The Calgary Stampeders kept alive their hopes of finishing first in the Canadian Football League’s West Division on Sunday with a 32-27 road victory over the Montreal Alouettes at Percival Molson Stadium.
The win creates a three-way tie at the top of the West as the Stamps, BC Lions and Edmonton Eskimos all have 10-7 records.
“It was a big win,” said Stampeders head coach and general manager John Hufnagel. “We came here to get a job done and we knew the type of team we’d be playing and we knew the game would most likely be decided late. We were able to make some plays.”
Calgary’s defence had a strong game as they forced three Montreal turnovers on downs including one in the final seconds of the game as Johnnie Dixon knocked down an Anthony Calvillo pass into the end-zone intended for S.J. Green to preserve the win.
Early in the game, it was the offence dominating as touchdowns were scored on the first three possessions of the contest, with Calgary picking up two of the majors.
The Stamps opened the scoring on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Drew Tate to Johnny Forzani to cap a six-play, 69-yard drive.
Montreal answered with its own scoring drive as Brandon Whitaker scored on a seven-yard rush to finish the march.
The Stampeders came right back and retook a seven-point lead thanks to Jon Cornish’s one-yard run.
In the second quarter, Montreal’s Greg Laybourn recovered a Calgary fumble and returned it inside the Stampeders’ 10-yard line. Two plays later, short-yardage quarterback Adrian McPherson scored on a one-yard keeper.
The first-half scoring concluded with a 74-yard punt single by Calgary’s Burke Dales.
The teams swapped touchdowns in the third quarter as Cornish scored his second major of the day on another one-yard run to cap an eight-play, 67-yard drive.
Montreal’s third-quarter touchdown was the result of Marc-Olivier Brouillette’s 72-yard run on a fake-punt play.
In the fourth quarter, Forzani scored his second touchdown of the contest after hauling in an 18-yard pass from Tate in the corner of the end-zone. It was Forzani’s fourth touchdown in two games against Montreal this season.
The Alouettes replied with a touchdown catch by Eric Deslauriers with two minutes to go. A two-point convert attempt to try and tie the contest 29-29 failed as DeVone Claybrooks tripped up Calvillo as he attempted to run into the end-zone.
Rene Paredes’ 41-yard field goal gave the Stamps some much-needed insurance points as Montreal was forced to go for a touchdown on its final possession.
The Stamps will play host to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in their regular-season finale on Saturday while Edmonton will take on Saskatchewan and the Lions face the Alouettes. Calgary is at a disadvantage in the battle for first because the Stamps lost the season series to both Edmonton and BC.
“We’re responsible for that,” said Hufnagel. “The only thing we can do is to get ready to play a good Winnipeg team and see where the chips fall.”
INDIVIDUAL STATS
PASSING
Cgy: Tate 25-36-333-2-2; Mtl: Calvillo 24-43-380-1-0
RUSHING
Cgy: Cornish 15-71-2, Talley 2-31, Tate 2-28, Taylor 1-17, Reynolds 1-2, Burris 2-2; Mtl: Brouillette 1-72-1, Whitaker 16-69-1, Calvillo 3-17, McPherson 2-2-1
RECEIVING
Cgy: Forzani 6-108-2, Cote 2-57, Bryant 3-50, Lewis 3-44, Talley 3-29, Arthur 3-17, Franklin 1-15, Cornish 3-7, Reynolds 1-6; Mtl: Richardson 5-111, Green 6-86, Bratton 3-46, Carter 3-43, Deslauriers 1-31-1, Watkins 2-30, Whitaker 3-20, London 1-13
NOTABLES
Cgy: Turner 4 TKL 1 SK, Dixon 2 TKL 1 STT 1 KD, Hughes 2 TKL 1 FF, Claybrooks 1 TKL 1 KD, Fraser 1 FR; Mtl: Williams 7 TKL 1 STT, Cox 6 TKL 1 STT 1 INT 1 KD, Hecht 6 TKL 1 FF, Parker 4 TKL 1 FF 1 INT 1 FR
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