Saturday Sports: RedBlacks Throttle Stamps

CFL

The Ottawa Redblacks have much to celebrate after an impressive 33-6 win over the Calgary Stampeders Friday night.

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

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

Dave Dickenson’s Stampeders will want to forget this one as soon as possible.

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

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

Dickenson said the lesson for his team is to not let this loss define the season and to learn from it and move on.

Calgary drops to 3-4 and remains winless on the road (0-4).

Dru Brown had a solid outing for Ottawa, going 30-for-37 for 325 yards but struggled to finish drives, relying heavily on kicker Lewis Ward, who was 4-for-4 on the night.

Ottawa’s defence deserves significant credit for the victory.

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

“Defensively, week in and week out, we tell ourselves we’ve got to play Ottawa Redblacks defence,” said defensive lineman Lorenzo Mauldin. “When we do that we’re confident we’re going to come out with a win.”

The lone stain on the night for Ottawa was Ryquell Armstead being ejected early in the second half after his second misconduct penalty of the game. Armstead had previously been fined for abuse of an official.

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

UP NEXT

Stampeders: Host the Toronto Argonauts (3-3) on Sunday, Aug. 4.

Redblacks: Bye week, then host the Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-2) on Thursday, Aug. 8.

• The 3-and-3 Toronto Argonauts, looking to shake off last week’s 27-24 road loss to the rival Hamilton Tiger-Cats, host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers tonight at BMO (Bee-Mow) Field. The 2-and-5 Blue Bombers are coming off a 19-9 loss last week to the host Saskatchewan Roughriders. Last night the Ottawa Redblacks improved to 4-and-0 at home and 5-and-2 overall by blitzing the visiting Calgary Stampeders 33-6. The Stamps slipped to 3-and-4.

OLYMPICS

• PARIS (AP) — A hot-air balloon brought an Olympic ring of fire into a rainy sky and singer Celine Dion belted from the Eiffel Tower as Paris kicked off its first Summer Olympics in a century. The four-hour-long, rule-breaking opening ceremony Friday unfurled along the Seine River. On-and-off showers didn’t seem to hamper the enthusiasm of the athletes. Some held umbrellas as they rode boats down the river. It marked a showcase of the city’s resilience as authorities investigated suspected acts of sabotage targeting France’s high-speed rail network. Crowds crammed along the River Seine and watched from balconies, “oohing” and “aahing” as Olympic teams paraded in boats along the waterway.
• Canada’s men’s basketball team is set to tip off Olympic preliminary round action Saturday with a game against Greece in Lille, France. The game features a number of NBA stars. Greece is led by former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, while Canada has standouts such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray, R-J Barrett, Dillon Brooks and Kelly Olynyk.

CEBL

• Guillaume Payen-Boucard’s 21 points helped the Montreal Alliance (5-14) snap their four-game losing skid with an 89-72 win over the Saskatchewan Rattlers (6-14) on Friday night. In addition to his game-high point total, Payen-Boucard stuffed the stat sheet with five rebounds, two assists, four steals, and two blocked shots in the win. His play at both ends of the court was the engine that drove the Alliance all game, especially on defence.
• Led by Marcus Carr’s 22 points, the Bandits (14-5) secured tops in the Western Conference, and a bye to Championship Weekend in Montreal, with a 104-90 victory over the Scarborough Shooting Stars (11-8) Friday night at Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.

MLB

The Toronto Blue Jays, coming off an exciting 6-5 win last night against the visiting Texas Rangers, will be aiming to make it two in a row today against the defending World Series champions. Right-hander Kevin Gausman will be on the mound for the 47-and-56 Jays, while the 51-and-53 Rangers counter with right-hander Michael Lorenzen.

WCBL

Moose Jaw 12 Swift Current 1
Regina 8 Okotoks 7
Weyburn 7 Medicine Hat 5
Sylvan Lake 7 Fort McMurray 5
Lethbridge 11 Edmonton 2

GOLF

American Lauren Coughlin held onto the lead Friday in the CPKC Canadian Women’s Open, while Canadian star Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ontario was derailed by closing bogeys at windy Earl Grey Golf Club in Calgary. Coughlin followed her opening 4-under 68 on Thursday with a 70 on Friday to get to 6 under, a stroke ahead of Hannah Green of Australia and Haeran Ryu of South Korea. Henderson is tied for 26th with Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherwood, Quebec. Both are at 1 over.

NFL

The Miami Dolphins have signed quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to a four-year contract extension valued at a franchise-record 212.4-million-dollars (US), according to an Associated Press source. The deal includes 167 million guaranteed. In Green Bay, a person familiar with the situation says Packers quarterback Jordan Love has agreed to terms on a four-year contract extension worth 220-million dollars. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the deal has not been announced.

(Canadian Press/CEBL)