OTTAWA — Justin Medlock kicked six field goals, including one from 38 yards out as time expired, to give the Winnipeg Blue Bombers a 33-30 win over the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday.
Medlock kicked field goals of 35 and 40 and added a single point for the Bombers in the final three minutes to tie the game at 30 to set up his game-winning kick.
It was the second consecutive week the Bombers made an impressive comeback for a win. Last week quarterback Matt Nichols brought them back from 12 points down with less than a minute to play to beat the Montreal Alouettes.
After Medlock had tied the score at 23-23 just three minutes into the fourth quarter, Redblacks quarterback Trevor Harris drove the Redblacks down field and connected with Greg Ellingson from 21 yards out at 9:25 of the fourth quarter. After the conversion from Brett Maher the Redblacks led 30-23.
Ottawa had a 23-20 lead going into the fourth quarter thanks to a 52-yard touchdown run by William Powell just 57 seconds into the second half and a two-point conversion catch by Brad Sinopoli.
Maher then kicked a 44-yard field goal to give the Redblacks a 23-17 lead before Medlock responded with a 36-yard field goal of his own to get Winnipeg a bit closer at 23-20.
After a strong opening quarter both offences stuttered in a second quarter that saw just a defensive touchdown and a punt single, as the Blue Bombers took a 17-12 lead into the break.
Chris Randle recovered a fumble and ran 22 yards for a touchdown at 6:20 of the second quarter and Winnipeg went up 17-11 after the Medlock conversion.
Maher's 66-yard punt single cut that lead to 12-11 with less than three minutes to play in the half.
Both teams scored on their only two possessions of the first quarter but the Redblacks came out with an 11-10 lead.
Harris completed nine of 10 passes on the opening drive of the game including a 12-yard touchdown pass to Josh Strangby at 6:13, and that was followed by a two-point conversion run by Powell.
After the kickoff, Nichols connected with Ryan Lankford on a 79-yard catch and run touchdown on the Bombers first play from scrimmage.
The two-point conversion failed but a single point from Medlock on the ensuing kickoff cut the Redblacks' lead to 8-7.
Maher kicked a 37-yard field goal at 11:36 to give the Redblacks an 11-7 lead, but Medlock responded with a 52-yard field goal of his own on the last play of the quarter.
Darren Desaulniers, The Canadian Press
Note to readers: This is a corrected version of an earlier story. Justin Medlock kicked six field goals, the final one for 38 yards. A previous version of this story said he made five field goals with the final one for 37 yards.
