STAMPED OUT!
Redblacks rally late in game for season-opening victory — and first-ever win in Calgary
If the Ottawa Redblacks wanted an early-season test of their grit and punch-back, they got it Saturday.
The Redblacks overcame four interceptions, three of them that turned into touchdowns, to beat the defending Grey Cupchampion Stampeders 32-28 in the CFL season-opener for both teams.
It was the first-ever win for the Redblacks in Calgary (they came into the game 0-5).
Redblacks quarterback Dominique Davis, who wound up 29-of-44 for 276 yards in passing, hung in through the adversity, rushing for three touchdowns.
On a third-and-one gamble at their own 38-yard line, the Stampeders handed the ball to Markeith Ambles, who found a gaping hole and ran 17 yards to midfield. A Rob Maver punt pinned the Redblacks deep at their own two-yard line.
After a four-yard run by Mossis Madu, Tree Roberson stepped in front of a Davis pass for the interception (his first of three on the day) and returned it to the Ottawa five. After two offside penalties by the Redblacks, Don Jackson barrelled into the end zone for a touchdown. The convert made it 7-0 for the home side 5:57 into the game.
The Redblacks responded with a long drive that started on their own 24-yard line. Madu had five carries for 26 yards, while R.J. Harris (14 and 10 yards), J-C. Beaulieu (three and six yards) and Caleb Holley (seven and 19 yards) each caught two passes. Davis pushed into the end zone from the one for the touchdown. An attempted pass to Holley for the two-point convert was knocked away.
A pass interference call on Ottawa’s Sherrod Baltimore gave Calgary 45 yards of real estate, down to Ottawa’s 26. Pressure by Avery Williams forced a Bo Levi Mitchell fumble, but the Stamps recovered and Rene Paredes made a 42-yard field goal.
The Stampeders quickly got the ball back when Dominique Rhymes tipped a pass into the hands of Roberson.
Mitchell heaved a 50-yard touchdown pass to an open Juwan Brescacin and with the two-point convert completion to Reggie Begelton, it was 18-6 for Calgary with two seconds left in the first quarter.
Catches by Ambles (24 yards) and Jackson (23 yards) led to a 17-yard field goal by Paredes and the Stamps led 21-6 5:20 into the second quarter.
After Calgary’s Derek Wiggin was flagged for a 15-yard face mask penalty, taking the Redblacks out of a punting situation, Ottawa moved the ball downfield with Madu again producing good chunks of yardage (34 yards) on the ground, Holley catching a 16-yard pass and Davis pushing into the end zone for the touchdown.
Harris’s two-point convert and it was 21-14.
The Redblacks stuffed Mitchell on a third-and-short gamble by the Stamps, taking over on their own 44.
But on second-and-one, Madu was dropped in the backfield for a loss. Ottawa got another crack at it when Anthony Cioffi knocked the ball out of Begelton’s hands and Jonathan Rose recovered. A time count violation penalty on Ottawa forced Lewis Ward back 10 yards and he split the uprights for a 43-yard field goal. It was 21-17 at the half.
Ottawa’s Richie Leone boomed a 75-yard single to open the second half. But a high pass off the hands of Harris ricocheted into the hands of Calgary defensive back Brandon Smith, who ran 59 yards into the end zone for a TD. The convert made it 28-18.
A clutch catch by Holley, who was drilled when the ball arrived, kept an Ottawa drive alive and Ward booted a 26-yard field goal. A 51-yard single by Leone made it 28-22.
A fumbled punt by Calgary’s Lorenzo Jerome (knocked out by J-P Bolduc) wound up in the hands of De’Andre Montgomery on the Stamps’ 19. The Redblacks got a
30-yard field goal by Ward to cut it to 28-25.
A no-yards penalty on Calgary gave Ottawa the ball on the Stamps’ 47 with 1:49 left. A five-yard TD run by Davis gave Ottawa the lead. The convert made it 32-28.
Jonathan Rose intercepted a Mitchell pass in the end zone with five seconds left to seal the deal.