Bizarre night at TD Place ends with Redblacks and Roughriders in a ...

The dark clouds hovering over TD Place on a wild and wet night had some silver linings for the Ottawa Redblacks on Thursday.

In the end, the Saskatchewan Roughriders were unable to completely rain on their parade.

The bizarre evening of events ended in a 22-22 tie that improved the Redblacks to 5-2-1 and improved their unbeaten streak to four games, while the Roughriders stopped their own two-game losing streak while going to 5-3-1.

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The bad news for Ottawa included the loss of quarterback Dru Brown to an injury that mostly left the offence in a terrible state and, to a lesser extent, a couple of Lewis Ward field goal attempts getting blocked.

“I don’t believe it’s anything structural,” said Redblacks head coach Bob Dyce, “but something like that, you’ve got to go  through all the needed processes to make sure. I always want to make sure that there’s nothing serious in there …. I don’t believe so right now, anyhow.”

The good was the defence, which was actually great.

In extending its stretch of not allowing a touchdown to almost 12 full quarters, the ‘D’ recorded three interceptions and a huge third-and-one stop on its own 15-yard line in the fourth quarter.

Alas, it could not throw a perfect game.

After Brown left a game for the second time this season in the second quarter – a result of Roughriders defensive tackle Miles Brown rolling up on ankle/leg and earning a roughing-the-passer penalty in the process – Dustin Crum came on in relief and had trouble completing passes.

But he did come up with some big, timely runs, including an 11-yard scramble to score an overtime TD.

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But we’ll rewind a little more.

The Redblacks were up 10-3 in the dying minutes before the defence finally allowed the door to open a crack.

After hitting Dohnte Meyers down the sidelines for a 33-yard gain that moved the ball into the foreign territory that had been the Ottawa red zone, quarterback Shea Patterson connected with a wide open Shawn Bane Jr. for a seven-yard touchdown that, after the convert, tied the score with 1:53 left.

The Redblacks offence had plenty of time to move the ball into Ward range, but after a holding penalty on first down, Crum threw an interception into the waiting arms of Rolan Milligan Jr., who brought the ball to the Ottawa 31-yard line.

From there, Brett Lauthier hit a 37-yard field goal with 45 seconds left.

Surprisingly, Ottawa bounced back.

Crum led the team downfield, with a big third-down completion to Justin Hardy, and with zero time left on the clock Ward did what he does in pressure situations.

From the 47-yard line, he split the uprights, sending the game into overtime.

The Roughriders won the OT toss and elected to defend first.

Crum dove into the challenge.

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First he hit Dom Rhymes for a 26-yard gain down the sidelines.

Then, on second down from the 11, Crum made a made dash that ended with him taking a hit and spinning just across the goal line.

The game appeared to be over, but the Roughriders challenged what would have been the last play and it was ruled that Ottawa’s Alijah McGhee was called for pass interference.

Patterson responded by hitting Samuel Emilus with a 10-yard TD pass.

As Ottawa did moments earlier, the Roughriders failed to make good on the mandatory, two-point conversion.

That led to something of a double overtime, with both teams getting the ball one more time.

Saskatchewan had first crack and settled for a 29-yard field goal by Lauther.

With the Redblacks chance, Crum was sacked twice, the second time leading to a what was a game ending fumble … until it wasn’t.

A roughing the passer call brought the teams out of the handshake-and-hug line and gave the Redblacks a first down on the Roughriders 32.

Crum hit Kalil (The Thrill) Pimpleton with a pass that brought the ball to the Saskatchewan 15.

Crum then found Rhymes with a pass to the seven, but on third down, the Redblacks decided not to push their luck and instead sent Ward out to tie the score with a 14-yard field goal.

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Played mostly in a light rain, the first half ended with the teams deadlocked 3-3.

Most of the highlights to that point came off punts, from a big Alonzo Addae coverage tackle deep in Roughriders territory, to Richie Leone nailing a 56-yarder that stopped on the Saskatchewan one, to DeVonte Dedmon fumbling a return just outside the visitors’ 15-yard line.

The exchange of field goals occurred with less than a minute to go before the intermission.

The Redblacks, however, had the better chances to get into the endzone.

The first such opportunity came after Jovon Santos-Knox picked off a pass brought it to the Saskatchewan 52 with just over three minutes left in the half. On a second down play, Crum had Kalil Pimpleton wide open in middle of field but overthrew him on what would have been an easy score.

The following snap saw the Roughriders block a 38-yard field goal attempt by Ward.

The Redblacks got the ball back almost immediately when Shea Patterson overthrew his intended receiver and the ball went straight into the arms of Ottawa cornerback Alijah McGhee, who was making his season debut after missing the first seven games with a fractured foot.

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He returned the pick 43 yards to the Saskatchewan 38, and Crum moved the ball into the red zone when he followed with a 29-yard completion to Dom Rhymes, who was tackled at the nine.

But after a handoff and short pass to Ryquell Armstead that couldn’t finish the job, Ward came in to put a 14-yard field goal through the uprights.

The Roughriders bounced back, taking the ensuring kick and driving into position for a Brett Lauther 47-yarder on the last play of the half.

The Redblacks had a chance to jump back on top midway through the third quarter, thanks to a couple of gutsy runs by Crum. When the drive stalled, Ward came out for a 22-yard field goal try, but again his kick was blocked.

Another golden opportunity to visit the Saskatchewan end zone presented itself a couple of minutes later, after Addae dove to grab a deflected Patterson pass and took the interception 26 yards to the Saskatchewan 21.

After yet another drive stalled, Ward made good on a 28-yard field goal attempt for the precarious 6-3 lead.

GOING DEEP

Leone was recognized during the first half as No. 10 on the Redblacks Top 10 all-time players list, as voted by the fans. That’s right, a punter. Somewhere Peyton Manning is having a chuckle. The Redblacks sounded better than ever last night, from a solo electric guitar performance of the national anthem by JW Jones to just better overall selections by the stadium tunes playing guy throughout the night … Next week the Redblacks travel to Calgary for a Thursday night meeting with the Stampeders. They return home to face the B.C. Lions on Aug. 24 in the first game of a home-and-away series. [email protected]

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