Le rouge et noir battent les Tiger-Cats en finale de la saison régulière

10/29/2024 09:52 AM

The Ottawa REDBLACKS ended the regular season on a high note on Friday night, taking a thrilling 37-31 victory over their East Division rivals, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

The TiCats opened the scoring with a 17-yard field goal just under 10 minutes in, but three minutes later, the REDBLACKS offence got rolling a little bit. For the third time in two weeks, Bralon Addison found his way into the endzone, putting Ottawa up 7-3 in the early going.

Ottawa picked up the next points of the game as well, after they connected on a long ball to Kalil Pimpleton, though they were forced to settle for a field goal. With the REDBLACKS 10-3, Hamilton tied the game six minutes later with a touchdown of their own, as Kiondré Smith got loose in the back corner of the endzone.

Both sides traded field goals, putting the score at 13-13, and with time winding down in the half, the REDBLACKS were moving the ball nicely. Down near the goal line, Dru Brown found Jaelon Acklin in the endzone, putting the REDBLACKS up 20-13 with 30 minutes left to play.

Out of the half, the Tabbies quickly put a field goal on the board, and soon after followed it up with a touchdown, taking the 22-20 lead. The REDBLACKS answered back with three of their own.

What ensued was a wild final quarter. Ante Milanovich-Litre scored with 14 minutes to go, and Ottawa responded with a pair of field goals. Hamilton got one of their own, giving the REDBLACKS the football after the three-minute warning.

A deep shot to Pimpleton resulted in a touchdown to put Ottawa up 37-31, but there was lots of time left on the clock for Hamilton.

They drove down the field, and with less than a minute to go, found themselves on the one-yard line, separated by a single yard from a likely victory.

They tried the quarterback sneak with Milanovich-Litre once: stuffed. A second time: stuffed again, this time for a loss. They handed it off to him on the final play of the game, and Alijah McGhee was there to shut it down, clinching the victory for the REDBLACKS.

The REDBLACKS will make their first playoff appearance in five years next weekend, when they head to Toronto for a clash with the Argonauts.