OTTAWA - Brett Maher's 23-yard field goal with 28 seconds remaining earned the expansion Ottawa Redblacks a historic 18-17 home win over the Toronto Argonauts on Friday night.
Maher's boot, his sixth of the game, came after Swayze Waters connected from 46 yards out to put Toronto ahead 17-15 with 1:33 remaining. It looked like the Argos (1-3) would spoil the party for a TD Place Stadium sellout of 24,000, which included Prime Minister Stephen Harper and explained the presence of sharpshooters on the opposite roofs of the facility.
But Ottawa quarterback Henry Burris calmly moved the Redblacks (1-2) downfield to set up Maher's game-winning boot in what was anything but just another football game. It marked marked the first time since November 2005 that Ottawa had hosted a CFL regular-season game and the city hasn't celebrated a Grey Cup championship since 1976.
And there certainly was a party atmosphere in the air, with many fans standing and grooving to the tunes during timeouts. The Redblacks' home opener was much anticipated in the Canadian capital, with supporters proudly sporting their colours this week and turning out in droves for the various pre-game festivities and pep rallies.
Thousands entered TD Place Stadium three hours before the start of the contest to participate in the tailgating. And once fans were allowed to settle into their seats, those on the south side of the stadium resumed the longstanding tradition of chanting "North Side Sucks." However, the entire gathering -- most of which was clad in red -- was on its feet as one, loudly cheering the Redblacks as they took to the field for the pre-game introductions.
And although both offences were inconsistent for much of the night, the Ottawa faithful saw an entertaining finish as Maher's 48-yard field goal at 9:53 of the fourth put the Redblacks ahead 15-14 after Toronto took a 14-12 advantage on Ricky Ray's 20-yard TD strike to Darvin Adams just 43 seconds into the quarter.
