Calgary 27, Ottawa 16
When: 6:00 PM ET, Sunday, November 25, 2018
Where: Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Alberta
Attendance:
55819
By Gracenote
Stampeders 27, Redblacks 16: Bo Levi Mitchell threw for 253 yards and a pair of touchdowns as Calgary dumped Ottawa to win the 106th edition of the Grey Cup on a slick playing surface in Edmonton.
Mitchell completed 24-of-36 passes while Don Jackson accounted for 92 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown for the Stampeders (15-5), who avenged a Grey Cup loss to the Redblacks in 2016. Lemar Durant caught four passes for 30 yards and a TD en route to the Grey Cup's Most Outstanding Canadian honours while Terry Williams added a special-teams score for Calgary, which finished with four takeaways.
Trevor Harris was 20-of-38 for 288 yards and a touchdown but threw three interceptions for the Redblacks (12-8), who entered the championship game with a four-game winning streak. William Powell gained 94 yards on 16 carries while R.J. Harris made four catches for a team-high 66 yards for Ottawa, which fell in the Grey Cup for the second time in four years.
Ciante Evans picked off a pass by Harris to set up Jackson's 21-yard touchdown grab for the only points of the first quarter before Mitchell rolled to his left and fired a 17-yard scoring strike to Durant to extend Calgary's lead to 14-3. Harris aired out a 55-yard TD pass to Julian Feoli-Gudino and then found J.C. Beaulieu for the two-point convert to pull the Redblacks within three points, but their joy was short-lived as Williams set a Grey Cup record by returning a punt 97 yards for a score with one second left in the second quarter to hand the Stampeders a 21-11 halftime advantage.
Lewis Ward drilled a 41-yard field goal with just over seven minutes remaining in the third quarter to cut Ottawa's deficit to seven points before Rene Paredes converted a 34-yard attempt to restore Calgary's 10-point cushion heading into the fourth. Wynton McManis recovered a fumble on a punt return by Diontae Spencer, which led to a short field goal from Paredes with 12:06 to go that put the Stampeders in front 27-14 before Jamar Wall and Tre Roberson intercepted passes by Harris in the final three minutes to help erase the bitter memories of losing the previous two Grey Cups.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Williams' punt-return touchdown was the first in a Grey Cup game since 1996. … Harris was limited to 516 passing yards with six interceptions in three games against Calgary in 2018. … Mitchell, who was named the league's Most Outstanding Player earlier in the week, added a Grey Cup MVP award to his list of accolades this season. ... Calgary WR Eric Rogers made a team-high six catches for 64 yards. ... Grammy Award winner Alessia Cara, who hails from Brampton, Ontario, was the halftime performer.
Top Game Performances
Receiving
Ottawa |
|
Calgary |
R.J. Harris
| Player |
Eric Rogers
|
4 |
Receptions |
6 |
66 |
Yards |
64 |
16.5 |
Avg Yards |
10.7 |
0 |
Touchdowns |
0 |
22 |
Long |
20 |
Team Stats Summary
|
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
Ottawa
|
387 |
99 |
288 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1.0 |
0 |
Calgary
|
358 |
105 |
253 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
1.0 |
3 |