A Streak Ottawa Fans Won’t Miss
The Redblacks hadn’t tasted victory since September 5, 2025, a stretch that stretched across an entire season and then some. Friday’s win was both their first of this CFL campaign and their first at TD Place in over a year, which made the comeback all the sweeter for everyone who showed up to cheer them on.
A Rookie Quarterback Rises to the Occasion
Making his first-ever CFL start, quarterback Bryson Barnes delivered a performance Ottawa football fans will be talking about for a while. He completed 27 of 37 passes for 335 yards and two touchdowns, both to receiver Ayden Eberhardt, including the one that mattered most in the game’s final seconds.
Barnes kept his composure through a rocky start and a back-and-forth battle with Toronto, proving he could handle the pressure of his debut under the brightest lights of the season.
A Game That Kept Everyone on Their Feet
This was no easy victory. Ottawa overcame a shaky opening, including a blocked punt that handed Toronto an early touchdown, before Daniel Adeboboye answered with a one-yard rushing score of his own. The lead changed hands repeatedly through the first half, with both teams trading field goals and touchdowns before Ottawa took a 23-16 edge into the break thanks to a 51-yard field goal from Paul Geelen.
A Finish Worth Staying For
The second half only raised the stakes. Toronto’s Nick Arbuckle, who stepped in and threw for 305 yards and two touchdowns, kept the Argonauts within striking distance deep into the fourth quarter. With Ottawa clinging to a 33-31 lead, a late interception by Khazir Brown looked like it might seal the win, but Toronto answered with a touchdown and two-point convert to go up 39-33 with just 30 seconds left.
That’s when Barnes took over. He led a three-play drive capped by a 24-yard touchdown strike to Eberhardt to tie the game, and Geelen’s convert with six seconds on the clock gave Ottawa the 40-39 lead they would hold onto for good.
A Season Finale to Remember
With the win, the Redblacks close out their home schedule at 1-16, but the record tells only part of the story. For a crowd that had been waiting since last September for a victory on home turf, Friday night’s thriller at TD Place was the kind of unforgettable finish that reminds everyone why they keep showing up, game after game, season after season.
