By Mike Hardiman
Stampeders.com
The Calgary Stampeders face perhaps their stiffest test of the season in Week 14 as they make the trip out west to Vancouver to face the division-leading BC Lions.
It’s a huge game for both teams and a battle for first place in the West as only two points separate the clubs heading.
Calgary (8-5, second place in the West) dispatched the Eskimos 39-15 at McMahon last week to win for the fifth time in the last six games. The win moved the Stamps to within two points of the Lions (9-4, first place) as BC lost to the Riders by a 27-21 score.
The winner of this game can clinch a playoff spot in the West should the Eskimos lose to Hamilton on Friday night. Calgary and BC met back in Week 5 with the Leos handing Calgary its biggest loss of the season, a 34-8 thumping. It was Calgary’s only double-digit loss on the season (26 points) while the Stampeders’ other four losses which were by a combined 17 points.
The Lions have turned the series around of late, posting 5-1 record against the Stampeders over the past six games (including three straight wins) after Calgary went 8-0 from the start of head coach John Hufnagel’s tenure back in 2008. Most of that turnaround has come on the road for the Lions as they have won the last four games played in Calgary but the Stamps are still 3-1 in Vancouver since 2010 and 6-1 since 2008. The one road loss for the Stamps against BC came last season, a 33-31 loss in Week 15.
Calgary is 3-3 on the road this season and a division-best 5-2 against the West while the Lions are 5-1 at home and 3-3 against Western teams.
THE KICKOFF
Calgary and the Lions will start their game at 8 p.m. MDT on Saturday, Oct. 6 at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver. The game will be televised live on TSN and can be heard on the radio at QR77 (AM 770 on the radio dial and www.qr77.com on the Internet) and on SIRIUS Satellite Radio, channel 157 and channel 160 for XM subscribers.
Fans in the U.S. can see the game via webcast on ESPN3 (www.espn.go.com). The game will also be seen the next day at www.tsn.ca on TSN’s video-on-demand page.
THE OFFENCE
RB Jon Cornish was once again front and centre in a Stampeders victory last week, rushing for 180 yards and scoring two touchdowns. Cornish broke the 1,000-yard mark on the season with a terrific 73-yard touchdown run, the longest run of his CFL career.
It marks the first time for Cornish over the 1,000-yard mark and the first time in club history a Canadian running back has accomplished the feat. Cornish was named the CFL’s top Canadian for the week, the sixth time in 14 weeks this season he has won that award.
The Stamps rolled up 241 yards rushing on the night (a season high) and now are second in the CFL with an average of 126 yards per game. Calgary’s resurgence in rushing (an average of 158 yards over the past eight games and a record of 6-2) can be traced back to the Hamilton win in Week 7 (233 yards) and the cementing of the o-line.
Tackles J’Micheal Deane and Stanley Bryant, guards Stanley Wilson and Dimitri Tsoumpas and centre Jon Gott along with Edwin Harrison and Obby Khan have combined to give Calgary a huge advantage in running the football and are key to the success of the Stamps’ offensive attack.
Rookie RB Matt Walter chipped in with 55 rushing yards (a career best) and is now third in rushing among Canadians at 119 yards on the season.
QB Kevin Glenn put in yet another solid performance, passing for 270 yards and two touchdowns and a rating of 99.1. He sits fifth in passing with 3,099 yards, 15 touchdowns and a season rating of 99.4. It’s the eighth straight season with more than 3,000 passing for the veteran and he now ranks 12th all-time in CFL passing with 35,587 yards.
Rookie Joe West had a career day in the win with a team-leading six catches for 135 yards and now has 12 receptions for 202 yards over his last three games. SB Nik Lewis was next with five grabs for 64 yards and a major while WR Johnny Forzani hauled in two passes for 51 yards, including a 44-yard touchdown pass. Forzani is now second in the CFL in catches over 30 yards with eight and second in receiving average at 19.8 yards per catch.
Calgary ranks second in points scored (28.9 per game), touchdowns (37), first downs (297) and total offence (390.8 yards per game).
THE DEFENCE
Calgary’s defence put in another strong showing in the win last week, allowing only 15 points and 241 yards. It was the seventh time this season Calgary has held an opponent to 22 points or fewer (6-1 record) and the sixth time the Stamps have held a foe to less than 300 yards of offence (5-1 record).
LB Malik Jackson led the team with five tackles (41 on the year) and had his second sack of the year. Juwan Simpson was next with four stops (60 tackles for the year, he leads the team and is eighth in the league) and DE Junior Turner tied a career high with his four tackles.
The Stamps registered three sacks on the night (six in the last three games) to stay in the hunt for the league lead — they now have 25, six back of Winnipeg. DE Charleston Hughes had his seventh sack to tie his career best for a season and leave third in the CFL’s sack race.
CB Keon Raymond had two tackles and an interception and now leads the team with three picks, including two thefts in his last three games. Calgary’s defence is third in points allowed (23.2 per game), third in total offence allowed (336.6 yards) and fourth in touchdowns allowed at 30.
Calgary is allowing an average of just 255.6 yards of total offence over the past three games and has given up just five touchdowns in those games. The Stamps rank third in run defence at 97.1 yards per game allowed and second in average gain per rush allowed at 5.2 yards per carry.
THE SPECIAL TEAMS
KR Jason Armstead made his Stampeders debut in last week’s win, totaling 104 yards on eight returns.
Calgary leads the CFL in punt-return coverage, limiting opponents to just 6.6 yards per punt return, a full three yards better than the next best team.
K Rene Paredes was a perfect three-for-three in field-goal attempts and now has 114 points on the season, tied for third in the CFL. Paredes is second in field-goal accuracy at 89.7 per cent.
LB Karl McCartney is moving up the charts after registering three tackles on special teams last week and now has 16 for the season, good for third place in the league. McCartney had a career-best 19 tackles on the teams in his rookie season of 2010.
THE OPPOSITION
The Lions have slowed down a touch over the past four weeks, losing twice (to Saskatchewan and Montreal, both on the road) after winning the previous four games including a stretch of three straight games in which they held their opponents to less than 10 points.
BC enters the week with the No. 1-ranked defence and leads the league in wins with nine. The Lions are only fifth in points scored, averaging 26 points per game, but lead in first downs (298), total offence (392.6 yards per game) and rushing yards (129.9 yards per game).
QB Travis Lulay (#14) is the league’s reigning MOP and leads the West with 3,532 yards passing, 26 TDs and a 98.1 QB rating. RB Andrew Harris (#33) is a key cog in the Lions attack and leads the CFL in yards from scrimmage with 1,419. Harris is third in rushing with 842 yards and is looking to join Calgary’s Jon Cornish as the second Canadian running back to crack the 1,000-yard mark this season. It would mark the first time since 1957 the league boasted two Canadian 1,000-yard rushers in the same season.
Harris leads the team in receptions with 60 and leads all CFL running backs in catches. SB Geroy Simon (#81) is second with 49 receptions for 657 yards followed by SB Arland Bruce, who has 43 catches for 603 yards and five touchdowns. Both slotbacks were injured in the loss to Saskatchewan however and both are questionable for this week’s game.
The Lions defence leads the CFL in 18 of 25 statistical categories including all the big ones — points allowed (19.2 points per game), touchdowns (20), first downs (17 per game) and total offence (302.3 yards per game). The Lions have allowed less than 20 points in seven games (7-0) and less than 30 points 11 times (8-3).
BC’s leaders on defence are DE Keron Williams (#9), who leads the league in sacks with nine, MLB Adam Bighill (#44), who is second in the league in tackles with 77 and leads the team with three interceptions. Other Lions to watch on defence are the two veteran defensive halfbacks — Korey Banks (#24, 40 tackles, one interception) and Ryan Phillips (#21, 21 tackles, one interception) — as they will be charged with shutting down Calgary’s two slotbacks. LB Anton McKenzie (#42) will also be prominent in the Lions’ attempts to contain Cornish.
THE OTHER GAMES
Edmonton (5-8, fourth place in the West) plays host to the Ticats (5-8, third in the East) on Friday Night Football, looking to end a five-game losing streak and reclaim the crossover playoff spot.
Monday serves up a Thanksgiving Day doubleheader starting with Winnipeg (3-10, fourth place) in Montreal to take on the Alouettes (8-5, first in the East) followed by the Riders (7-6, third place) in Toronto to battle the Argos (7-6, second place) in the first meeting between those two clubs this season.
NEXT UP
Calgary remains on the road as the Stamps travel to Winnipeg to play the Blue Bombers on Saturday, Oct. 13. Calgary beat the Bombers 44-3 in Week 12 of this season and won 21-20 at Canad Inns Stadium in 2011.