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Ottawa Redblacks beat Calgary Stampeders, are 3-2 entering bye week

Ottawa Redblacks beat Calgary Stampeders, are 3-2 entering bye week

A month ago, it would have seemed stranger than fiction: the Ottawa Redblacks beating the defending champion Calgary Stampeders while leaving points on the field.

Ottawa's 29-26 overtime outlasting of the Stampeders at TD Place on Friday was a case study in how a growing team in the CFL, where entropy and chaos are selling points, sometimes must win a game not once, but twice, but thrice. The Redblacks had a missed convert and go-ahead field goal late in regulation, but harried Bo Levi Mitchell  (23-of-41, 318 yards, one touchdown) sufficiently to keep Calgary out of field-goal range for Rene Paredes, who had a game-tying 49-yarder to his credit. On the first play of overtime, new defensive end Aston Whiteside strip-sacked Mitchell for the second time of the night. A recovery and two running plays later, Delbert Alvardo hit a redemptive 34-yard field goal for the win.

The Redblacks (3-2) will likely have a share of first in the Eastern Division when they come back from a bye in Week 6.

"Things are not always going to go according to plan," said cornerback Brandon McDonald, whose team kept Calgary out of the end zone in the final two quarters. "We did a good job of hanging in there and not getting down.

"Everybody could have went in the dumps when we missed that field goal. Defence held it up, offence did its part and the special teams got the field goal. If we keep it up, it's definitely a good sign, There's always things that we need to correct. We're going to go, review this film Saturday and come back and get ready to get back to it ... we stuck it out."

The Redblacks won without a running game, since new started Jeremiah Johnson rushed just 10 times for 22 yards and also fumbled away a two-point conversion in the second quarter. Ottawa has faced more second-and-long situations (seven or more yards to go for the first down) than any other team in the CFL, a telling stat that shouldn't be lost on anyone. They were penalized 12 times for 115 yards on Friday. They also caught the Stampeders (3-2) while Mitchell was out of sync. Feature back extraordinaire Jon Cornish (seven rushes for 20, one touchdown) was shut down at halftime after a reported broken thumb.

Their grip seemed to slacken with 12 minutes left when Henry Burris (28-of-43, 389 yards) took successive sacks that negated at least a field-goal opportunity. Five minutes later, they were ahead 26-23 after Chris Williams' 84-yard pass-and-run touchdown. Alvarado's wide rights on a convert and a 32-yard field goal kept the game up for grabs.

Burris, much maligned in the nation's capital after back-to-back losses where the Redblacks offence scored one touchdown, was 8-for-8 for 144 yards in the fourth quarter.

And Ottawa grabbed it instead of Calgary, which has pulled the Houdini act already this season against Winnipeg (26-25 in Week 4) and Hamilton (24-23 in Week 1).

"In the big picture, it's great to have a winning record going into the bye," Redblacks coach Rick Campbell said. "We keep buying into the fact that we do some good things but there's a bunch of things we have to do better in order to win some games.

"You always want to tip the odds in your favour," Campbell said. "We had a couple sacks, back to back, in that cost us a chance to score. When I found out we were the least penalized team in the league, I actually didn't believe it. We have to clean those things up.

"It's good to know we can play close football games and find a way to pull them out."

That burgeoning confidence was reflected in the drama that played out with Alvarado after his fourth-quarter misses. After blanking Calgary on its possession, Ottawa never hesitated to run the ball twice and set up for a field goal. Burris gave Alvardo a high five as he ran on to the field.

"I just kept telling myself to stay in rhythm," said Alvarado, who is 4-for-5 on converts this season. "It's one of those blissful moments you get as a kicker when you get a second chance. I cannot tell you I wasn't thinking about it, but you're a professional and you work to overcome it. I'm just some super-pumped

"I just feel like I hit the ball thin on both kicks, got it off my toe a little bit," he added. "Maybe I rushed my approach and got it under the ball and pushed it right."

It wasn't a masterpiece but hey, most football games are not. The upshot is Ottawa, against a John Hufnagel team, didn't self-destruct.

"All three phases played well," McDonald said. "We didn't give them too many big plays, We stuck it out."

 

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @naitSAYger.