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July 21, 2018

REDBLACKS roar back to win thriller over Lions

BC Lions vs Ottawa REDBLACKS July 20, 2018 PHOTO: Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photography

From the TELUS Media Centre – It took a pulse-pounding, clutch, last-minute drive from Trevor Harris and the REDBLACKS offence, but Ottawa emerged 29-25 victors over the B.C. Lions on Friday night at TD Place. The 80-yard drive that took 1:05 saw William Powell plunge in for the game-winning score with 49 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Brad Sinopoli led the receiving corps with eleven receptions for 171 yards. Powell was quiet by his lofty standards, rushing for only 50 yards, but his game-winning touchdown more than made up for it.

Antoine Pruneau forced a fumble and had six tackles to his name, while Kevin Brown had seven total tackles himself as Noel Thorpe’s defence has held their opponents to under 30 points in each of their five games so far this season.

On Ottawa’s first possession of the game, Trevor Harris and the offence appeared to be set to exercise the demons of last week’s loss to the Calgary Stampeders. Harris completed all seven of his pass attempts, but the REDBLACKS had to settle for a short Lewis Ward field goal.

On their next drive, Harris and running back William Powell again picked the Lions defence apart, but once again had to settle for a field goal. Ward blasted it right through from 47 yards, and his leg was getting a workout early, as the REDBLACKS held a 6-0 lead after the first quarter.

The Lions responded with a long drive of their own early in the second quarter. B.C. relied on a pair of short quarterback sneaks to take the ball down the field. Travis Lulay hooked up with Ricky Collins Jr. in the end zone, and a Ty Long extra point gave the Leos a one-point lead.

B.C. continued to punish the Ottawa defence. Lulay aired it out to Collins, who came down with the ball in acrobatic fashion for a 39-yard gain. The Lions capitalized on a few REDBLACK penalties, and Brandon Rutley punched it in from the goal line to extend the visitors’ lead to 14-6.


The REDBLACKS took over possession at midfield with exactly one minute to go in the first half. Harris guided his troops into field goal range and Ward knocked down his third three-pointer of the game to make the score 14-9 at the end of one half of play.

Ward continued his lights-out kicking performance early in the third quarter. He hit from 47 yards again, cutting the lead to 14-12.

The Leos turned the game into a back-and-forth affair on the very next drive. Lulay was clobbered as he threw a deep ball to the end zone. Despite the collision, the quarterback still delivered a pinpoint ball into the outstretched arms of Emmanuel Arceneaux for the touchdown. Arceneaux was on the receiving end of another Lulay pass for the two-point convert, making the score 22-12.

The offence needed to push back promptly, and that’s exactly what they did. Harris lead the REDBLACKS on an eight-play, 77-yard drive that was capped off by a touchdown strike to Brad Sinopoli. Of the 77 yards, 69 of them were receiving yards by Sinopoli, who emerged as the quarterback’s favourite target. A Ward convert made the score 22-19.

The REDBLACKS took advantage of a crucial Lions mistake midway through the fourth quarter. Long bobbled the snap and B.C. turned the ball over on downs deep in their own half. However, Ottawa had to take the three points again, but Ward’s fifth field goal of the contest tied the score.

It looked as though Ottawa was starting to win the field-position battle, when Lulay uncorked a 78-yard catch-and-run to Arceneaux just after the three-minute warning. A time count violation forced the Lions to kick a short field goal to retake the lead.


The REDBLACKS took over on their own 30-yard line with 1:54 remaining and the game on the line. Harris helped the offence down the field, hooking up with Greg Ellingson and Powell in the process, before Powell charged into the end zone with 49 seconds remaining to give Ottawa the dramatic win.

Ottawa remains in first place in the East Division and will take on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday, July 27 in Hamilton. Their next home game is on Saturday, August 11 against the Montreal Alouettes. The Lions have a bye in week seven and will return to action against the Calgary Stampeders on Saturday, August 4.

 

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

“The CFL’s fun to watch for a reason and that’s why I love this league, but my hair’s turning grey! I think we’ll look back on this one and be glad we got this win. To win at home and the way the league’s looking this year, every win’s going to be really valuable. It wasn’t always pretty, but I’m really proud of our guys for finding ways to make plays in the fourth quarter.” – HC Rick Campbell


“We need the momentum. There’s still a lot of stuff to fix and we have to be a better team. But we stack the wins up every week and focus on that week. We got this win, and now we’re moving on to next week to Hamilton and try to get a win there and rack them up.” – REC Greg Ellingson

 

GAME NOTES

Ottawa is now 3-0 when they turn the ball over a maximum of one time… The
East Division is now 6-10 against the West, with Ottawa responsible for two of those wins… Lewis Ward’s five field goals were the most for a REDBLACKS kicker since Brett Maher booted six in the first ever REDBLACKS home game on July 18, 2014… Ward is now 13-for-14 on field goals this season, converting each of his last ten attempts.

 

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter
OTT – FG Ward – 7:42
OTT – FG Ward – 1:20

Second Quarter
BC – TD Lulay to Collins (Long conv.) – 9:49
BC – TD Rutley (Long conv.) – 2:01
OTT – FG Ward – 0:13

Third Quarter
OTT – FG Ward – 11:27
BC – Lulay to Arceneaux (Lulay to Arceneaux 2-pt. conv.) – 9:21
OTT – TD Harris to Sinopoli (Ward conv.) – 5:54

Fourth Quarter
OTT – FG Ward – 11:08
BC – FG Long – 2:02
OTT – TD Powell (Ward conv.) – 0:49

Attendance – 21,319