Redblacks’ Jeremiah Masoli sparkles in win over Stamps

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If you haven’t heard, the turnaround is complete for the surprising Ottawa Redblacks.

They’ve gone from being a lousy team to a good team.

A championship contender, in fact.

After winning just 14 of 68 games since falling short against the Calgary Stampeders in the 2018 Grey Cup, the Redblacks hit the midway mark of the 2024 schedule with the Canadian Football League’s second-best record.

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They improved to 6-2-1 on Thursday with a 51-yard field goal by Lewis Ward — his third walk-off kick of the season and his career — in a 31-29 final against the Calgary Stampeders.

By doing so, the Redblacks became the first visiting team to leave McMahon Stadium stadium with a ‘W’ this year, spoiling a 4-0 home record for a Stampeders team that had to be aching to avenge a 33-6 loss in Ottawa on July 26.

They extended an unbeaten streak to five games with their elite defence not at its best — two Calgary touchdowns came as a direct result of Ishmael Hyman, a rookie playing in just his third CFL game, schooling Brandin Dandridge and Alijah McGhee, the Redblacks’ two top cornerbacks — but the D stepped up when it was needed in the last minute.

Most surprising of all, they did so with Jeremiah Masoli returning to the roster and doing an impeccable impersonation of Kansas City Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes.

Making his first start in 404 days, the 35-year old quarterback picked up win No. 1 as a Redblack (a team he signed with on Feb. 7, 2022) by improvising, creating, throwing off-balance, shot-putting passes and, finally, orchestrating a game-winning drive only moments after his aim was off on third-and-three, a lost gamble that looked to cook Ottawa’s goose.

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In true Mahomes fashion, Masoli bounced back with an unexpected second chance and, with the help of big-time plays by his former Hamilton Tiger-Cats receivers Jaelon Acklin and Bralon Addison, moved the ball from the Redblacks’ 26-yard line with 48 seconds left into Ward range with two seconds to go.

“I can cry just thinking about it,” Masoli said when asked by TSN’s Farhan Lalji about the long and winding road back from two season-ending injuries to pick up his first CFL win in 999 days. “Been through a lot, but, with my boys here just having my back, it means the world to me. Made some mistakes tonight, but everybody kept patting me on the back and saying, ‘Keep going.’ So I just appreciate my team.”

Not only did Masoli have a 77-per-cent completion rate (27-for-35) for 254 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions, but he also showed he was able to run just fine (two carries for 17 yards) for a guy who had a torn left ACL in 2019, a fracture in his right leg that became infected following surgery in 2022 and a ruptured left Achilles tendon in 2023.

“Been working hard to be able to use those legs, and it felt great tonight,” Masoli told Lalji. “Obviously, still a little rusty. Want to have some of those throws back, but, yeah, just trying to get it to the playmakers like Bralon. Those guys did everything else.”

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So what do the Redblacks do when Dru Brown is ready to return from his ankle injury?

Who is their starting quarterback then?

They’re paying the 27-year old Brown to be “The Man” and he has earned his money and status by winning five games, completing 65.7 per cent of his passes and displaying exemplary leadership skills as a first-year starter.

But Masoli, who was the East Division’s most outstanding player when he last played a full season, is a savvy vet who can still play well.

In his eight years with Hamilton, the Tabbies went to the Grey Cup four times.

His experience should be invaluable as summer turns to fall, then, on some days, from now until November.

To some, the term “quarterback controversy” implies uncertainty and a problem.

To teams that are Grey Cup contenders, it’s not just a good problem to have, but almost a necessary one.

Whether by injury or ineffectiveness, not a single CFL team has had the same starting QB for the entire season in 2024.

The Redblacks’ opponents the next two weeks in a home-and-away series that starts Aug. 24 at TD Place are the B.C. Lions, who also happen to be hosting this year’s Grey Cup.

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With Nathan Rourke and Vernon Adams Jr., their quarterbacks are the second and third favourites to win the CFL’s most outstanding player award.

The favourite is Cody Fajardo, the Montreal Alouettes starter who has been sidelined since July 11 with an injury and has been more than capably replaced by 25-year-old Davis Alexander.

The Lions and Alouettes are the best bets to square off for the coveted mug in November largely because of their quarterbacks.

The Redblacks haven’t had a good one since Trevor Harris left in 2018, and they haven’t won more than four games in a season since.

That is, until now, when they should also have a good problem in choosing between a healthy Brown and Masoli.

The right answer will be to ride the hot hand, even if it means Brown at least temporarily losing his job because of an injury.

The old win-and-you’re-in axiom is the way to go and should be accepted all the players, if winning is the ultimate motive it should be.

SOUNDING OFF: Acklin, who made what Masoli called a “crazy” catch when he wrestled the ball from Demerio Houston on the last drive, led all Redblacks receivers with six grabs for 94 yards. He had another big gainer called back after the command centre ruled Acklin had crossed the line of scrimmage before the ball was snapped. If the league is going to start calling receivers for being offside, there will be a flag on every play. “I don’t think I was offside on that one-50 yard catch,” Acklin told TSN 1200’s A.J. Jakubec after the game. “I don’t know if the command centre can see that or not. But (calls by) the command centre with us right now is like 13-2 (against). At some point they’re getting into the game. I didn’t want to say this, but, like, they’re actually … It has been crazy since I’ve been here. If someone started taking stats from 2022 when I got here until now, I’d say the command centre is probably 85 to 90 per cent the other way. When I was in Hamilton, it wasn’t like that. I don’t like talking about that stuff, never have, but we need to just look at it or something because they’re affecting the game.” The league will likely fine Acklin for his comments, rather than look into the issue.

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GOING DEEP: The Redblacks suffered a significant loss with the departure of defensive end Bryce Carter, who left Thursday’s game in the first half with an apparent shoulder injury … Rock Armstead had a great game against the Stamps with 164 yards from scrimmage (including 120 rushing yards on 11 carries and 44 more yards on six catches), but perhaps most impressive of all was that he actually managed to stay in the game. When the teams met in July, Armstead was ejected in the second quarter after taking two objectionable-conduct penalties. The Stamps clearly tried to goad him into similar action on Thursday, and, whether it was because he had a good talking to from the coaches leading up to the game or he realized he couldn’t afford more fines, Armstead not only avoided crossing the line, but also drew an objectionable-conduct flag on the Stamps.

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