Redblacks beat Alouettes for first win of season
Redblacks 24 Alouettes 19
OTTAWA — The Ottawa Redblacks finally picked up their first victory of the season with a 24-19 win over the Montreal Alouettes Wednesday night.
The Redblacks (1-3-1) didn’t make things easy on themselves as they allowed the Alouettes to attempt a comeback in the second half, but unlike previous games were able to hold on to the lead.
Trevor Harris was 29-of-41 passing for 376 yards with two TD’s, while Montreal’s Darian Durant was 35 for 45 for 452 yards and two TD’s and two interceptions.
The play of the game came with just over one minute left when the Ottawa defence held off the Alouettes on third-and-one attempt at Ottawa’s eight-yard line, sending the sellout crowd of 24,756 into a frenzy.
Looking to close a 24-18 gap Boris Bede attempted a 50-yard field goal, but settled for a single after kicking the ball out of bounds.
Trailing 17-3 the Alouettes (2-3) pushed back hard in the third quarter.
Durant connected with Tiquan Underwood for a 51-yard touchdown pass and Nic Lewis for a four-yard TD, but Ottawa replied with a touchdown of its own as Brad Sinopoli took in a short pass to lead 24-18 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Redblacks were able to cap off a solid first half with an 18-yard field goal by Brett Maher in the final minute to take a 17-3 lead into the break.
Antoine Pruneau came up with a huge play in the second quarter with an interception in the end zone. Illegal contact on the receiver was initially called, but Ottawa challenged and the call was overturned. On the ensuing play Harris connected with Greg Ellingson for an 80-yard touchdown to take a 14-3 lead.
Penalties continued to be an issue for Ottawa. A 33-yard pass to Ellingson to put Ottawa in scoring position was negated due to an unnecessary roughness penalty on OL SirVincent Rogers. Ottawa settled for a punt single taking a 7-3 lead.
The Redblacks jumped out to a 6-0 lead on 20- and 38-yard field goals by Maher early in the first quarter. Montreal cut the lead in half with a 42-yard field goal to make it 6-3 after the first quarter.
This game marks the third of four in a stretch of 17 days for the Redblacks, with the last being played Monday in Toronto.