Calgary Stampeders defeat Ottawa Redblacks to keep playoff hopes alive
The Redblacks fell to 0-14 this season, extending their losing streak to 20 games dating back to last year.
OTTAWA — The Calgary Stampeders defeated the Ottawa Redblacks 45-31 on Saturday, keeping their CFL playoff hopes alive while extending Ottawa's winless season.
The Redblacks fell to 0-14 this season and have now lost 20 straight games, a streak dating back to the middle of last season.
"I've got respect for Ryan," Calgary head coach Dave Dickenson said of his Ottawa counterpart, Ryan Dinwiddie. "I think the league knows he's an excellent offensive mind, head coach."
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Dickenson worked with Dinwiddie when Dinwiddie was an assistant coach for the Stampeders.
"I know this year hasn't gone the way he was hoping for, obviously, but I know he's going to just keep working," Dickenson said. "He'll find a way."
The Stampeders improved to 7-8 and were tied for fourth in the West Division with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at 14 points each.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats, ranked third in the East, were eliminated from playoff contention after a loss later Saturday, locking in a crossover playoff berth for the fourth-place West team.
Deonta McMahon led Calgary with a pair of touchdowns in the win.
The Stampeders scored on their opening drive when quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. threw 45 yards to Clark Barnes to get to Ottawa's 12-yard line, and then threw to McMahon to score.
Tyreik McAllister scored on a 28-yard rush and McMahon ran four yards for his second touchdown in the second quarter. Anthony Johnson intercepted Ottawa quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson on the drive after McMahon's touchdown.
In total, McMahon scored both a rushing and a receiving touchdown, Tevin Jones and Clark Barnes caught touchdown passes and McAllister scored a rushing touchdown for the Stampeders.
Adams completed 24 of 30 pass attempts for 422 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions.
Receiver Jalen Philpot surpassed 1,000 receiving yards on the season in the win.
"He's looking fast and running with the ball," Dickenson said of Philpot. "He does a lot of gritty stuff in the run game as well."
"If we're going to do well, he's gotta continue to be the guy."
Calgary led the entire game after needing a 62-yard field goal to beat Ottawa last week.
Kicker Rene Paredes made field goals from 40, 49 and 43 yards and contributed five convert points. Ottawa's Brett Lauther made kicks from 13, 56 and 28 yards and added two convert points.
Ottawa mounted a solid late-game push but just couldn't get over the hump, according to Bethel-Thompson, who ended a 75-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown catch by Ayden Eberhardt just before halftime.
"In the third and the fourth we just played simple football and did the simple things well," Bethel-Thompson said.
Calgary kept the pressure on in the third quarter when Jones caught a 15-yard scoring catch in the final seconds.
Ottawa mustered a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter and a two-point convert by Justin Hardy with less than five minutes to go, but it wasn't enough.
Justin Hardy and Ayden Eberhardt had touchdown catches and Mario Anderson Jr. scored a rushing touchdown for Ottawa.
"We're definitely close and (it's) a testament to the guys in the locker room how they fought, keep fighting each week," Bethel-Thompson said.
Bethel-Thompson, in his second straight start, went 30-for-47 passing for 418 yards and a pair of touchdowns with one interception.
"One thing we can't question is our fight, we fight for a full 60," Dinwiddie said. "Now our level of execution has got to get better."
With files from The Canadian Press, CBC News and Global News