Redblacks bust out of slump with another victory over the Calgary Stampeders
There's nothing wrong with the Ottawa Redblacks that playing the Calgary Stampeders doesn't cure.
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After a turtle-like start, the Redblacks scored 17 unanswered points in the second quarter en route to a 31-11 victory over the Stamps in front of 16,115 fans Thursday night at TD Place.
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The win, the first of the season on home turf, snapped a four-game losing skid for the 2-6 Redblacks , whose only other victory was June 21 in Calgary.
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The Stampeders (5-3) were without starting quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., three Canadian receivers and starting cornerback Adrian Greene, who leads the CFL with four interceptions. They were also playing their fourth game in 19 days while Ottawa was coming off a bye week.
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The Redblacks held a 17-3 lead at halftime thanks to a pair of touchdown catches by Justin Hardy, but Calgary's second-ranked defence appeared determined to shift the momentum in the third quarter with two sacks, an interception, and holding Ottawa quarterback Dru Brown to just 12 passing yards.
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But on a night dominated by the Ottawa defence, cornerback Alijay McGhee stepped up and restored order on a 61-yard pick-six with just under 10 minutes left. It was the third interception of the night thrown by P.J. Walker, a former NFL starting quarterback who was making his first career CFL start.
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Walker wound up completing 20 of 37 passes for 273 yards while Brown, who left Ottawa's previous game in the second quarter with a head injury, connected on 19 of 27 throws for 225 yards.
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Calgary finally found the end zone on a 29-yard TD reception by ex-Redblack Dominque Rhymes, who also pulled in two long passes to set up the only score of the first quarter, a 37-yard Rene Paredes field goal.
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But the outcome was sealed when Stamps coach Dave Dickenson kept his offence on the field for a third-and-10 gamble from its own nine-yard line with just over two minutes left. Lorenzo Mauldin, last year's CFL co-leader in sacks, responded with his first of the season to give the Redblacks possession at the Calgary one.
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Short-yardage quarterback Dustin Crum entered to take the scoring plunge.
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