REDBLACKS CAPTURE INAUGURAL CFL SIM GREY CUP!
REGINA – There seems to be something the Ottawa RedBlacks like about overtime in Grey Cups. In this case, it was the Inaugural CFL SIM Grey Cup where Ottawa outlasted the hometown Saskatchewan Roughriders 20-17 in overtime, capturing the Esports league’s first-ever championship.
In a computer-simulated game on Doug Flutie’s Maximum Football on Saturday night as part of Grey Cup Unite Week, the RedBlacks and Roughriders were the last two teams standing after 23 weeks of play. In the end, the RedBlacks were crowned champions after overcoming an 0-7 start to the regular season.
In Saturday’s game simulcast on GreyCupUnite.ca and Facebook Live, the Roughriders jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the opening quarter courtesy of a 36-yard Brett Lauther field goal.
The second quarter was a back-and-forth affair as Ottawa kicker Lewis Ward notched a pair of field goals and Saskatchewan countered with a 74-yard touchdown reception from Cody Fajardo and a 27-yard Lauther field goal.
It was 11-6 Riders at the break.
The halftime show was star-studded as award-winning country recording artists The Hunter Brothers of Shaunavon, SK entertained the masses with a 7-minute montage of their two hit songs Those Were The Nights and Born & Raised. The live halftime panel featured analysis from Riders DE Chad Geter and Blue Bombers LB Micah Awe in a 3-way video call.
The RedBlacks took over in the third quarter with a 43-yard Brad Sinopoli touchdown catch from Nick Arbuckle and a Saskatchewan safety, giving the visitors a 15-11 lead entering the fourth period.
Another Rider safety upped Ottawa’s lead to 17-11 however a pair of Lauther field goals (43- and 49-yards) knotted the game up at 17-17 with 4:38 to go.
There was considerable hand-wringing from the Rider Nation in the final seconds of the game. The RedBlacks fumbled deep in their own territory, and it was recovered by Saskatchewan DB Nick Marshall. Rather than kick a game-winning field goal, Saskatchewan unsuccessfully tried to punch it in on a consecutive plays inside the Ottawa-5. Time ran out, and on we went to overtime!
The Riders won the coin toss and their first possession ended up in a 50-yard Lauther field goal attempt. It was blocked, and Ottawa took over at their 50-yard line. Arbuckle got a chunk play, with a 45-yard reception to R.J. Harris down to the Rider-15.
It set up a 14-yard Lewis Ward field goal and the record-holding CFL SIM kicker (53 yards) wasn’t going to miss from there. He was good, and it was party time in Ottawa!
Game Over: Ottawa 20 Saskatchewan 17 OT
The Ottawa RedBlacks captured their first actual Grey Cup in franchise history in 2016 with a 39-33 overtime victory over the Calgary Stampeders in the 104th Grey Cup in Toronto.
(Doug Flutie’s Maximum Football/Nelson Hackewich)
It did seem like a very faulty simulation as no team would run a play from inside the 5 yard line with 4 seconds left in a tie game when you should kick a field goal to win. The simulation obviously couldn’t understand to kick a field goal on second down!!