For the fifth time in as many meetings dating back to 2023, the Ottawa REDBLACKS beat the Calgary Stampeders, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Coming off of a bye week in the midst of a four-game losing streak, Ottawa beat up on a Calgary team missing several key players, cruising to a 31-11 win at TD Place Thursday night.
Dru Brown completed 19 of 27 passes and connected on a pair of touchdown strikes to Justin Hardy in the second quarter. Geno Lewis rode six catches to a 110-yard performance, while the bruising William Stanback turned 13 carries into 52 yards on the ground.
With PJ Walker making his first CFL start at quarterback in place of the injured Vernon Adams Jr., and missing key receivers in Damien Alford and Jalen Philpot, the REDBLACKS’ defence made life miserable for the Stampeders’ offensive unit. Defensive backs Amari Henderson, and Deandre Lamont each nabbed their first interception of the season, and Alijah McGhee took a pick 61 yards to the end zone to ice the game in the late goings. Jovan Santos-Knox helped to stifle Calgary’s vaunted run game with seven tackles, and Lorenzo Mauldin came up with a huge sack late in the fourth quarter for a turnover on downs,
It was a slow start for both teams, with a Rene Paredes field goal standing as the only points of the opening quarter.
Ottawa, who lost right tackle Zack Pelehos on the game’s opening play, found an offensive explosion in the second quarter, outscoring the Stamps 17-0 in the second. After marching down the field with a big completion to Lewis, and a couple of powerful runs by Stanback, Brown fired a dart to Hardy in the end zone for his second touchdown catch of the season.
Lewis Ward would connect on a field goal after another prolonged Ottawa drive, and on their next possession, a 34-yard catch by Lewis, and 11-yard grab by Keelan White set the REDBLACKS up at Calgary’s 15-yard line, and no one was within a kilometre of Hardy when Brown hit him in the endzone for his second major of the night.
After the REDBLACKS took a 17-0 lead into the half, a Calgary rouge was the only point scored in the third quarter. With just under 10 minutes to go in the fourth, McGhee ran his interception to the house. Former REDBLACK Dominique Rhymes would answer with a touchdown catch of his own, bringing the score to 24-11, and keeping the Stamps’ hopes alive.
Brown and the REDBLACKS’ offence did a terrific job of winding down the clock, though, and with Calgary in desperation mode attempting to convert on third and long from their own nine, Mauldin brought down Walker at the Calgary one for his first sack of the season. Dustin Crum would punch in the one-yard touchdown on the ensuing player, capping off a huge win for Ottawa.
They’ll look to make it two in a row next week, when they visit the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday, August 9, in a 3:00pm kickoff.
