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Videos: Ticats tie on Tasker catch, Redblacks win on 93-yard Ellingson grab

Videos: Ticats tie on Tasker catch, Redblacks win on 93-yard Ellingson grab

The last two minutes of the East Final between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Ottawa Redblacks saw two incredible plays. With the Tiger-Cats down 28-21 with 1:42 left and the ball on Ottawa's 23-yard line, Hamilton QB Jeremiah Masoli dropped back to pass and threw a dart to the end zone towards slotback Luke Tasker. There were two Redblacks' defenders in the area, and Tasker went up for the ball with one all over him. Here's what happened next:

That was Tasker's second heroic moment of the game, as he threw a key pass to Andy Fantuz earlier on a first-quarter trick play. It set up Justin Medlock's game-tying convert and meant Ottawa had to drive much of the field in the final minute-plus to avoid overtime. Hamilton's defence got off to a great start, too; they pressured Ottawa QB Henry Burris early and he threw a pass right to Tiger-Cats' DE Arnaud Gascon-Nadon (making his first CFL start thanks to an injury to Eric Norwood). Gascon-Nadon couldn't hang on, but the Redblacks were flagged for holding, setting up a second and 25 from their own 22. Then, this happened:

Yes, that's a bobbled snap Burris somehow managed to recover, and then he stepped up and threw a bomb from his own 11 down the sideline to a streaking Greg Ellingson. Ellingson was well-covered when the ball was thrown, so that's a bit of a risky play (as an interception would have given the Ticats the ball in good position, needing just a rouge to win) but his defender stumbled (it didn't look like there was much contact from Ellingson, although Hamilton fans may disagree) and he managed to haul in the pass, streak down the sidelines and stay inbounds for a 93-yard touchdown. The Ottawa radio call of this is terrific:

Following this TD, the Ottawa defence then forced a three-and-out and their offence managed to collect a first down and the 35-28 win. It's appropriate that the winning play came on a Burris-to-Ellingson pass, too, as both are former Ticats. Tasker's grab was incredible in its own right, and it necessitated something even more special to top it. Burris and Ellingson managed that here.