Members of the victorious Ottawa Redblacks, led by MVP quarterback Henry Burris (wielding crutches), celebrate their Grey Cup triumph with local fans. Cody MacKay, Centretown NewsAfter 40 years and two team changes, the drought is finally over football fans. The Grey Cup is coming home to Ottawa.
In one of the greatest games in CFL history, the Ottawa Redblacks survived overtime against the Calgary Stampeders to win the 104th Grey Cup in Toronto by a score of 39-33.
Resiliency was the key for the Redblacks in a game that nearly started off catastrophically for them.
During the pre-game warm-up, Redblacks fans everywhere held their collective breath as 41-year-old starting quarterback Henry Burris limped off the field with an apparent knee injury. After leading the team to last year’s Grey Cup, when Ottawa lost to the Edmonton Eskimos, it was uncertain whether Burris would be healthy enough to avenge last year’s loss.
But after the opening kick off, Burris was on the sidelines looking to prove to everyone that he was not the “Bad Hank” who lost in two of the past three Grey Cups. And he delivered.
Burris completed 35 of 46 passes for 461 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. He also scored two touchdowns on quarterback sneaks. No one was surprised when he earned his second career Grey Cup MVP award.
With Burris leading the way, the Redblacks jumped out to a 20-7 lead at halftime. “Good Hank” was in full force and the Redblacks were in control.
Then, in the second half, the Redblacks’ lead began to shrink due to a furious comeback by the Stampeders. This was no surprise from a team that finished first overall in the CFL with a 15-2-1 regular season record as well as the league’s best offence and defence.
The Stamps rallied from 20 points down in the third quarter and kicked the game-tying field goal — in dramatic fashion —with 10 seconds left in regulation, forcing overtime.
In OT, Burris and the Redblacks regrouped. Ernest Jackson caught a Burris pass after multiple bobbles to give Ottawa the go-ahead touchdown and a 39-33 lead. But a missed two-point conversion left the door open for Calgary to steal the win.
After Stampeders quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell threw two incomplete passes — including a knocked down pass in the end zone — it all came down to a final third and 10. Bakari Grant would seal the game for Ottawa as he batted the ball out of the air to start the celebrations of one of the biggest Grey Cup upsets in recent memory.
Winning a game with so many twists and turns was fitting for the Redblacks after their up and down season. Despite making it to the Grey Cup last year and finishing first in the East Division with a 12-6-0 record in 2015, wins were hard to come by for Ottawa in 2016.
The team finished the regular season with an 8-9-1 record, but finished first in the weaker East for a second straight year. Ottawa became the first team ever to win a division with a losing record.
But that didn’t stop the team from thriving as underdogs when it mattered most.
In the East final last week, the Redblacks exorcised their Grey Cup demons by defeating the reigning CFL champion Edmonton Eskimos by a 35-23 score at TD Place.
And now they’ve beaten a powerhouse Stampeders team to win the Grey Cup.
In recent years, the CFL has been struggling to succeed in Ottawa with the Rough Riders folding in 1996 after a storied 123 year run and the four year debacle that was the Renegades.
Now, in just three years, the Redblacks have put Ottawa’s troubled football past behind them by finally winning that elusive first championship.
The Redblacks return home as champions, looking to defend the Grey Cup on home field when the 2017 Grey Cup is held in Ottawa.