The Calgary Stampeders took sole possession of first place in the Canadian Football League’s West Division by defeating the Saskatchewan Roughriders 40-3 Saturday at McMahon Stadium.
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A solid ground attack — Jon Cornish rushed for 149 yards and the Stamps as a team for 230 — was a significant contributor to the cause as Calgary snapped a two-game losing streak. The Stamps are now 8-5 on the season, two points ahead of both Edmonton and BC.
“I thought we played well in all three phases,” said Stampeders head coach and general manager John Hufnagel. “They hung in there all four quarters playing hard. It was important to win the football game and the way we played the game is something the coaching staff was requesting and they put the effort of preparing and they played extremely well with a lot of emotion.”
The Stamps are now 3-0 this season against the Riders, who fall deeper into the West Division cellar at 4-9.
Defensive lineman Charleston Hughes played a key role in the Stamps’ first-half push as the home side built a 23-3 lead.
His second sack of the day resulted in a Darian Durant fumble that was recovered by linebacker Daren Stone and set the stage for a six-play, 64-yard drive that culminated with Drew Tate’s two-yard touchdown run.
Then, in the final minute of the opening half, Hughes picked up a loose ball after Durant mishandled the snap and dashed 71 yards for his first career touchdown.
The Stamps’ first touchdown of the afternoon came courtesy of a two-yard run by Cornish that capped a nine-play, 70-yard drive. In addition to finishing the drive, Cornish contributed a 32-yard catch to help Calgary move the ball down the field.
The Roughriders’ only first-half scoring was provided by Chris Milo’s 42-yard field goal.
Calgary received the ball to start the second half and proceeded to eat up more than half the third quarter with a 13-play, 80-yard drive that was capped by a five-yard touchdown pass to Romby Bryant.
Later in the third quarter, Cornish registered his second touchdown of the day — a 35-yard run that put him past the 100-yard milestone on the day — to make it 37-3 for the Stamps.
In the fourth quarter, Rene Paredes booted a 40-yard field goal for the Stamps.
The Stamps’ next game will be next Saturday as the Red and White travel to Vancouver to face the BC Lions at the newly refurbished BC Place.
INDIVIDUAL STATS
PASSING
Cgy: Burris 15-19-158-1-0, Tate 4-5-40-0-0, Taylor 0-1-0-0-0; Ssk: Durant 12-21-128-0-0, Dinwiddie 6-8-0-0
RUSHING
Cgy: Cornish 13-149-2, Coker 11-66, Franklin 1-7, Tate 4-5-1, Burris 2-3; Ssk: Cates 8-34, Durant 4-27, Hughes 2-5, Dinwiddie 2-5, West 1-3
RECEIVING
Cgy: Lewis 6-62, Arthur 2-35, Cornish 1-32, Rambo 4-31, Bryant 4-28-1, Taylor 2-10; Ssk: Getzlaf 3-58, Koch 4-32, Cates 3-25, Robinson 3-23, Dressler 2-10, Hughes 1-9, Clermont 1-3, Foord 1-0
NOTABLES
Cgy: Hughes 5 TKL 2 SK 1 FF 1 FR 1 TD, Raymond 3 TKL 2 KD, Bulcke 2 TKL 1 SK, Dixon 1 TKL 1 SK; Ssk: Jackson 6 TKL 2-73 KOR, West 3-77 KOR, Freeman 5 TKL, Lucas 5 TKL, Butler 5 TKL
More coverage
>> Locker-Room Blog: Jon Cornish
>> Locker-Room Blog: Charleston Hughes
>> Video: Post-game comments
>> Video: game balls
>> Audio: Coach Huff
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