Redblacks’ OT-Thriller Caps Off Fantastic Week at 104th Grey Cup
- Updated: November 28, 2016
Whoever thought the 104th Grey Cup was a mismatch on paper were in for a shocking surprise as Sunday’s big game was anything but on the field. On Sunday, the Ottawa Redblacks and Calgary Stampeders went the distance and to suggest that fans in attendance got their money’s worth would be an enormous understatement.
In what will go down as one of the greatest Grey Cups ever, the Redblacks jumped out to a significant 27-7 lead in the third quarter before the Stamps came crawling back, showing everyone in attendance at Toronto’s BMO Field why they went 15-2-1 during the regular season.
Photo credit: Sammy Hudes/Toronto Star File Photo
With their team leading for much of the game, long-suffering Ottawa fans were anxiously imagining their team ending their city’s 40-year drought. But the Stamps, on the arm of the CFL’s reigning Most Outstanding Player, Bo Levi Mitchell, roared back. Even Calgary’s backfield earned their keep in the final minutes by erasing a 10-point deficit to force overtime at 33-33.
In the extra session, though, the Redblacks had the ball first (the CFL has generally the same overtime format as the NCAA) and they capitalized as the ageless one, 41-year-old QB Henry Burris found Ernest Jackson for the TD to give Ottawa the lead. The Redblacks were unable to capitalize on the 2-point convert but the Stamps went three-and-out and for the first time in 40 years, an Ottawa team had won Canadian pro football’s most coveted prize as the Redblacks were victorious by a 39-33 score.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3_ErLCHyu4
In what was the 48th time the city of Toronto hosted the Grey Cup, the big game housed 33,421, which, although it the lowest attendance for the Grey Cup since 1998, was in a much smaller, more intimate BMO Field — the first time the venue has hosted the big game. Still, the game itself was one of the most exciting this writer has ever seen, comparing to Ali-Frazier and Hagler-Hearns, albeit a different sport altogether. Yet, while the CFL brand is generally an exciting one with its wide-open play, Sunday’s game was especially thrilling considering both clubs were on opposite sides of the spectrum as far as regular-season standings went – Calgary finished 15-2-1; Ottawa finished 8-9-1 — despite both clubs finishing atop their respective divisions.
As for those representing the state of California in this one, it was a solid evening overall.
Redblacks QB Henry Burris hosting the Grey Cup for the third time after his team’s shocking win at the 104th Grey Cup
(Photo credit: Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)
Oakland native – and San Jose State alum – DB Forrest Hightower was integral to the Redblacks’s success as he recorded two INTs. Teammates RB Travon Van – native of San Diego – was effective as well, rushing for 36 yards on six attempts and even receiving for nine yards on one catch and Grenada Hills native Khalil Paden also helped out in his team’s win as the wideout caught for 19 yards on two receptions.
While it was in a losing effort, Calgary’s California contingent were effective as well.
Oakland native – and UC Davis alum – WR Bakari Grant had a big game as he caught for 52 yards on four receptions. UCLA alum, LB Glenn Love registered 13 tackles while another Oakland native – and Sacramento State alum – Brandon Smith had three tackles. As for the Stamps’ defensive leader LB Joel Singleton, the Thousand Oaks native recorded nine tackles and even recovered a fumble.
As for the Grey Cup’s Most Valuable Player, that honour went to the aforementioned ageless one, 41-year-old QB Henry Burris.
Calgary Stampeders slotback Marquay McDaniel fends off Ottawa Redblacks cornerback Mitchell White during first quarter CFL Grey Cup action, Sunday, November 27, 2016 in Toronto.
(Photo credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz)
On Sunday, Burris went 35-for-46, throwing for 461 yards and three touchdowns to pull off the upset of the team that let him go in 2011. The win was Burris’s third Grey Cup and his second MVP. But, will this be Burris’s swan song? Only time will tell.
As for the Redblacks, they have won their first-ever Grey Cup in just their third year of existence. However, Sunday’s win runs deeper than that.
When Ottawa celebrated their last Grey Cup in 1976, they were the Roughriders. Sadly, that franchise would fold in 1996, only to follow with the city’s second CFL club, the Renegades, folding in 2008 after a plethora of ownership issues. The club lasted just six years.
But for Ottawa, the third time seems to be the charm as the Redblacks finished what they started after losing to the Edmonton Eskimos in last year’s Grey Cup. But a new team and a new attitude to go in hand with a renovated, state-of-the-art stadium has even the most fair-weather of football fans in Canada’s capital excited for the future. In fact, since Ottawa will be hosting next year’s Grey Cup – to coincide with Canada’s 150th anniversary – there should be no better motivation for the Redblacks to defend their crown than now… or, more accurately, next season.
Photo credit: CFL
It has been a great week here in Toronto and if Sunday’s big game was expected to be a classic, then those expectations were met with a vengeance.
Whether tomorrow, next season or a decade from now, those who watched this year’s Grey Cup will carry with them nothing short of the fondest memories of one of the greatest games in the history of Canadian football’s most prestigious contest. This writer certainly will.
Needless to say, the 2017 Grey Cup has big shoes to fill.
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