Redblacks looking for more than just a good effort in rematch with Blue Bombers

OTTAWA — Moral victories won’t help the Ottawa Redblacks in the standings.

After dropping a 19-17 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on a last-minute field goal in their season opener last week, the Redblacks are hoping for a different result when they host the two-time defending Grey Cup champions for a rematch on Friday.

Ottawa did a lot of good things last week against the Bombers but fell just short. Preparing for Winnipeg in a back-to-back situation presents a different challenge.

“It's interesting, you’ve got to figure out what they're going to do differently is the first thing we’ve got to figure out and then adapt and see what happens,” said Redblacks head coach Paul LaPolice. “The other thing is like, you do a lot of good things you don't want to change too many things either of which you did well, so it's an interesting chess match the back the backs.”

Home has not been kind to the Redblacks. They’ve posted just one win at TD Place Stadium in each of their last two seasons.

“If you want to win your division you better win at home is something our general manager said early in training camp,” LaPolice said. “If we want to make sure we’re in the heat of things you want to win your home games.”

Ottawa held Winnipeg to just 239 passing yards and 50 yards rushing, but left points on the field.

Jeremiah Masoli looked solid in his Redblacks debut, going 24 for 34 for 380 yards. It was an impressive outing considering he’s working with a new team and a new offence.

“We’ve just been putting the work in,” Masoli said. “No secret to the recipe. Guys have been staying after, doing extra things to make sure we’re on the same page and I just expect us to keep going."

Masoli took an advantage of his familiarity with receiver