The Ottawa Redblacks pulled out a secret weapon in their attempt to rally for victory in their rainy season opener at TD Place on Saturday night. But not even the presence of former Ottawa Senators great Daniel Alfredsson on the sidelines — or the 'Alfie' chants that followed when he was shown waving to the crowd on the endzone video board at the start of the fourth quarter — could save them from a 29-21 loss to the Edmonton Elks.
Those who watched the game on television will raise their eyebrows at the announced attendance of 15,038, but on the wettest night of the spring, far more fans were watching from shelter on the southside concourse than were sitting in the stands. Either way, a better result was expected from the start of the Ryan Dinwiddie era.
The Redblacks' offence was mostly feeble, except for bursts from Canadian running back Daniel Adeboboye, until Eugene Lewis pulled in a 40-yard pass from new starting quarterback Jake Maier with less than four minutes left. Maier did finish off that drive with a 12-yard TD pass to Justin Hardy and a successful throw to Keelan White for the two-point conversion. But with the ball on their own 34 and 1:21 left, the Redblacks couldn't connect on a couple of passes to complete a comeback.
In his first regular-season start as Ottawa's No. 1 QB, Maier completed 22 of 37 pass attempts for 203 yards. Adeboboye, who took over as the main man in the backfield from rookie Elijah Collins, ran 12 times for 87 yards.
But the Redblacks committed a litany of errors in generously helping the Elks to a 13-0 lead from which they could never recover. Penalty calls on veteran linebackers making their Redblacks debut – C.J. Reavis (roughing the passer) and Nyles Morgan (face mask) – led to a Vincent Blanchard 12-yard field goal to open the scoring. Miscommunication with the snap on a third-and-one gamble not only turned the ball over with the fumble, but Redblacks short-yardage quarterback Max Duggan had to make a tackle that prevented what could have been an 80-yard touchdown run for Elks defensive back Kordell Jackson.
When the Elks did nothing with that possession, the Redblacks presented a second opportunity on another third-and-one gamble, off shotgun formation, with Adeboboye stopped on a run up the middle. This time, Edmonton capitalized, with quarterback Cody Fajardo first finding T.J. Moore with a 38-yard pass and then connecting with Austin Mack on a nine-yard TD toss. On the very next series, Collins was stripped of the ball at the Ottawa 39-yard line, leading to an 18-yard field goal by Blanchard.
But the Redblacks, who didn't pick up their first natural first down until the fourth minute of the second quarter, capitalized on undisciplined mistakes by the visitors to battle back. Roughing the passer and pass interference calls against Edmonton set up an Adeboboye score on his second attempt from the one. A couple of more decent runs by Adeboboye sandwiched around a 26-yard reception by Kalil Pimpleton set up a 35-yard field goal by Brett Lauther on the final play of the first half, leaving Ottawa trailing by just three at the intermission.
Ottawa breakdowns on defence and special teams coverage led to two more field goals and a 19-10 deficit after three quarters. Despite the late rally, the Redblacks could not overcome their early mistakes, falling to the Elks in their season opener.
