A low scoring affair had both offences frustrated Saturday afternoon when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats hosted the Ottawa REDBLACKS.
The REDBLACKS came out on the winning end with a 21-15 victory in a game that saw no touchdowns scored until two minutes remained in the fourth quarter.
Ottawa’s Lewis Ward opened up the scoring on the REDBLACKS first drive on offence, kicking a 42-yard field goal to get the early jump on the Ticats.
The former Ottawa U product would be the source of all of the REDBLACKS points for the day, kicking a perfect game.
Penalties were an issue for either side but certainly didn’t affect the REDBLACKS more than it did for June Jones and the Ticats, as his team committed 11 penalties for a total of 157 yards.
Trevor Harris completed 23 of 35 pass attempts while passing for 228 yards in the REDBLACKS fourth win of the season.
Hamilton only managed to score a single point off of a missed field goal by Lirim Hajrullahu. The Ticats’ kicker missed a pair of field goals in the opening half before he nailed a 49-yarder late in the second quarter.
Jeremiah Masoli did manage to throw for 158 yards in the opening half of play while completing 14 of his 20 pass attempts, but the REDBLACKS defence managed to seize any forward progress when it came to the red zone including putting ample amount of pressure on Masoli, giving up four sacks to the REDBLACKS.
Despite accurate completion percentages from both team’s quarterbacks, neither team had much success in the early going when it came to the ground game. The REDBLACKS only managed to average a single yard on the ground, while the Ticats averaged slightly more than three yards per carry.
With both teams struggling offensively, the play with the largest gain came at the end of the first half on a hail mary attempt by Trevor Harris, completing the pass as time expired but RJ Harris fell two yards short of the goal-line.
The third quarter got underway with Lewis Ward kicking his third field goal of the day, this one from 42 yards out and extending Ottawa’s lead 9-5.
Through three quarters of play, both offences continued to find early success in their drives but struggled to find ways to cap off a series with a touchdown.
Harris connected with William Powell for a 50-yard pass that would eventually set up yet another field goal by Ward for the REDBLACKS, his fourth of the day.
Hajrullahu answered back with a field goal of his own to narrow the lead to the equivalent of a touchdown with Ottawa ahead 15-8.
The first and last touchdown scored came late in the fourth quarter when Masoli connected to Jalen Saunders on a 29-yard scoring play to boost the moral on the Ticats sideline for the final few minutes of the game with them only trailing by three.
Hamilton lined up for an onside kick but unfortunately for them, the sure-handed Brad Sinopoli snagged the kick before getting immediately tackled by the Ticats cover-team.
Ward notched his seventh field goal, remaining perfect, on the ensuing drive for the REDBLACKS, extending their lead to 21-15.
Time ticked away for the Ticats despite a late big gain from Jalen Saunders, putting the Ticats in position to have a walk-off winning drive, however the Ottawa defence swarmed around Masoli, sacking the Hamilton quarterback as time expired.
Next up for the REDBLACKS is a meeting in Toronto to kick off Week 8 of the CFL schedule as they hope to further solidify their rank as the top team in the East. As for the Ticats, they will travel to Montreal to take on the struggling Alouettes with the hope of getting back in the win column.
