The Stampeders delivered their fans a first home-field victory in 2011 as Calgary defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 32-20 Saturday evening at McMahon Stadium.
The win is the fourth in the past five contests for the Stamps while Hamilton’s three-game winning streak comes to an end. Calgary (4-2) moves to within two points of Edmonton for first place in the Canadian Football League’s West Division.
“We did get a win at McMahon,” said Stampeders head coach and general manager John Hufnagel, whose club had opened the home schedule with losses to Toronto and Edmonton. “Hopefully it continues. It’s important for our players, who wanted very badly to win in front of their fans. They appreciate the fan support.”
Down 20-13 at the half, the Stampeders went ahead with 11 unanswered points in the third quarter.
Joffrey Reynolds started the surge with a one-yard touchdown run. That was followed by a 75-yard punt single by Burke Dales and a 35-yard field goal by Rene Paredes.
The Stampeders defence played a huge role in the third-quarter comeback, forcing three straight Hamilton two-and-outs at one point.
“First of all, they weren’t taking the amount of penalties they took in the first half that helped Hamilton in their scoring drives,” said Hufnagel. “Fortunately, our defence did straighten some things out at halftime and got us the ball a lot in the second half. We just chipped away and chipped away and ended up with more points.”
The Stamps sealed the victory with Jon Cornish’s three-yard touchdown run with one minute to play in the game.
Calgary opened the scoring on its first possession of the evening as Larry Taylor’s 25-yard touchdown reception capped a five-play, 75-yard drive. It was Taylor’s first score as a member of the Stampeders.
Hamilton then got on the scoreboard with a 52-yard Justin Medlock field goal.
The Stamps thought they had another touchdown on their second drive as Jabari Arthur made an apparent 28-yard touchdown reception but the Tiger-Cats challenged, the play was overturned and Calgary had to settle for a 35-yard Paredes field goal.
Assisted by a pair of penalties for 42 yards, the Ticats recorded their first major of the game when Kevin Glenn connected with Dave Stala for a seven-yard scoring pass.
In the second quarter, the visitors went ahead thanks to an eight-play, 80-yard march capped by Avon Cobourne’s six-yard run.
The first half ended with an exchange of field goals as Paredes found the range from 21 yards while Medlock connected from 42.
A notable event during the first half was Henry Burris’ 46-yard pass completion to Johnny Forzani. That allowed Burris to pass Tom Clements (39,041 yards) for eighth place on the CFL’s all-time passing list.
The Stamps’ next action comes Friday as they travel to Regina to face the Saskatchewan Roughriders for the second time in three weeks.
INDIVIDUAL STATS
PASSING
Cgy: Burris 29-37-341-1-0; Ham: Glenn 20-34-211-1-1
RUSHING
Cgy: Reynolds 10-41-1, Burris 2-22, Cornish 4-19-1, Tate 3-6; Ham: Cobourne 15-67-1, Glenn 1-2, Porter 1-2
RECEIVING
Cgy: Lewis 7-87, Forzani 2-68, Reynolds 4-47, Cornish 2-44, Taylor 4-37-1, Arthur 3-25, Bryant 3-13, Talley 1-12, Parker 1-8; Ham: Kelly 5-92, Williams 6-48, Stala 3-31-1, Brown 1-13, Thigpen 2-8, Cobourne 1-8, MacKay 1-7, Grant 1-4
NOTABLES
Cgy: Dales 5 PUNT 272 YDS 54.4 AVG, Paredes 3-4 FG 3-3 XP 13 PTS, Taylor 4-63 PR 2-58 KOR, Fraser 1 STT 1 INT, Stone 3 TKL 2 STT, Raymond 5 TKL, Isaac 3 TKL 1 KD; Ham: Francis 7 TKL, Smith 6 TKL, Johnson 5 TKL 1 STT, Medlock 2-2 FG 2-2 XP 8 PTS
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