Throwback Thursday: 1968 Grey Cup – Rough Riders’ second half charge takes Grey Cup
Rough Riders’ second half charge takes Grey Cup
The Ottawa Rough Riders needed three second half touchdowns to defeat the Calgary Stampeders for their second Grey Cup title of the decade in 1968. The Riders edged the Stamps 24-21 before 32,655 fans at Exhibition Placein Toronto.
With Ottawa leading 4-0 in the second quarter, Calgary struck for a pair of majors before halftime. Aided by a pair of pass interference calls against the Riders, Peter Liske scored on a quarterback sneak to put Calgary on the scoreboard. Terry Evanshen added to Calgary’s lead with his first of two touchdown receptions.
The Riders struck back in the second half. Early in the third quarter Ottawa had possession of the ball at the Stampeders 53 yard line. Rookie halfback Vic Washington made a spectacular 14-yard gain shortly thereafter, helping to set up Russ Jackson’s goal-line run for a touchdown.
But the most significant play of the game came early in the fourth quarter. Washington took a pitchout from Jackson, dropped the ball, but retrieved it on the first bounce. He then swept left and galloped 80 yards for a touchdown. Washington ended the game with 128 yards on the ground on 13 carries.
Ottawa’s air attack was in full display later in the quarter when Jackson hooked up with Margene Adkins on a 70-yard passing play.
The Stampeders made a game of it late in regulation when Dick Suderman recovered Bo Scott’s fumble on the Ottawa 14. Liske connected again with Evanshen in the end zone, but it was as close as Calgary would get.
Calgary had communications problems in the second half when their telephone line to the spotters’ booth went dead. It wasn’t fixed until there were five minutes remaining in the game.
All in all, it wasn’t a great week for the Stampeders. Several of their players were struck with the flu bug after their arrival in Toronto, with star players Herm Harrison and Jerry Keeling getting the worst of it. Rudy Linterman, filling in for an injured Dave Cranmer, suffered torn ligaments to his right knee after a tackle by Jerry Campbell.
Ottawa’s Don Sutherin missed three field goal attempts before being successful on a 26-yarder in the second quarter. Teammate Ken Lehmann played the entire game with a dislocated elbow.
It was the second Grey Cup title for Frank Clair in Ottawa to match his two championships with the Toronto Argonauts.
56th Grey Cup: Washington 79-Yard TD Run – Ottawa RB Vic Washington takes a ball, fumbles, but recovers it quickly and runs it 79-yards down-field for a touchdown.
56th Grey Cup: Adkins Catches 76-yard TD Pass – Ottawa receiver Margene Adkins catches a Russ Jackson pass and runs it into the end-zone for a 76-yard touchdown.
56th Grey Cup: Evanshen Over-the-Shoulder TD Catch – Stampeders receiver Terry Evanshen caught a perfect pass QB from Peter Liske for a 21-yard touchdown.
