Redblacks beat Stampeders 33-6 to remain undefeated at home

The Ottawa Redblacks have a lot to celebrate after an impressive 33-6 victory over the Calgary Stampeders on Friday night.

Ottawa is 4-0 at home for the first time since 1978. The 5-2 record is their best start ever after seven games in the Canadian Football League and they are on a three-game winning streak.

Everything seems to be going well, but now they have to hope that they can regain momentum as they head into a week off.

“You know, if we go into a bye week 5-2, I know they’re going to come back even hungrier,” Redblacks head coach Bob Dyce said. “That’s what we talked about at the end of the game. We just feel like this is the start for us and we want to keep the momentum going.”

Dave Dickenson’s Stampeders want to forget this as quickly as possible.

There wasn’t much to like about this game and coach Dickenson gave the Redblacks all the credit for their performance.

“They were by far the better team,” Dickenson said. “We were never really in it. They were the better team, but we’ll be back, we will.”

Dickenson said the lesson his team needs to learn is not to let this loss define their season, they need to learn from it and move on.

Calgary is now 3-4 and still without a win on foreign soil (0-4).

Dru Brown had a solid game for Ottawa, completing 30 of 37 passes for 325 yards. However, he struggled to finish drives, relying heavily on kicker Lewis Ward, who completed 4 of 4 passes on the night.

Ottawa’s defense deserves a lot of credit for the win.

After a league-leading performance last week, Calgary QB Jake Maier struggled, completing just 20 of 27 passes for 136 yards. Logan Bonner came into the game late, going 4-for-8 for 61 yards.

“Defensively, week in and week out, we tell ourselves we have to play the Ottawa Redblacks defense,” defensive lineman Lorenzo Mauldin said. “If we do that, we’re confident we’re going to come away with a win.”

Calgary opened the scoring with a 50-yard field goal from Rene Paredes, but after that it was mostly the Redblacks’ turn.

Ottawa responded quickly with a solid drive that resulted in a 14-yard touchdown pass to Jaelon Acklin.

Ward then scored three times from 40, 23 and 42 yards to round out the first half scoring and take a 16-3 lead.

Whether Dyce can capitalize in the red zone is something he’ll have to consider during the bye week.

“That’s an area we can focus on to make sure,” he said. “On our wall, it says finish and that’s what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to finish drives.”

It didn’t take long for the Redblacks to extend their lead.

Ottawa opened the second half with a 34-yard field goal, then Kalil Pimpleton made a 99-yard punt return to extend the lead to 26-3.

“He does everything the right way,” Brown said of Pimpleton, who also had seven catches for 80 yards. “I can’t express my gratitude enough that he stuck with it even when he wasn’t on the roster.”

After just three games, Pimpleton has made a solid impression.

Calgary’s game was a highlight when they reached the eight-yard line, but Damon Webb was able to pick off a pass intended for Marken Michel.

“We’re professionals, we can’t make excuses,” Calgary defensive lineman Josiah Coatney said. “We just have to play the way we know we can play and not worry about the conditions. That’s what professionalism is all about.”

Paredes added a 40-yard field goal early in the fourth period to make it 26-6. Dustin Crum scored a one-yard touchdown with 3:44 left to put Ottawa up 32-6.

The only blemish on the night for Ottawa was Ryquell Armstead’s ejection early in the second half after his second misconduct penalty of the game. Armstead had previously been fined for assaulting an official.

“One of the things we always talk about is being disciplined,” Dyce said. “That’s playing undisciplined… it’s frustrating because it puts stress on the whole squad.”

NEXT ONE

Stampeders: host the Toronto Argonauts (3-3) on Sunday, August 4.

Redblacks: Free week, then they receive the Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-2) on Thursday, August 8.