Ottawa Redblacks rally, but remain winless with loss to Montreal Alouettes

Ryan Dinwiddie finally had the Redblacks playing good football in the second half against the Als on Sunday night. Photo by ASHLEY FRASER /POSTMEDIA

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It took two and a half games, but Ryan Dinwiddie appears to have finally turned the Ottawa Redblacks in the right direction.

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It’s just not evident in the CFL standings.

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Dinwiddie, a two-time Grey Cup winner as head coach of the Toronto Argos, is still looking for his first victory with his new team after Sunday’s valiant comeback attempt fell short in a 37-35 loss to the Montreal Alouettes at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium.

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But the Redblacks, who were horrible in the first two quarters, kept things interesting until the end.

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Even when Jose Maltos hit on a chip shot field goal with just over a minute left, Kalil Pimpleton responded with a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to set up an onside kick attempt.

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The loss leaves the Redblacks 0-3 with the Saskatchewan Roughriders coming to Ottawa for a game at TD Place Friday night.

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But at least now, there’s reason for hope.

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The Redblacks trailed 21-6 after the first half, which saw Montreal record 17 first downs to their five and 257 net yards of offence to Ottawa’s 76.

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Redlbacks turn it on in the second half

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But after the intermission, they looked better than they have to this point of the season.

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On his first third-quarter possession, Maier directed the offence to a seven-play, 69-yard drive that ended with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Justin Hardy, who, to his point, was more or less a forgotten man in the Ottawa attack.

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On his second possession, Maier marched the team 89 yards on nine plays, capped by a four-yard TD toss to Keelan White with 4:15 left in the third quarter.

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Meanwhile, with the defence clamping down, the lead was whittled to 21-18 heading into the fourth quarter.

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Montreal came back to life in the final 15 minutes, with Davis Alexander leading two scoring drives.

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But the Redblacks’ offence carried its momentum through to the end.

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White scored his second touchdown of the night with a spectacular catch at the back of the end zone after a drive was extended with a grab by Binjimen Victor, who was replacing the injured Eugene Lewis (shoulder).

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Most of them appeared to include Greg Bell, at least at the start.

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Maier threw just two passes in the first quarter, both completions that totalled 16 yards, while Alexander had 107 aerial yards when the teams switched ends for the first time.

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Bell, who missed the first game of the season with a neck injury, looked to suffer a related issue after a nice spin-move run for a first down early on. But after staying on the ground through the commercial break that followed, he returned without missing a series of snaps.