The Canadian Press
OTTAWA—Henry Burris and Greg Ellingson ended their former team’s Grey Cup aspirations and sent Ottawa to its first CFL championship appearance since 1981.
Burris’ 93-yard TD strike to Ellingson with just over a minute to go rallied Ottawa to a stirring 35-28 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Division final yesterday afternoon.
Burris and Ellingson both were teammates in Steeltown in 2013.
Burris joined the Redblacks as a free agent before the 2014 season and Ellingson followed suit prior to the 2015 campaign.
“Wow, wow. It was way too dramatic as far as the ending,” said Burris.
“I thought I didn’t throw the ball well, especially trying to deal with the wind, but we did enough,” he noted.
“I tip my hat off to Greg,” added Burris.
“If you could write a script for a story and an ending for a book . . . to have a chance to go against his old team and drive the dagger home, you can’t beat that moment.”
The play almost ended before it started as Burris bobbled a high snap.
But he threw to Ellingson, who made the catch with Hamilton defender Ed Gainey falling on the play.
Then after shedding Emmanuel Davis’ attempted tackle, Ellingson streaked untouched into the end zone.
His TD came with Ottawa facing a second-and-25 situation after Hamilton defensive lineman Arnaud Gascon-Nadon dropped a seemingly easy interception and the Redblacks were penalized for a chop block—putting them on their 18-yard line.
“It’s nice to play against my old team, but it’s more about going to the Grey Cup and winning it,” Ellingson said.
“It’s just a play we’ve done before,” he noted. “I think we’ve completed that ball three or four times this year.
“It’s a ball that’s thrown outside to the receiver, and you try to get the guys to go up and make the play.”
Burris, the East nominee for the CFL’s outstanding player award, finished 17-of-32 passing for 326 yards and the TD while running six times for 29 yards and a touchdown.
Ellingson had five receptions for a game-high 186 yards.
The win—before a boisterous TD Place sell-out of 25,093—earned Ottawa its first Grey Cup berth since the former Rough Riders lost in the ’81 final to Edmonton.
The Redblacks will face the Eskimos—45-31 winners over the Calgary Stampeders in the West final yesterday—this Sunday in Winnipeg.
Ottawa is in the Grey Cup after posting just two wins in its inaugural 2014 season.
“I know it’s a big deal and I have a lot of respect for it,” said Redblacks’ head coach Rick Campbell.
“We’ll be happy for a few more hours and tee it up one more time,” he added.
“Then after that game, we can discuss more things about Ottawa football history.”
Campbell was just 10 years old when Ottawa last appeared in the Grey Cup, losing 26-23 to an Edmonton squad coached by his father, Hugh.
Rick Campbell watched the ’81 championship game on TV back in Alberta and said his dad did the same yesterday from San Diego.
Hamilton created some anxious moments for Ottawa when Jeremiah Masoli, making just his second career playoff start, hit Luke Tasker on a 22-yard scoring strike with 1:34 left.
Justin Medlock’s convert tied it 28-28.
“They made a play at the end,” said Hamilton coach/GM Kent Austin.
“I really thought second-and-25 [that] we’d get them off the field, have great field position, and we’d go out there and kick the field goal and get into the Cup.
“We had plenty of opportunities to win the football game,” Austin added.
“We had them beat a couple different times,” he noted.
“The difference is we didn’t make the plays—plays that were there.”
