In a rematch of the 106^th Grey Cup, the Ottawa REDBLACKS defence silenced the Calgary Stampeders in the second half, helping Ottawa to a season opening 32-28 victory at McMahon Stadium. Quarterback Dominique Davis scored the pivotal, game-winning touchdown in the final two minutes.

Running back Mossis Madu notched 140 all-purpose yards on 30 touches. It was a rollercoaster game for Davis, who scored three touchdowns, but also threw four interceptions.

The front seven of the REDBLACKS frustrated Calgary running back Don Jackson all game, limiting him to just 22 yards on the ground. They shutout the Stamps offence in the second half, as their only points came off an interception return.

The start of the game was a bleak one for the REDBLACK offence. With his first pass of the 2019 season, Davis’s deep bomb was intercepted by Tre Roberson and returned to the six-yard line. Jackson punched it in from short yardage to open the scoring for Calgary.

Ottawa bounced right back however, with Davis completing all six of his passes on the next drive and guiding the offence to the red zone. Davis snuck the ball in himself from the goal line for the REDBLACKS first touchdown of the year. The two-point convert failed, making the score 7-6 for the Stampeders.

The Stamps would pile it on with a field goal and a Juwan Brescacin touchdown reception giving Calgary a 12-point lead after the first quarter.

Following another Calgary field goal, Ottawa put together a penalty-aided drive that got them into the red zone. Madu did the heavy lifting by accumulating 43 yards on the ground, and Davis plunged in for the score. RJ Harris darted in for the two-point convert, cutting the margin to 21-14.

With time winding down in the first half, Anthony Cioffi forced a fumble after a short Calgary completion, and Jonathan Rose recovered. Lewis Ward split the uprights from 44 yards out for his first points of 2019, making the score 21-17 at the half.

The teams failed to get any traction early in the third quarter, and Davis threw his third interception of the game. Brandon Smith caught a deflected pass and returned it for the touchdown.

The Ottawa defence would stymie Bo Levi Mitchell and the Calgary offence for most of the second half, and the Ottawa offence clawed away at the lead. Ward knocked in two more field goals to cut the lead to three points.

Davis got the ball back down by three with good field position and less than two minutes to go. He worked the REDBLACKS deep into Calgary territory and stretched into the end zone to give Ottawa the 32-28 advantage.

Calgary had one last shot with 13 seconds to go. Mitchell uncorked a deep shot to the end zone, but Rose come down with the ball to seal an improbable win for the REDBLACKS.

Ottawa (1-0) will play their home opener on Thursday, June 20 against the Saskatchewan Roughriders (0-1). Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at TD Place. The Stampeders (0-1) have a bye next week and will welcome the BC Lions to McMahon Stadium on Saturday, June 29.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

“Our guys do not lack want-to or lack energy. We just need to mix it in with making sure  we’re playing good, smart football. I’m just proud of the way they continued to battle. They’re a group that has a lot of fight to them and they kept working even when things didn’t go right in the game. I’m glad they were rewarded for it.” – HC Rick Campbell

“Definitely not the way I expected to play – I’ve got to play way better. We stuck together and we were playing all the way until the clock struck zero. We just kept plugging away and we came out with the W.” – QB Dominique Davis

GAME NOTES

This is the REDBLACKS first win at McMahon Stadium, and only Dave Dickenson’s fifth loss at home in his CFL coaching career… His third quarter field goal was Lewis Ward’s 50^th straight in the regular season… The REDBLACKS and Stampeders turned the ball over four and five times, respectively. Calgary scored 22 points off turnovers… With a second quarter completion to Reggie Begelton, Bo Levi Mitchell surpassed Russ Jackson on the all-time career passing yards list with 24,594.

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

CGY – TD Jackson (Paredes conv.) – 9:35

OTT – TD Davis – 4:34

CGY – FG Paredes – 1:45

CGY – TD Mitchell to Brescacin (Mitchell to Begelton 2-pt. conv.) – 0:22

Second Quarter

CGY – FG Paredes – 9:55

OTT – TD Davis (Harris 2-pt. conv.) – 4:16

OTT – FG Ward – 0:00

Third Quarter

OTT – SI Leone – 12:34

CGY – Interception ret. TD Smith (Paredes conv.) – 8:43

OTT – FG Ward – 2:38

Fourth Quarter

OTT – SI Leone – 14:14

OTT – FG Ward – 5:51

OTT – TD Davis (Ward conv.) – 1:22

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME

Attendance

26,301