Cowtown Classic: Stampeders down Ottawa RedBlacks 43-39 in thriller in Calgary

AFI | American Football | 06/30/2017

Calgary Stampeders' Terry Williams is tackled by Ottawa Redblacks' Jonathan Rose (9) in first quarter CFL action in Calgary on Thursday, June 29, 2017. (Mike Ridewood / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
Published Friday, June 30, 2017 12:13AM EDT

CALGARY – Kamar Jorden scored a pair of touchdowns to lead the Calgary Stampeders to a 43-39 win over the visiting Ottawa Redblacks on Thursday.

The two football teams tied 31-31 last week to open the season.

Marken Michel, Maleki Harris, Tunde Adeleke and backup quarterback Andrew Buckley also scored for the hosts in front of an announced 24,613 at McMahon Stadium.

Marquay McDaniel had a two-point convert catch with kicker Rene Paredes adding a field goal for the hosts. Paredes made just one of four convert attempts, however.

Dontae Spencer had a pair of touchdowns for Ottawa, with Brad Sinopoli and Mossis Madu Jr., also contributing majors.

Brett Maher kicked four field goals. Madu rushed for a two-point convert.

The teams traded punt returns for touchdowns. Spencer ran the ball in from 96 yards and Adeleke from 71.

Calgary Stampeders’ Tunde Adeleke (27) runs back a kick for a touchdown in second half CFL action against the Ottawa Redblacks, in Calgary, Thursday, June 29, 2017. Calgary defeated Ottawa 43 – 39. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mike Ridewood

Ottawa quarterback Trevor Harris threw for 425 yards and two touchdowns, while Calgary counterpart Bo Levi Mitchell finished with 295 passing yards and a trio of touchdown throws. Harris and Spencer combined on a 65-yard touchdown pass for Ottawa less than a minute after Mitchell’s eight-yard pass to Jorden late in the fourth quarter.

Madu’s 14-yard carry at 6:10 pulled Ottawa within a field goal. Adeleke’s punt return to score had Calgary up 36-27 lead at 2:40.

The Redblacks were also within a field goal to start the quarter following Sinopoli’s 34-yard reception and a Maher convert. Maher’s 28-yard field goal at 10:57 of the third had made it 30-20.

Stampeder linebacker Alex Singleton’s hard tackle on Patrick Lavoie knocked the ball loose for Maleki Harris to scoop and score from 46 yards out at 5:18 for a 30-17 lead.

Buckley kept the ball on a short-yardage package and scored on a 60-yard scamper to start the second half. A two-point convert attempt failed. Calgary led 17-6 midway through the second quarter, but it took the Redblacks just over a minute starting at 12:14 to deadlock the game with a field goal, touchdown and two-point convert before halftime.

After a 30-yarder from Maher, Spencer scored on a punt return, followed by a three-yard rush from Madu Jr., for two points. A blocked punt by Charlie Power and recovery by Terry Williams gave Calgary the ball on Ottawa’s eight-yard line midway through the quarter.

Mitchell couldn’t connect with his receivers, so the Stampeders settled for a 15-yard field goal from Paredes. Mitchell did find Michel in the end zone with a 16-yard touchdown throw early in the quarter. McDaniel’s three-yard reception generated the extra two points.

With the Redblacks threatening from 11 yards out to end the opening quarter, pass knockdowns by Calgary’s Singleton and Ciante Evans held them to an 18-yard field goal. Calgary scored on Mitchell’s 15-yard strike to an airborne Jorden stretching for the ball at the goal line at 8:32.

The Redblacks would have scored on Harris’s first throw of the game when Ellingson ran a 39-yard pass into the end zone.

It was called back because of an illegal blocking penalty to Sinopoli. Ottawa settled for a 33-yard field goal from Maher.