Week 10 CFL Wrap

REDBLACKS 46 ARGONAUTS 42

TORONTO – Dru Brown threw a career-high five TD passes Saturday afternoon and the Ottawa RedBlacks needed each one of them to earn a shootout victory.

Brown’s 11-yard toss to Justin Hardy with 41 seconds remaining helped Ottawa secure a wild 46-42 win over the Toronto Argonauts. The score capped a clutch 72-yard, nine-play march in a game the Redblacks trailed 22-1 after the first quarter.

Brown completed 26-of-31 passes for 373 yards as Ottawa (3-6) captured a second straight victory following a four-game winless streak. Included was a 29-16 setback to Toronto on June 29.

“When you lose there’s so much time spent trying to win,” Brown said. “When you’re losing, it can take its toll on you but you just have to stay together and we stayed together. We had a rough stretch there but it really is awesome to see everyone’s faces in there after a win.”

Toronto (2-7) got the ball at its own 39-yard line with 36 seconds left but former Argo Robert Priester intercepted Nick Arbuckle to clinch the win. Arbuckle was 32-of-38 passing for 317 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for another.

Argos coach Dinwiddie said his post-game message Saturday was very familiar to ones he has delivered this season.

“I sound like a broken record talking to them after the game,” he said. “I just told them I’m not going to quit on them and I don’t think those guys quit on us but I think we have some pretenders in the building who like to talk a big game and don’t show up on game day.

“If you don’t love it, let me know. I know I love it and I’m not going to quit.”

UP NEXT

Redblack: Visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Thursday.

Argonauts: Visit the Edmonton Elks (2-6) on Friday.

STAMPEDERS 28 BLUE BOMBERS 27

CALGARY – Rene Paredes kicked a 40-yard field goal with no time left on the clock to lead the Calgary Stampeders to a thrilling 28-27 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday.

Paredes finished the CFL contest with four field goals and two singles for the Stampeders (6-3), who snapped a two-game losing streak.

After missing the previous game with a head injury, quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. returned to the lineup and threw a pair of touchdown passes to Tevin Jones.

Starting quarterback Zach Collaros threw a touchdown pass to Jerreth Sterns for the Blue Bombers (4-4), while his backup Chris Streveler ran for a TD.

Sergio Castillo kicked five field goals for the Bombers — including one from 63 yards out with 61 seconds remaining in the game to tie a CFL record and put Winnipeg ahead 27-25 — and added a single.

After missing Winnipeg’s previous game with a neck injury, Collaros completed the first four passes he threw on Winnipeg’s first drive of the game to help set up a 49-yard field goal by Castillo at 4:47 of the first quarter.

UP NEXT

Blue Bombers: Host the Ottawa Redblacks on Thursday.

Stampeders: Host the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday, Aug. 23.

ELKS 23 ALOUETTES 22

MONTREAL – Edmonton Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo still has fond memories of leading the Montreal Alouettes to the 2023 Grey Cup championship, a moment he calls “number 1” on his list of accomplishments throughout his decade playing in the CFL.

Friday night’s 23-22 Elks win over the Alouettes at Percival Molson Stadium, however, now comes a close second on Fajardo’s list.

The 33-year-old, making his first start against Montreal since being traded by the Alouettes to the Elks for McLeod Bethel-Thompson last December, led Edmonton on a game-winning drive, culminating in a 15-yard touchdown throw to another former Alouette Kaion Julien-Grant with just 15 seconds remaining on the clock.

“You can tell on that last play he (Kaion) dragged that defender into the end zone,” said Fajardo. “That’s how much he wanted it. That’s how much I wanted it. This one meant a little bit more. I wasn’t afraid to say it all week.”

Fajardo was 27-for-38, throwing for 289 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He was also sacked five times in the contest.

Since taking over for Canadian Tre Ford on July 26, Fajardo has thrown for 892 yards, to go along with five touchdowns and just one interception. He improved his record to 5-1 in his career against the Alouettes with the win.

Edmonton (2-6) won for the first time in four tries. It was also their first road win of the season.

Bethel-Thompson, starting his fifth game at quarterback this season in place of the injured Davis Alexander, struggled on offence for the Alouettes. The 37-year-old completed just 10 of his 15 pass attempts, good for a meagre 79 yards, and was intercepted once.

As a result, Alouettes head coach Jason Maas turned to third-string quarterback Caleb Evans to start the second half. He threw for 113 yards and one touchdown.

“Obviously, it wasn’t good enough in the first half and that’s why we made the move with Caleb in the second half,” said Maas. “There’s some good notion that Caleb is going to start our next game, just based on those two performances.

“From the first half to the second half, we moved the ball better and scored more points with Caleb in there. We’ll evaluate the film. I think Bethel knows and everybody knows after that performance, it just wasn’t good enough.”

UP NEXT

Elks: Host the Toronto Argonauts on Friday, Aug. 15.

Alouettes: Visit the B.C. Lions on Saturday, Aug. 16.

LIONS 41 TIGER-CATS 38 (OT)

HAMILTON – It wasn’t perfect but for Nathan Rourke and the B.C. Lions, it was good enough.

Rourke threw for 408 yards and two TDs as B.C. earned a 41-38 overtime win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Thursday night. Sean Whyte delivered the winning points, hitting a 19-yard field goal to cap the Lions’ first possession in extra time.

B.C. (4-5) earned its first win in three games and avenged a 37-33 home loss to Hamilton on July 27.

“It’s going to take a lot more wins like that at that quality against those type of teams for the rest of the season,” Rourke said. “It’s a good confidence-builder knowing we can play below our standard of football, make some mistakes and gut out a victory, no matter how pretty it looks. 

“A win is a win, that’s a great football team we just beat.”

Hamilton (6-3) had its six-game win streak snapped.

Hamilton had the opening possession of overtime. But former Ticat DeWayne Hendrix recovered Tim White’s fumble following a completion, to the dismay of the Hamilton Stadium gathering of 24,012.

“The group focused on the things we needed to fix and we were able to implement those things when it mattered most,” said Lions head coach Buck Pierce. “I thought there was some growth.

“Obviously there’s still a lot of stuff to clean … but that’s the exciting part too. I’m proud of the way the guys finished and the poise they played with. It just felt like someone was going to step up and make a play at the end.”

Rourke finished 24-of-40 passing with an interception while rushing twice for 28 yards. Butler ran for 85 yards and a touchdown while adding four receptions for 55 yards and a TD.

Justin McInnis had eight catches for 159 yards while Ayden Eberhardt recorded three receptions for 120 yards. B.C. had 514 total offensive yards and finished four-of-five in the redzone.

Hamilton’s Bo Levi Mitchell completed 23-of-33 passes for 305 yards and three second-half touchdowns. With returner Isaiah Wooden Sr. (upper body) out in the first half, White stepped in and amassed 223 all-purpose yards (five catches for 84 yards, a two-yard run, four kickoff returns for 89 yards, three punt returns for 37 yards and an 11-yard missed field goal return).

(Canadian Press)