By Max Campbell
Stampeders.com

The Calgary Stampeders suffered their second loss away from home on Friday night, falling 29-26 in overtime to the Ottawa RedBlacks at TD Place. The Stampeders dropped to 3-2 despite 124 receiving yards from wideout Eric Rogers and five tackles, three sacks, and one forced fumble courtesy of rush end Charleston Hughes.

“They just played hard,” said Stampeders head coach and general manager John Hufnagel about the RedBlacks. “They’re a good, solid defence and they played hard for 60 minutes. It was a back-and-forth game and we gave them some life in the first half and they took advantage of it. It was back-and-forth in second half (too) they took the lead and we fought back to tie it, but had the unfortunate turnover in overtime.

“They took advantage of some turnovers. Turnovers usually do have a big factor in wins and losses.”

Both teams were unable to score on their respective first possessions, but back-to-back completions for first downs to receivers Jeff Fuller and Marquay McDaniel sparked the Stampeder offence.

The following play saw QB Bo Levi Mitchell perfectly place the ball into the hands of Rogers for the game’s initial points just over six minutes into the first quarter of play. The 33-yard corner route gave the Red and White a 6-0 advantage before Mitchell found McDaniel beyond the goal line for a two-point conversion.

A 42-yard field goal from Rene Paredes spilt the uprights on the following offensive series for an 11-point lead.

Former-Stamp Brad Sinopoli caught a pass over the middle from Henry Burris soon thereafter, gaining 27 yards for the home team. Burris then threw a wobbly completion to wide receiver Ernest Jackson in the end zone who fought off the coverage of Brandon Smith for a major score of 24 yards. The juggling catch was followed by a successful two-point conversion through the air by tailback Jeremiah Johnson filling in for the injured Chevon Walker.

Calgary immediately responded with a seven-play, 74-yard drive which featured a reception of 26 yards out the backfield from FB Rob Cote. The series was polished off with a Jon Cornish touchdown from three yards out. Another two-point conversion was then scored – the second of which courtesy of McDaniel – for a 19-8 lead.

The RedBlack defence would soon create a turnover when Aston Whiteside stripped Mitchell of the ball behind the line of scrimmage. The defensive lineman, signed by Ottawa just four days ago, also recovered the fumble and provided excellent field position after desperately pursuing the signal caller from behind.

A 25-yard field goal was subsequently kicked by Delbert Alvarado to capitalize off the turnover and narrow the deficit to six.

With 2:30 remaining until the half, Burris located three different receivers before finding Greg Ellingson for a short TD toss. Yet another two-point attempt was tried, but the RedBlacks were ruled to have fumbled the ball just short of the goal line.

A late fumble by former-Dino Anthony Parker threatened to surrender the Stampeder lead, but the defence forced an Anthony Alix punt before any damage could be done as the teams headed to the locker room separated by only two points.

Paredes trotted on after a promising drive in the third quarter came to an abrupt end. From 22-yards out, the placekicker put three more points on the board for the visitors.

Answering in short order was Alvarado with a 43-yard field goal of his own, but a Rob Maver punt single set the score at 23-20 as the third quarter came to a close.

Consecutive sacks from Hughes and nose tackle Quinn Smith pushed the Redblack offence out of field goal range and the final fame commenced.

An catch and run down the sidelines of 84 yards by Chris Williams gave the RedBlacks their first lead of the night, as Buddy Jackson was beat over the top by the speedy playmaker. However, Alvarado could not connect on the point-after try as the ball sailed wide right, as Calgary was within a field goal of tying to contest.

A 49-yard try from Paredes did just that, as the teams were knotted at 26 point apiece with less than four minutes remaining.

With a chance to take the lead on what would turn out to be Ottawa’s final possession, Alvarado missed a 32-yard field goal which was run out of the end zone by Parker to ensure the score remained deadlocked. As the Stamps were unable to produce any points, the clock struck zero and overtime ensued.

A costly fumble by Mitchell on the first play of extra time put the RedBlacks in immediate scoring position. Two short rushes set up an Alvarado attempt, and the redemption for the rookie came to fruition. From the 34-yard line, the kick was good, as the Stamps were dealt a disappointing defeat.

“It’s a loss on the road,” said Mitchell. “I thought the guys battled, I thought they did a great job really fighting the entire night. You’ve got to give credit to Ottawa – they did a great job coming back after two losses. They brought their game tonight and we’ve got to be better, especially me. At the end of the game, you can’t let that (turnover) happen. It’s completely on me.”

Next up, the Stamps host the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday, Aug. 1 at McMahon Stadium. Kickoff is at 5 p.m.