Category: FOOTBALL

OTTAWA, ON – It wasn’t the start the Edmonton Elks would have wanted, but a dominant second half leading to a win did the job to snap a three-game skid.

Quarterback Taylor Cornelius threw two touchdown passes and the Elks (3-7) scored 21 unanswered points in the second half for a 30-12 comeback win over the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday.

“In the first half, they were giving us a lot of exotic looks we’d never seen before, so we had to get them out of doing that by speeding up the tempo, and that showed in the second half,” said Cornelius.

“We got on a roll and were moving the ball very well in the second half. I wish we would have done that in the first half, but we’ll take this win and prepare for next week when we play them at home.”

Cornelius went 16-of-27 passing for 208 yards, including a four-yard touchdown pass to Derel Walker with 6:34 left in the fourth quarter.

Caleb Evans threw for 111 yards and rushed for another 82, including a 21-yard touchdown run, but the Redblacks (1-8) lost for the 19th time in their last 20 games.

“In that first half, if you were watching the game and not the scoreboard, you would have probably felt like we had a pretty good lead on them,” said QB Nick Arbuckle, who came on in relief of Evans late in the game, finishing with 7-of-13 passing for 85 yards.

“We just weren’t finishing drives for a number of reasons, but it comes back to all of us. It’s tough to be a part of. We know that we can be a lot more successful and that’s why it’s frustrating, because we know [how] good we can be.”

An 18-yard touchdown pass from Cornelius to Kenny Lawler at 11:03 in the third quarter gave the Elks their first lead of the game at 16-12.

Just under eight minutes later, Ante Milanovic-Litre scored on a two-yard run to boost the Elks’ lead to 23-12 following a Sergio Castillo extra point.

“We did a great job on offence, and on defence we held them, and we did our job to get the defence off the field,” said long snapper Peter Adjey, who recorded one special teams tackle for the Elks.

“Our coaches make the corrections at halftime and we have a lot of players-led leadership to get everyone in check to make sure we came out and execute in the second half.”

The Redblacks entered the third quarter up 12-9 after a less than spectacular first half that began with Ottawa’s PA announcer introducing the Elks by their former name.

Lewis Ward made a 46-yard field goal near the midway mark of the first quarter, but a roughing the kicker penalty on Edmonton defensive lineman Jake Ceresna gave the Redblacks a fresh set of downs.

A minute later, Ottawa took advantage as Evans ran in for a 21-yard score at the 7:43 mark.

The Elks answered back before the end of the quarter on a 52-yard field goal by Castillo.

In the second quarter, Ward left six points on the board with back-to-back missed field goals from 40 and 47 yards that led to a pair of rouge points. Ward connected from 13 yards out with 4:45 left to give the Redblacks a 12-3 lead.

Late in the first half, the Elks had the ball at the Redblacks one-yard line following a defensive pass interference call.

QB Kai Locksley entered the game for the short-yardage situation but was stopped twice on sneak attempts. Locksley scored on his third attempt on a sweep right play, but Castillo hit the upright on the point after attempt to make it 12-9.

“We had a close game at half and we left some points on the board, whether it’s not getting touchdowns or missing field goals,” said Redblacks coach Paul LaPolice.

“We let them right back in (it) a little bit right before half. But it was the third quarter where we didn’t respond as well as they did.”

OTTAWA, ON – Despite being short-handed, the Calgary Stampeders found a way to pull out a 17-3 win over the Ottawa Redblacks Friday night at TD Place.

The win allowed the Stampeders (5-2-0) to snap a two-game losing streak and keep pace with the B.C. Lions, who are second in the West Division and will be visiting Calgary Aug. 13.

Calgary was missing a number of starters, but did enough to beat a struggling Ottawa team.

Bo Levi Mitchell was far from his best, but on this night, he proved to be the better quarterback.

Mitchell finished the night 13-of-27 passing for 142 yards and one interception. He also happened to fall one yard short of becoming Calgary’s all-time passing leader.

“It wasn’t until the last two plays of the game that someone walked up and told me I was two yards away,” said Mitchell. “In my head I already knew we were running the ball so when he actually called a pass play I was surprised. But the beautiful thing is, we get to do it at home now in front of the fans.”

Calgary head coach Dave Dickenson was unable to make the trip to Ottawa as he was in COVID protocol, but assistant head coach Mark Kilam and the rest of the coaching staff filled in admirably.

“I thought it was a full team win,” said Kilam. “Each phase did some things. You could get down on the offence, but they were battling through injuries all night so they were rolling guys in and out.”

As for the Redblacks, who fell to 1-7-0, it was more of the same for how this season has gone for the team.

After picking up its first win last week against Toronto last week, there was a sense that maybe things had turned for Ottawa. However, the Redblacks just couldn’t find a way to generate much offence.

Caleb Evans started the game, but struggled right from the start. He went 10-of-21 passing for 66 yards and one interception.

Nick Arbuckle replaced him in the third quarter and hit on 17 of his 23 passes for 186 yards and two interceptions.

When asked why he hadn’t made the change sooner, Ottawa head coach Paul LaPolice said “that’s my call,” although he did later admit he considered making the change at halftime.

“I wanted to give [Evans] the opportunity. He’s been very successful two straight games and some of those issues weren’t his alone,” said LaPolice said. “You certainly don’t pull quarterbacks early, [that] is my experience at 20 years.”

Calgary opened the third quarter with Rene Paredes connecting on a 24-yard field goal, his third of the night, to give the Stampeders a 16-0 lead. Ottawa then conceded a single to make it 17-0.

Ottawa had a brief moment of hope as Shaheed Salmon intercepted Mitchell and ran the ball back to Calgary’s 18-yard line. Two plays later, Evans fumbled and Calgary regained possession.

“That’s part of football,” said Salmon. “It’s not necessarily frustrating; we all signed up for it. If our offence isn’t doing too well, we know as a defence or special teams it’s our time to make a play.”

Upon entering the game, Arbuckle marched the Redblacks down to Calgary’s nine-yard line, but then fumbled the football. Offensive lineman Ucambre Williams was able to recover the ball and Ottawa settled for a 25-yard field goal by Lewis Ward to finally get on the board.

The score didn’t come easy, as it bounced off the goalpost before going through the uprights to make it a 17-3 game with under five minutes remaining.

With time winding down, Arbuckle looked poised to find the end zone, but was picked off by Titus Wall at Calgary’s one-yard line.

“What can you say about the defence?,” said Kilam. “They got their hands on a ton of balls… they sealed the win for us.”

Redblacks defensive back Antoine Pruneau believes the team is capable of more, but in the moment, the losses sting.

“It’s extremely frustrating what’s happening, especially in front of our fans” he said. “It’s not good enough.”

Calgary had opened the scoring with a 51-yard field goal on its opening drive and added a 36-yard field goal late in the second quarter to take a 6-0 lead.

Wall then picked off an Evans pass and ran it back 46 yards for the only TD of the opening half. Paredes added the extra point to give Calgary a 13-0 lead.

Ottawa will head into its bye week and return to action Aug. 19 when they host the Edmonton Elks.

OTTAWA, ON – Nathan Rourke lived up to the hype Thursday night as the young Canadian quarterback led the B.C. Lions to their third straight CFL victory with a 34-31 decision over the Ottawa Redblacks at TD Place Stadium.

Rourke finished the game completing 23 of 31 passes for 359 yards, two passing touchdowns, one rushing TD and two interceptions, the first of his career.

Ottawa’s Jeremiah Masoli proved far less effective going 13 for 26 for 159 yards with one rushing TD, as the Redblacks dropped their third close game in as many outings.

The Redblacks are the first to hold the unbeaten Lions (3-0-0) below 40 points this season.

Trailing 14-6 to start the second half, the Redblacks grabbed momentum when Money Hunter intercepted Rourke and ran the ball to the Lions’ 16-yard line. Three plays later William Powell, playing his first game of the season, ran in a five-yard touchdown. Ottawa hadn’t scored a touchdown through its last nine quarters. Two penalties and three two-point attempts later it was a tie game, 14-14.

On B.C.’s next possession Hunter came up with another interception, running the ball back 56 yards to the Lions’ seven-yard line. Masoli ran for six yards and punched in a one-yard TD. Lewis Ward had a rare miss on the convert and Ottawa took a 20-14 lead.

Ward has only missed six of 46 career convert attempts.

The lead didn’t last long as Rourke then connected with Keon Hatcher for a 71-yard TD pass and with the convert regained a 21-20 lead.

B.C. padded its lead after James Butler wrapped up a six-play sequence with a five-yard run into the end zone giving the Lions a 28-20 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Ward added a 38-yard field goal midway through the fourth, while Sean Whyte had 32- and 15-yard field goals for the Lions to make it 34-23.

In the final minute of play the Redblacks managed to march down field and get to the one-yard line, thanks to a pass interference call and Caleb Evans punched in a TD. A two-point convert made it 34-31 with 29 seconds remaining.

Rourke made his presence early on. After not having a single two-and-out last week the Redblacks handed Rourke his first on the opening drive.

On B.C.’s next possession, on a third-and-short gamble Rourke ran in a 50-yard touchdown and took an early 7-0 lead.

Rourke connected with Hatcher in the second quarter and got the Lions to Ottawa’s three-yard line. James Butler then ran in an eight-yard TD to make it 14-3.

Ottawa’s first half scoring came off 35- and 28-yard field goals from Ward.

OTTAWA, ON – It won’t go down as their prettiest win of the season, but the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will take it.

Zach Collaros connected with Dalton Schoen for a 27-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter to lift Winnipeg to a 19-12 win over the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday night in Ottawa.

Winnipeg coach Mike O’Shea said after a “tough” quarter and a half, the Blue Bombers (2-0-0) started to pick up their play late in the first half.

“I think we moved the ball pretty well in the second half and scored the points we needed to score,” he said.

The Redblacks couldn’t capitalize on their chances at TD Place, settling for four field goals from Lewis Ward.

“We’re moving the ball, but we’ve got to finish with seven since that was our goal this week [was] to make sure we finish with sevens,” said Ottawa head coach Paul LaPolice. “Especially with this team. You can have a big 50-yard play, but [against] this team, even if you have an explosive play they still keep you out of the end zone.”

Zach Collaros connects with Dalton Schoen for a touchdown with just under five minutes left to play as Winnipeg beats Ottawa 19-12 to sweep their home-and-home series.

With under two minutes in regulation, Ottawa managed to get the ball to the Winnipeg 17-yard line but came up empty-handed. Ottawa (0-2-0) also fell to the Blue Bombers last week in Winnipeg.

Collaros finished the game 15 for 22 for 228 yards and two touchdowns. Ottawa’s Jeremiah Masoli completed 27 of 38 yards for 331 yards.

The Redblacks have a bye week coming up and Masoli said players need to use the time to “flush it all mentally and come back and get on a roll.”

He believes the team is more than capable of winning, but the difference is finishing drives.

“I thought coach called a great game,” said Masoli. “If we had executed a couple more plays we would have been up two possessions.”

Winnipeg marched down the field late in the second quarter and Collaros connected with Greg Ellingson for a 13-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds remaining.

“I think it was big for us,” said Collaros. “I’m not a denyer of momentum. I think it was big coming into halftime and moving the ball like that offensively to give us a spark.”

Ottawa led 9-7 at the half but seemed to lose momentum after the break against the defending Grey Cup champions.

“We adapted as the game went on and made the adjustments at half,” said Winnipeg linebacker Adam Bighill. “At the end of the day we found a way to get the job done and that’s what I’m proud of.”

Winnipeg took a 10-9 lead when Marc Liegghio booted a 30-yard field goal on the opening drive of the second half.

The Blue Bombers looked poised to take control of the game, but Ellingson – alone in the end zone – dropped a surefire TD pass, forcing Winnipeg to settle for a 22-yard field goal.

Ward hit a 38-yard field goal late in the third quarter to bring Ottawa within a point.

Winnipeg will entertain Hamilton on June 24. Ottawa returns to action on June 30 against the visiting B.C. Lions.

OTTAWA, ON — The Ottawa Redblacks know that in the grand scheme of things pre-season doesn’t mean a whole lot, but it can help build character and culture.

On Friday night, the Redblacks showed that no matter the score they’ll play to the end and were rewarded as they overcame a 10-point deficit to beat the Toronto Argonauts 23-17 at TD Place.

Quarterback Tyrie Adams went from being the goat to the game’s hero in his first CFL appearance.

Adams went 6 for 9 for 68 yards with one interception, one passing and one rushing touchdown.

Antonio Pipkin got the start at quarterback for the Argos, going 7 for 9 for 60 yards and one interception while sharing the workload with Chad Kelly, who went 7 for 12 for 78 yards. Austin Simmons also got in on the action, finishing 2 for 5 for 19 yards.

The Redblacks held a 7-3 lead at the half, but struggled to generate momentum in the second half until the final minute.

The Argos took a 10-7 lead early in the fourth quarter as Javon Leake ran in a four-yard touchdown and Toshiki Sato added the convert.

Trailing 10-7 to start the fourth quarter Adams threw an interception that was run back for 58 yards by Jamal Peters. Sato added the extra point to give the Argos a 17-7 lead.

Adams was determined to turn things around and connected with R.J. Harris for an 11-yard touchdown pass to make it 17-14 with five minutes remaining.

The Redblacks defence pinned the Argos and forced them to concede a safety to make it a one-point game with 1:21 remaining.

Adams showed poise as he drove the Redblacks down field and ultimately punched in a one-yard touchdown for the win.

“Not only was I excited for that, but on those last two drives the offensive line blocked their butts off,” said Adams. “You could see some of the pain in their eyes going on that last drive … all I did was call the play coach told me to call and then hand the ball off, really.”

At the time Argos head coach Ryan Dinwiddie felt he made the right decision in conceding the safety. He anticipated his defence shutting the Redblacks down, but in the end, it proved to be a costly misjudgment.

“We did some decent things and we didn’t do other things so well,” said Dinwiddie. “We couldn’t get the right players on the field at the end.”

Dinwiddie admitted there was some confusion on the field and the sidelines and said both coaches and players had a hand in how things finished.

“It was a good learning experience for all of us and we’ll be better next week.”

The newly acquired Jeremiah Masoli made his first appearance with the Redblacks and finished 8 for 11 for 105 yards and one touchdown in his Ottawa debut.

Ottawa got on the board first early in the first quarter with a single. Wide receiver Jaelon Acklin hauled in a touchdown pass from Masoli early in the second quarter to take a 7-0 lead as Lewis Ward missed the convert.

Ottawa stopped the Argos deep in their own end in the final minute of the half and forced Toronto to settle for a 19-yard field goal by Sato.

Masoli knows the X’s and O’s will fall into place and so this was more about building the right culture, a winning culture.

“We were all engaged on the sideline,” said Masoli, who played the early part of the game. “It wasn’t like some guys were just waiting for the game to be over. We were tuned in … it was good to see us doing it together, a full team effort.

“I think it’s a great starting point to establish that winning culture around here.”

This marked the first pre-season game for Redblacks coach Paul LaPolice since he was hired back in 2019. After a 3-11 season last year, there was a significant turnover on the field, but also on the coaching staff and LaPolice admitted the pre-season is just as important for his staff as it is for the players.

“I have some young coaches, so for me to be able to have that opportunity to go through that, you can’t simulate game stuff,” said LaPolice. “So whether at the end-of-the-game scenarios or talking to the coaches to help me with personnel movements and all those things, it’s a good thing.”

OTTAWA, ON – It wasn’t a great sight to see but the Toronto Argonauts got it done.

A fourth-quarter touchdown pass from McLeod Bethel-Thompson and Boris Bede’s fifth field goal of the game powered the Argonauts to a 23-20 win over the Ottawa Redblacks Saturday.

Trailing 20-12, Bethel-Thompson connected with Kurleigh Gittens Jr. for a 12-yard touchdown pass and then completed the play with a two-point conversion toss to DaVaris Daniels to tie the game at 4:37 of the fourth.

Bede then connected from 34 yards out for his fifth field goal of the game and a 23-20 lead with four minutes to play.

When asked if he thought it was an ugly win, Argos coach Ryan Dinwiddie said “I would say so. I’d say the first half was. We came out flat on all three phases of the ball. The second half we found a way to get it done.

“These tough wins, they’re not always pretty but it shows that we’re able to play some close football games. I thought we did some good things but obviously you always want a better performance. But we’re happy we got a win.”

Devlin Hodges was making his first career CFL start for the Redblacks but only threw for 90 yards as Ottawa fell to 2-11 with their sixth straight loss.

Bethel-Thompson threw for almost 300 yards but was intercepted three times. The Argonauts improved to 8-4 and remain first in the East Division.

“When you have a turnover margin like that, you should win the football game,” Redblacks coach Paul LaPolice said, referring to the three interceptions and one fumble recovery.

“I need to do a better job to put them in a position to finish stronger. It lies on me.”

The Argonauts lost the services of running back John White with a leg injury. Dinwiddie didn’t have an update after the game but said White was on crutches.

A.J. Ouellette came on in relief and finished with 107 yards on 14 carries, including a 30-yard run on the final drive that allowed the Argos to close out the victory.

“It’s tough when you’re not on the field, but I’m a professional football player and I get paid to do this,” Ouellette said.

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DeVonte Dedmon took the opening kickoff of the second half 100 yards for a touchdown in his return after missing the past two games with an ankle injury to give the Redblacks a 20-9 lead.

With that score Dedmon became the fastest player in CFL history to score five kick-return touchdowns and he did it in 15 games. Henry “Gizmo” Williams held the old record with 18.

“Coach Dyce always put us in a great position,” Dedmon said of special teams coach Bob Dyce.

“For me, when I look at my teammates, they give me confidence. They say ‘on three, let’s get Dedmon in the end zone.’ … When I get the ball in my hands, I just want to get in the end zone.”

Later in the quarter Dedmon had an 81-yard punt return negated on an illegal block penalty.

Bede kicked a 49-yard field goal for the only other scoring of the third quarter as the Redblacks took a 20-12 lead into the fourth.

The Argonauts opened the scoring at 4:29 of the first quarter on a 46-yard Bede field goal, but it was the Redblacks who went into halftime with a 13-9 lead.

That lead was not the result of long drives. Their two field goals in the first half came off Toronto turnovers and their one touchdown was aided by two separate runs that totalled 61 yards.

After Lewis Ward missed a long attempt snapping 14 consecutive field goals made, Chris Edwards fumbled coming out of the end zone and the Redblacks recovered on the Toronto eight-yard line.

Three plays later Ward redeemed himself with an 11-yard field goal at 9:29, but it was the inability to get six that was concerning for Ottawa. Ward missed on two other attempts in the game.

Late in the first quarter Bethel-Thompson was intercepted by Avery Williams, which led to an early second quarter 25-yard field goal by Ward for a 6-3 Ottawa lead, but that was short lived. Bede restored the tie with his second field goal of the half, this one from 42 yards.

Later in the quarter Hodges just missed connecting on a pass play that would have covered about 50 yards. The next three plays saw Hodges run for 10 yards, then Timothy Flanders for 41 and finally Ryan Davis for 20 to the Toronto one-yard line. Caleb Evans replaced Hodges at quarterback and ran a sneak for the score that, once converted, gave the Redblacks a 13-9 lead.