’t on crutches after the game, so his status could best be described as yet to be determined.

Two plays later, Harris overthrew Jackson and Fred Bennett intercepted the ball at the one-yard line.

The next Ottawa possession ended in another curious fashion. On third-and-seven from Saskatchewan’s 52, third-string QB Brock Jensen — normally used for sneaks — floated a pass that was easily batted down, causing another turnover on downs. Redblacks coaches will have to explain that one.

The next time the Redblacks offence took the field, after Crapigna made it 19-7 with a 41-yarder, Burris was at quarterback. Fans cheered as he completed his first pass attempt and ran for a first down, but groaned in unison after his second pass was intercepted by Justin Cox.

Crapigna made his fifth field goal soon after, from 43 yards.

However, Burris connected with Ellingson from 19 yards out, and Milo’s convert made it 22-14 with more than six minutes remaining. It was the first touchdown pass Burris had thrown since a loss to the Montreal Alouettes in August.

He threw his second moments later, also to Ellingson, and a twopoint convert catch by Jackson tied the score 22-22 with a sliver less than three minutes remaining.

A blocking penalty on the net kickoff return pinned the Roughriders at their eight-yard line, but a pass-interference penalty got them out of that hole and they marched the rest of the way for the go-ahead score by Rob Bagg with 48 seconds to go.

The Redblacks got even with a 65-yard drive aided by five Roughriders penalties, and Burris pushed across from the one-yard line for another tying touchdown.

“It’s not Trevor’s fault,” said Campbell, who wouldn’t touch a question about who would start at QB next Friday at Hamilton. “It was the head coach, me, just trying to find a spark. I feel very fortunate that we have two first-rate quarterbacks, veteran quarterbacks, and I’m going to use everything at our disposal to give us a spark or whatever needs to happen to try and win games.”

Ottawa took the ball first in overtime, but Milo was wide right from 30 yards. Saskatchewan played conservatively, gaining just two yards, but Crapigna was true from 40 yards for the win.

“I let my team down, plain and simple. Nothing more to say,” said a disconsolate Milo, who also missed from 46 yards in the second quarter. “It is what it is. You move on.”