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The Ottawa REDBLACKS dropped a close contest to the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday night, losing 27-22 to fall to 0-4 on the season.
Ottawa got off to a hot start, forcing a turnover and a punt on Saskatchewan’s first two drives and immediately jumped out to a 10-0 lead thanks to a 15-yard touchdown reception from Cade McDonald and a Brian Cole II punt block.
Ultimately, there were a few costly mistakes that came back to bite the REDBLACKS in this one. The REDBLACKS gave up a punt return touchdown to Mathew Sexton, turned the ball over on a punt return and committed six infractions for 37 yards.
“You can’t practice not taking penalties,” said Head Coach and General Manager Ryan Dinwiddie. “We’re our worst enemy right now.”
Despite the result, there were some positives to build on again for the REDBLACKS. The offence scored on the first possession and quarterback Jake Maier carried that momentum throughout the matchup, completing 23 of 30 passes for 259 yards and one touchdown, and Justin Hardy continued his strong from posting five receptions for 92 yards.
“The frustration is definitely there, nobody likes losing,” said Maier. “I look forward to us problem-solving some of the things that are preventing us from winning. We need to improve on first down. We need to improve on some of our short yardage stuff, just things like that offensively that are holding us back a little bit.
“I do think that if we can solve some of those areas, we’ve found certain things that we are good at offensively that get us into a nice flow, into a nice rhythm and I thought some of the receivers made some remarkable catches tonight.”
Unfortunately, with the short week, the REDBLACKS did suffer a few injuries in the contest. Defensive back Bennett Williams suffered an apparent Achilles injury. Coach Dinwiddie also noted that linebacker Michael Brodrique and defensive back Scott Hutter were among the other injured REDBLACKS. Kalil Pimpleton, Michael Wakefield and Nyles Morgan all got banged up during the game but were able to return to action shortly after.
On the defensive end, Morgan led the way again for Ottawa with five defensive tackles, while AJ Allen posted three of his own and intercepted a Trevor Harris pass on the opening drive of the game. Wakefield also registered the REDBLACKS’ lone sack on the evening.
On the offensive side, Trevor Harris completed 18 of 31 passes for 243 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Receiver KeeSean Johnson posted a game-high 137 receiving yards with a score.
Linebacker Josh Woods posted a game-high seven defensive tackles, while Jameer Thurman posted the Riders’ only sack of the game.
The REDBLACKS are on the road on another short week as they head to Edmonton for some Thursday night football action at Commonwealth Stadium. The Elks are currently sitting at 3-0, heading into their Sunday night meeting with the 0-3 BC Lions.
