{"id":813649,"date":"2026-07-20T06:40:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T06:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/813649\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T06:40:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T06:40:14","slug":"dru-brown-leads-bombers-comeback-over-redblacks-in-ottawa-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/813649\/","title":{"rendered":"Dru Brown leads Bombers comeback over REDBLACKS in Ottawa return"},"content":{"rendered":"

OTTAWA \u2014 Facing a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit, Dru Brown<\/a> engineered a dramatic comeback in his return to Ottawa before sealing the victory in overtime, leading the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a 36-34 win over the Ottawa REDBLACKS on Sunday night at TD Place Stadium.<\/p>\n

Less than a month after being traded from Ottawa to Winnipeg, Brown delivered a memorable performance against his former team, finishing the extended contest with 317 yards and two touchdowns on 27-for-43 passing, while also connecting on both two-point passes to clinch it in overtime. Tim White<\/a> led all Bombers receivers with 97 yards, Nic Demski<\/a> added 90 yards and a score, while Ontaria Wilson<\/a> hauled in the game-tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

Despite both teams notching points early, neither offence was able to find much rhythm as the game opened as a field-position battle. Winnipeg and Ottawa combined for 88 yards in the first frame, and Brett Lauther<\/a> and Sergio Castillo<\/a> went kick-for-kick as the two teams stayed deadlocked into the second quarter.<\/p>\n

The REDBLACKS struck late before halftime. With just 51 seconds to work with, Jake Maier<\/a>\u00a0completed three straight passes for 69 yards before Major Williams was flagged for pass interference while covering Eugene Lewis<\/a> in the end zone. The penalty put Ottawa at the one-yard line, where Bryson Barnes<\/a> punched in the game\u2019s first touchdown, giving the REDBLACKS a 19-9 lead and their first halftime edge of the season.<\/p>\n

Ottawa was back in the red zone in a hurry to open the third quarter, but after reaching the Winnipeg five-yard line, the Bombers delivered a momentum-saving goal-line stand, stopping Barnes on three straight attempts from the one to force a turnover on downs.<\/p>\n

Winnipeg\u2019s defence came through with another red zone stop on Ottawa\u2019s next possession, as Jake Kelly<\/a> intercepted Maier\u2019s pass in the back of the end zone to prevent the REDBLACKS from extending their lead.<\/p>\n

The REDBLACKS continued to create opportunities despite Winnipeg\u2019s defensive pressure, getting back into scoring position after their defence forced a third straight two-and-out from Brown and company. This time, Maier capitalized, finding Justin Hardy<\/a> on a quick out to make it 26-9.<\/p>\n

Chasing a multi-score deficit, Winnipeg started to push the tempo in the fourth quarter. Brown drove downfield with three straight completions for 57 yards, but Lucas Cormier came up with a critical deflection in the end zone to force the Bombers to settle for another field goal.<\/p>\n

The Bombers continued to push back midway through the final frame, with Brown delivering a strike to Demski to make it a one-score game at 26-19.<\/p>\n

Pressure shifted to the REDBLACKS\u2019 side after Willie Jefferson<\/a>\u2018s sack ended Ottawa\u2019s ensuing drive. A punt apiece later, Brown locked in for a 79-yard drive, capping it with a bullet to Wilson at the goal line. After the catch was confirmed on review, Winnipeg added the extra-point to make it 26-26 and send it to overtime.<\/p>\n

The teams stayed even through the first legs of overtime, exchanging two field goals each before the CFL\u2019s new overtime rules kicked in. Lewis made a catch through two defenders in excellent coverage on the REDBLACKS\u2019 first two-point attempt, and Winnipeg responded with Brown lacing a dart to Wilson at the front of the end zone. Brown put pressure on Ottawa after completing his next pass for two, but Maier couldn\u2019t answer as the Bombers defence converged to knock it away and end the game.<\/p>\n

Maier put up a season-high 344 passing yards in the losing effort, while Greg Bell<\/a> had his most productive outing as a REDBLACK with 65 rushing yards on 14 carries, though it was not enough for Ottawa to secure its first win of the Ryan Dinwiddie era.<\/p>\n

RELATED
\u00bb Depth Charts:\u00a0WPG<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0OTT<\/a>
\u00bb Winnipeg, Ottawa by the numbers<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Game Notes: Blue Bombers at REDBLACKS<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Sign up and watch CFL games on CFL+ in the U.S. and Internationally<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

SCORING PLAYS<\/p>\n

Brett Lauther<\/a> 47-yard field goal (9:34, Q1) | OTT 3 WPG 0
\nSergio Castillo<\/a> 26-yard field goal (5:57, Q1) | WPG 3 OTT 3
\nBrett Lauther<\/a> 27-yard field goal (0:00, Q1) | OTT 6 WPG 3
\nSergio Castillo<\/a> 53-yard field goal (12:22, Q2) | WPG 6 OTT 6
\nBrett Lauther<\/a> 18-yard field goal (5:28, Q2) | OTT 9 WPG 6
\nSergio Castillo<\/a> 24-yard field goal (2:33, Q2) | WPG 9 OTT 9
\nBrett Lauther<\/a> 29-yard field goal (1:15, Q2) | OTT 12 WPG 9
\nBryson Barnes<\/a> one-yard touchdown run (0:02, Q2) | OTT 19 WPG 9
\nJake Maier<\/a> 12-yard touchdown pass to Justin Hardy<\/a> (1:40, Q3) | OTT 26 WPG 9
\nSergio Castillo<\/a> 39-yard field goal (13:17, Q4) | OTT 26 WPG 12
\nDru Brown<\/a> eight-yard touchdown pass to Nic Demski<\/a> (7:23, Q4) | OTT 26 WPG 19
\nDru Brown<\/a> five-yard touchdown pass to Ontaria Wilson<\/a> (1:06, Q4) | WPG 26 OTT 26
\nBrett Lauther<\/a> 17-yard field goal (OT) | OTT 29 WPG 26
\nSergio Castillo<\/a> 21-yard field goal (OT) | WPG 29 OTT 29
\nSergio Castillo<\/a> 14-yard field goal (OT) | WPG 32 OTT 29
\nBrett Lauther<\/a> 40-yard field goal (OT) | OTT 32 WPG 32
\nEugene Lewis<\/a> two-point conversion (OT) | OTT 34 WPG 32
\nOntaria Wilson<\/a> two-point conversion (OT) | WPG 34 OTT 34
\nDru Brown<\/a> two-point conversion (OT) | WPG 36 OTT 34<\/p>\n

NEXT UP<\/p>\n

The Ottawa REDBLACKS head into a Week 8 bye before returning home to face the Montreal Alouettes on Friday, July 31. It will be the second of three meetings between the East Division rivals this season after Montreal edged Ottawa 37-35 in Week 4. The Alouettes have won the last 12 matchups dating back to 2022.<\/p>\n

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers return home in Week 8 to host the Calgary Stampeders on Friday, July 24. Winnipeg will have a chance to secure the season series after opening the year with a 30-28 victory over Calgary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OTTAWA \u2014 Facing a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit, Dru Brown engineered a dramatic comeback in his return to Ottawa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":813650,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-813649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=813649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/813650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}