3 stats that defined Ottawa's Week 4 win over Hamilton

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06/30/2024 10:57 PM

OTTAWA — It didn’t come easy, but the Ottawa REDBLACKS ended their long-running winless drought against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday night at TD Place Stadium.

Not having defeated the Hamiltonians since the 2018 postseason, Dru Brown and the REDBLACKS snatched a late victory courtesy of Lewis Ward‘s game-winning field goal to come out with a 24-22 result.

Just when it looked like Bo Levi Mitchell had conjured up a game-winning drive after a touchdown strike to Shemar Bridges with 31 seconds on the clock, the REDBLACKS were able to get into field goal territory on the game’s final possession.

Here are CFL.ca's three key stats from the Alouettes win over the Argonauts.

46 – YARD FIELD GOAL BY LEWIS WARD

Ward chose the perfect time to nail his longest field goal attempt of the season.

After Bralon Addison got the REDBLACKS into field goal range with a clutch 10-yard catch from Dru Brown, Ward did the rest with just three seconds to go in the game. Ward missed his team’s first extra-point attempt of the game but didn’t let that phase him with the game on the line.

104 – ALL-PURPOSE YARDS FROM RYQUELL ARMSTEAD

When Ottawa got into the red zone, they had Ryquell Armstead to thank for it. The REDBLACKS running back was the home team’s danger man all evening long, producing chunk plays on the ground and through the air.

Armstead finished the win with 10 rushes for 51 yards on the ground and an additional 53 yards through the air off of six catches. Armstead’s 25-yard catch-and-run led to Ottawa’s touchdown score early in the first quarter, and consecutive runs of 14 and then 18 yards in the fourth eventually resulted in a Justin Hardy touchdown.

12 – FOURTH-QUARTER OTTAWA POINTS

The REDBLACKS and Tiger-Cats were engulfed in a defensive showdown for most of Sunday night’s game, but that changed in the fourth quarter.

After Dustin Crum’s rushing touchdown in the first quarter, Ottawa failed to deliver in the red zone until deep in the fourth quarter, but that’s when it mattered most. Brown found Hardy free for his only touchdown pass of the day with just over two minutes to go.

Combine that important score with Ward’s 42-yard field goal earlier in the quarter and then the game-winning kick as time expired, the REDBLACKS offence came alive when it mattered most after going scoreless in the third quarter.