Redblacks, Stampeders battle to 1st CFL tie in 7 years

The Ottawa Redblacks and Calgary Stampeders were left with mixed emotions following a rare 26-26 tie Friday night.

The last tie game in the CFL was back in 2009 between Calgary and Saskatchewan. They played to a 44-44 draw.

"It's just weird," said Ottawa's Chris Williams, who scored three touchdowns. "We come in here and we didn't win, but we didn't lose so it's like how do we feel? What do we do?"

Both teams had its share of struggles and will likely dwell on the missed opportunities.

Ottawa's Trevor Harris finished the game 39 for 50 for 396 yards and three touchdowns and one interception, while Calgary's Bo Levi Mitchell was 29-of-43 passing for 368 yards and two touchdowns and one interception.

"It's disappointing," admitted Harris. "I could have made a play at the end of the game to help us win and just missed the lay-up. It's going to be tough to sleep."

The Redblacks (2-0-1) had a chance to end the game in regulation, but Ottawa's Nic Grigsby fumbled on Calgary's (1-1-1) one-yard line with 1:24 remaining in regulation. It was 20-20 after four quarters.

In overtime the Redblacks' Jermaine Robinson nearly had an interception, but just couldn't hold on to the ball and then struggled from in close with an opportunity to score.

"We definitely had a few instances there in the end where we could have closed it out and we didn't do it," said Ottawa coach Rick Campbell. "We don't have a lot of time to dwell on this one. We're back at it on Wednesday so keep moving forward.

Stampeders coach Dave Dickenson felt it was a matter of missed opportunities for both sides.

"We had a lot of effort, I'm not going to fault that," said Dickenson. "The guys gave me everything they got. It wasn't our best football game. I'm sure they'll say the same, but just a lot of mistakes."

Overtime was a battle of the kickers.

Despite struggling for most of the night, Chris Milo was able to connect on 32- and 20-yard field goals in overtime, but Rene Paredes responded with a 42- and 11-yard field goal to keep things tied up.

Harris brought the 24,621 to their feet when he connected with Williams for his third TD of the game on a five-yard pass to make it 19-13. Milo was able to complete the convert, after missing his previous two attempts, as the Redblacks took a seven-point lead with six minutes remaining in the game.

Williams now has 493 yards receiving and six touchdowns, the most by any receiver after three games in CFL history.

"It's crazy what he's done," said Ottawa's Brad Sinopoli. "He's just so fast and so talented. You might have him right in front of you and he's going to make you miss and take you to the end zone. I'm lucky to have him on our team."