Bryson Barnes leads Ottawa Redblacks to first win, snaps 22-game losing streak
The rookie quarterback threw for 339 yards and two touchdowns in his first professional start for Ottawa.
OTTAWA — Rookie quarterback Bryson Barnes led the Ottawa Redblacks to a 40-39 victory over the Toronto Argonauts on Friday, snapping a modern-day CFL record 22-game losing streak and securing the team's first win of the season.
Barnes, making his first professional start, completed 27 of 37 passes for 339 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, and rushed for 62 yards on seven carries.
"I don't think it's fully settled in yet. I'm just grateful for the opportunity I was able to have to go out with the guys," Barnes said after the game. "The season has not gone the way we obviously would have liked it to. I'm just happy for the guys, the hard work finally paid off for a win this week."
The win prevented the Redblacks (1-16) from having a chance to become the first CFL team to finish 0-18 next week in Hamilton.
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Ottawa trailed by six points with 27 seconds left when Barnes engineered the winning drive, capped by a 24-yard touchdown pass to Ayden Eberhardt with six seconds remaining.
"Bryson played his ass off so that was really nice to see," Eberhardt said. "We run those kind of scenarios every single week ... I think that says a lot for (Dinwiddie) to have that belief in our offence and to go out and do it for him means a lot too."
Redblacks head coach Ryan Dinwiddie said the coaching staff told the defence to let the Argonauts score a touchdown on a previous play, which gave Ottawa the ball back with time for its final drive.
"Strong-willed men," Dinwiddie said of his team after ending the skid. "It's not easy, right? We hear the outside noise."
When asked why Barnes did not start earlier in the season, Dinwiddie said young quarterbacks need time to develop in the CFL.
"I would say if we put him in there earlier in the year, you might not see this performance where he's at right now," Dinwiddie said. "Young quarterbacks especially in this league, you've got to develop them. (It's) 12-man football, guys moving around, he's fresh out of college so we had to make sure we gave him the time to develop."
Argonauts star quarterback Chad Kelly exited the game in the first quarter with a lower-body injury after being tackled by Luiji Vilain. Nick Arbuckle replaced him for the remainder of the game.
Argos head coach Mike Miller defended his decision to score a touchdown with 30 seconds left instead of running down the clock for a short field goal attempt.
"We're playing hard, I liked where we were at. No, I don't regret that," Miller said. "It's unfortunate it didn't work out for us. I'll look at that again. I'm always trying to analyze and reanalyze game management."
Canadian receiver Kevin Mital had six catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns for Toronto, bringing his season total to 981 yards.
The Argonauts (9-8) finish the regular season next Friday against the Montreal Alouettes and host the East semifinal on Oct. 31.
The Redblacks' victory ended a skid that dated back to last season. Garbutt Disposal reported earlier this month that the loss to B.C. extended Ottawa's record winless streak.
With files from Sportsnet