Rene Paredes’ four field goals, including a tie-breaker in the second half, lifted the Calgary Stampeders to a 22-18 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday.
The victory allows the Stamps to improve their record to 3-2 and maintain sole possession of second place in the West Division. The Roughriders fall to 1-4.
The Stamps may not have put up many points but the offence produced some key first downs in the final minutes to keep the ball away from the Roughriders and burn precious seconds off the clock.
Especially important was a second-down conversion by Romby Bryant, who held on to the ball after absorbing a violent hit.
“At the end of the game, all three phases of our football team really helped secure the win,” commented Stampeders head coach and general manager John Hufnagel. “Offensively, the get the ball out from the shadows of our goalpost, our defence going on the field forcing the punt, our offence going back out again and using the clock up and the special teams punting and our coverage keeping it down (deep in Saskatchewan territory) so that was it almost impossible with 10 seconds left for them to do something.”
Calgary has now won five consecutive road games dating back to the end of the 2010 campaign. It’s the club’s longest road winning streak since the Stamps won eight straight from Nov. 5, 1994 to Oct. 9, 1995. The franchise record is 13 straight road wins set in 1948 and 1949.
With the score tied 15-15 in the third quarter, Paredes nailed a 32-yard field goal to put the visitors ahead to stay. He later a 47-yarder and added a single point on a field-goal miss. In the first half, the rookies connected on field goals from 34 and 45 yards.
“He has that type of leg,” said Hufnagel. “If he didn’t, I wouldn’t be trying (the long field goals). He’s kicked very well in practice since he’s been here. He had a hiccup last week but I stated that I have confidence in him and he (lived up to that).”
The Stampeders held a 13-8 lead after a defence-minded opening half.
The only scoring of the first quarter was a 34-yard field goal by Paredes. Saskatchewan missed a chance to match when Eddie Johnson was wide on a 47-yard field-goal try.
The Stampeders extended their lead when Henry Burris scampered into the end-zone from eight yards out. It was the quarterback’s first rushing first rushing touchdown since Sept. 10, 2010.
Saskatchewan responded with its own rushing major by a quarterback as Darian Durant scored on a nine-yard run.
After a Johnson punt single, the Stamps made it a five-point lead with a 45-yard Paredes field goal on the final play of the half.
The Roughriders took their first lead of the evening on the first drive of the second half as Weston Dressler capitalized on a fortuitous bounce off the hands of Stamps defender Brandon Isaac by making a reception and racing away for a 58-yard touchdown.
Calgary pulled even at 15-15 when Johnson chose to concede a safety rather than punting from deep in his own territory.
The Stamps defence held Durant to just 10 rushing yards on Saturday while sacking the Roughriders quarterback three times. Charleston Hughes accounted for two of the sacks.
The Stamps return home next Saturday to host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Kickoff at McMahon Stadium is 7:30 p.m.
More coverage
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>> Audio: John Hufnagel
>> Locker-Room Blog by Rene Paredes
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>> Updated standings
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INDIVIDUAL STATS
PASSING
Cgy: Burris 24-36-255-0-1; Ssk: Durant 16-28-215-1-0
RUSHING
Cgy: Reynolds 10-57, Burris 5-47-1, Cornish 2-26, Taylor 1-10; Ssk: Charles 11-69, Durant 2-10-1
RECEIVING
Cgy: Lewis 6-90, Arthur 2-39, Bryant 5-37, Forzani 4-37, Rambo 3-26, Taylor 3-23, Reynolds 1-3; Ssk: Dressler 6-103-1, Hill 4-41, Hughes 1-24, Getzlaf 1-15, Charles 1-13, Clermont 2-12, Nunn 1-7
NOTABLES
Cgy: Paredes 4-5 FG 1-1 XP 14 PTS, McCune 5 TKl 1 SK, Hughes 2 TKL 2 STT 2 SK, Fassitt 4 TKL, Raymond 1 TKL 2 KD; Ssk: Jackson 7 TKL 1 KD, Patrick 4 TKL 1 INT 1 KD, Freeman 6 TKL 1 STT 1 SK 1 FF, Shologan 2 TKL 1 SK