In a defensive struggle at McMahon Stadium on Friday night, the Calgary Stampeders claimed a 20-17 pre-season win over the Edmonton Eskimos.
Rob Maver kicked a game-winning 30-yard field goal with no time left on the clock.
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There wasn’t an offensive touchdown scored on the evening until Brad Sinopoli connected with Marquay McDaniel for a 15-yard Stampeders touchdown pass with barely a minute left in regulation. The same two players hooked up for the two-point conversion to knot the score at 17-17.
One of the standout defensive performers was rookie Stampeders defensive back Fred Bennett, who made two interceptions.
After a tentative first quarter — the only scoring was an Edmonton 69-yard punt single by former Stamp Burke Dales — the scoreboard got a little bit more of a workout in the second period.
A Calgary miscue resulted in the first major of the night as Joe Burnett intercepted a Drew Tate and ran it back 80 yards for a touchdown. With the extra point, the score was 8-0 for the visitors.
The Eskimos stretched their lead to 11 points thanks to Derek Schiavone’s 45-yard field goal.
Edmonton had a chance to tack up more points but a Fred Bennett interception deep in Calgary territory snuffed out an Eskimos scoring threat.
After some early struggles, the Calgary offence got rolling with a nine-play, 64-yard drive that resulted in the Stamps’ first points of the evening — a 35-yard field goal by Rene Paredes.
The Stamps cut the deficit to 11-6 before the halftime break thanks to another Paredes field goal, this time a 37-yarder.
The only scoring in the third quarter was a 50-yard field goal by Calgary’s Maver. The Eskimos got those three points back in the fourth quarter on a 21-yard Grant Shaw field goal and then extended the advantage when Shaw connected from 11 yards with 3:40 to play.
The Stamps’ second and final pre-season game will be played next Friday night in Regina against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
More coverage
>> Photo gallery
>> Locker-Room Blog: Rob Maver
>> Locker-Room Blog: Marquay McDaniel
>> Video: Locker-Room reaction
>> Video: Sights and Sounds of game night
Passing
Cgy: Mitchell 8-12-81-0-0, Glenn 8-11-73-0-0, Tate 6-12-66-0-1, Sinopoli 5-8-55-1-0; Edm: Nichols 10-20-108-0-2, Masoli 5-16-75-0-0, Summers 0-2-0-0-0
Rushing
Cgy: Cornish 5-37, Coker 8-31, Sinopoli 4-20, Walter 3-15, Tucker 4-14, Mitchell 1-1, Tate 1-0; Edm: Goebel 4-18, Ross 3-11, Masoli 2-6, Nichols 2-6, Fils 2-1
Receiving
Cgy: McDaniel 5-56-1, Bryant 3-38, Walls 4-35, Bauman 4-33, Lewis 2-33, Taylor 2-23, Franklin 1-20, Forzani 1-12, Walter 1-10, Coker 1-7, Talley 2-5, Cornish 1-3; Edm: Koch 3-42, Chambers 2-33, Coehoorn 3-28, Barrett 1-27, Ross 2-19, Hargreaves 1-12, Goebel 1-8, Townsel 1-8, Collins 1-6
Notables
Cgy: Maver 2-3 FG 9-376 PUNT, Bennett 1 TKL 2 INT, Mayo 2 TKL 3 STT 1 SK, MacDougall 1 TKL 1 SK 1 FF, McCune 3 TKL 1 SK, McCoy 2 TKL 1 SK, White 4 TKL; Edm: Coleman 3 TKL 1 SK, Burnett 1 INT 1 TD, Sewell 4 TKL 1 FF, Brown 4 TKL 1 FF