Ottawa RedBlacks vs Winnipeg Blue Bombers Box Score on Jul 03, 2014

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Jul 3, 2014

Blue Bombers 36, Redblacks 28: Nic Grigsby ran for three touchdowns - including the go-ahead score with less than three minutes remaining - as host Winnipeg spoiled Ottawa's inaugural CFL game.

Grigsby had just 62 yards on the ground but took advantage of his goal-line carries to help the Blue Bombers (2-0) rally from a pair of 14-point deficits. Drew Willy completed 21-of-33 passes for 307 yards while Nick Moore was his target of choice with five receptions for 88 yards.

Henry Burris went 17-of-30 for 241 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the expansion Redblacks (0-1), who managed just two field goals and a rouge in the second half. Chevon Walker racked up 99 total yards and a pair of scores while Dobson Collins had three catches for 35 yards and a TD.

Ottawa struck 3:40 into the game as Walker barreled in from three yards out, and a Winnipeg two-and-out on the ensuing drive set up Burris' 26-yard TD strike to Collins. Grigsby's one-yard plunge with 4:11 remaining in the quarter trimmed the Bombers' deficit in half, but Walker struck again - eluding two tacklers to complete an eight-yard TD catch as the first quarter expired - and Ottawa overcame Grigsby's four-yard scoring scamper to carry a 21-17 edge into the break.

The teams traded field goals in a quiet third quarter, and Brett Maher's 19-yarder early in the fourth stretched the Ottawa lead to eight. The Blue Bombers made a game of it on Demond Washington's 96-yard kickoff-return touchdown on the very next play, claimed their first lead of the night on Grigsby's three-yard scoring plunge with 2:33 remaining and iced it on a late 37-yard field goal by Lirim Hajrullahu.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Walker had the first reception in franchise history, a 29-yard strike from Burris that moved Ottawa to the Winnipeg 33-yard line. ... The Redblacks racked up 249 first-half yards, 192 of them through the air. ... The teams combined for a whopping 28 penalties totaling 240 yards.