The Ottawa REDBLACKS improved their record to 2-1 on the young season on Sunday night, stunning the Hamilton Tiger-Cats with a last-second Lewis Ward field goal to win 24-22.
The Tabbies started quickly, forcing a fumble on the opening kickoff, and converting the turnover into points just two plays later, when Tim White found paydirt.
The response for the REDBLACKS was immediate, with DeVonte Dedmon atoning for his previous mistake, returning the ball 43 yards to midfield. The Ottawa offence pieced together a long drive, spanning six plays, ending with a Dustin Crum touchdown run. The extra point missed wide, and the Ti-Cats continued to hold a 7-6 lead.
Trading short drives, Ottawa was the next to hit the scoreboard. They marched their way down to Hamilton’s 27, and Lewis Ward cashed three points to give the REDBLACKS the lead.
The Tiger-Cats answered back to take a one-point advantage once again early in the second quarter, and that scoreline held until late in the half. With under a minute to go, however, Ward was once again tasked with a medium field goal attempt, which he hit, to send the REDBLACKS to the locker room with a 12-10 lead at the break.
The second half began in much the same way the first one did, with Hamilton rallying to throw some scores up. A pair of field goals put them up 16-12, but the REDBLACKS fired right back, cutting the lead down to just one point.
Late in the fourth, Dru Brown found Justin Hardy in the endzone for another major, the Washington, DC native’s second of the year. But it wasn’t enough to ice the game away.
The Tiger-Cats methodically marched the length of the field, scoring a touchdown, leaving only around 20 seconds left on the clock. Tobias Harris took the ensuing kickoff up to around midfield, and the offence secured a first down, and Ward ran out onto the field, with a chance to win the game from 46 yards.
He split the uprights.
“It goes back to the resiliency,” said Head Coach Bob Dyce. “Lew wasn’t thinking about the missed convert when he was out there kicking the 46-yard field goal to win it. I had the utmost confidence that he was going to hit it because I know Lew that’s the type of guy Lew is.”
The REDBLACKS head into a short week, with a visit to the 0-4 Winnipeg Blue Bombers next on their schedule, Kickoff is set for 8:30pm ET on Friday, from Princess Auto Stadium.
