By Mike Hardiman
Stampeders.com

The Hamilton Ticats are next up for the Stampeders as Calgary returns home for a two games, looking to secure a home playoff spot with just three weeks to go in the regular season.

Calgary (9-6. second place in the West) bounced back from a two-game road losing streak with a 32-21 win over the Bombers in Winnipeg. The win keeps the Stamps’ slim hopes for first place alive and puts Calgary in the driver’s seat to host at least the West semifinal.

The Lions can clinch first place with just one win in their final three games while the Stamps need only two wins or one win combined with a Saskatchewan loss in the last three games to clinch second place. Calgary clinched at least a crossover spot with the win combined with Hamilton’s loss and this marks the eighth straight season the Stamps will be playing in the post-season.

A win would also give Calgary 10 wins for the fifth straight season, all under current head coach John Hufnagel.

Hamilton lost 37-17 to the Lions last week and, at 5-10 are in danger of losing the third playoff spot in the East to a West team in the crossover. A loss this week for the Ticats would clinch at least a crossover spot for the Riders and leave the Eskimos one win away from eliminating Hamilton from the playoffs altogether.

Hamilton enters the game having lost two straight contests and is 2-3 in the last five games. The Tabbies have struggled on the road in 2012, posting a league-worst 1-6 record away from Ivor Wynne Stadium and are 2-5 against West teams.

Calgary beat Hamilton 31-20 back in Week 7 and is 5-1 in the last six games played between the two clubs including a 32-10 win at McMahon in 2011. The Stamps are also currently on a seven-game winning streak at home against Hamilton dating back to 2005.

Calgary is 5-2 at home this season and 4-3 against East teams.

THE KICKOFF

The game against Hamilton is set to get underway at 5 p.m. MDT on Saturday, Oct. 20 at McMahon Stadium in Calgary. It’s the second game of a doubleheader with the Montreal-Saskatchewan game preceding it.

The game will be televised on TSN (subject to blackout) 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 catch 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

Calgary’s offence scored 32 points and while it didn’t post spectacular numbers in terms of yardage, the unit benefited from a strong performance by the defence and scored 19 points off eight Winnipeg turnovers.

Calgary built a 16-0 first quarter lead en route to the win and the Stamps are now plus-61 in the first quarter (106 points scored to 45 allowed), by far the best difference in the league.

Calgary has now scored 30 points in a game nine times this season. Calgary did buck a recent trend and won despite rushing for only 95 yards as a team including 87 for the league’s leading rusher, Jon Cornish. Cornish leads the CFL in rushing with 1,275 yards and is only 162 yards behind former Stampeder Normie Kwong’s single-season record for a Canadian back of 1,437 yards.

Cornish leads the league in rushes of more than 10 yards with 37 and is second in rushes for first downs with 55. Cornish also leads the CFL in rushing touchdowns with 10 and is second in total TDs with 11.

The Stamps passed for 286 yards — compared to their season average of 275.3 yards per game — and Stamps QB Kevin Glenn threw two touchdowns in the win, rating out at 126.5. Glenn sits forth in league passing with 3,627 yards, 21 TDs and a career-best rating of 98.5.

He is on pace to pass for more than 4,000 yards on the season for the third time in his CFL career despite only passing for over 300 yards in a game once so far this season.

Glenn spread the ball around, with eight different receivers catching passes. SB Marquay McDaniel led the way with six catches for 73 yards and one touchdown followed by WR Romby Bryant, who had five receptions for 89 yards . Bryant is heating up down the stretch with 20 receptions for 303 yards in his past five games.

SB Nik Lewis caught his ninth touchdown pass of the season and is second in the CFL in touchdown catches.

Calgary is second in the CFL with 28.7 points scored per game, 41 touchdowns scored and an average of 381.5 yards of total offence per game.

THE DEFENCE

Calgary’s defence decided the game with turnovers, forcing a season-high eight giveaways in the win. The Stamps had only nine takeaways in their previous six games combined and the three fumble recoveries and four interceptions were both season highs.

The Stamps now have 29 takeaways on the season — 14 interceptions (fourth), nine fumble recoveries (fifth) and six turnovers on downs (fourth). The Stamps pitched a shutout in the opening quarter for the seventh time this season (and fifth time in the last eight games) and the 45 total points allowed in the first quarter this season is the lowest total in the league.

The Stamps defence ranks third in points allowed (23.3 per game), third in offence allowed (346 yards) and fourth in touchdowns allowed (36). Calgary has allowed 22 points or fewer in seven of its last 10 games (6-1 record in those games).

CB Fred Bennett led the charge with five tackles and one pick (the first of his CFL career), totals matched by LB Keon Raymond, who had been moved down to linebacker from his usual corner position. Raymond leads the team with four interceptions (third best in the CFL) and has three picks in his last five games.

Raymond’s replacement on the corner, Derrius Brooks, had three tackles, a pick (also his first) and a fumble recovery while S Eric Fraser had the other interception.

DT Demonte’ Bolden contributed a sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery while DE Charleston Hughes had his eighth sack on the year, a career best for a single season. Hughes has 20 tackles and four sacks in his last six games.

LB Malik Jackson had three tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in the win.

THE SPECIAL TEAMS

KR Jason Armstead had 114 yards in returns, topping the century mark for the second straight game.

The Stamps did a good job covering kicks, holding the Bombers to 128 yards on nine returns and recovering a fumble to set up the first touchdown of the game. LB Karl McCartney had two special-teams tackles and is now second in the CFL with 20.

K Rene Paredes went four-for-four in the field-goal department and scored 14 points to bring his season total to 138 and his field-goal accuracy mark to 91.7 per cent, best in the CFL. Paredes trails the Lions’ Paul McCallum by just 14 points for the league lead in scoring.

THE OPPOSITION

The story for Stampeders fans about Hamilton this week is all about the return of QB Henry Burris (#1) to Calgary. Burris was traded to Hamilton in the off-season for QB Kevin Glenn and he left the Stamps as the club’s all-time leading passer with more than 32,000 passing yards, a MOP award in 2010 and a Grey Cup championship as the starter in 2008.

Burris has shown he can still sling the ball as he leads the CFL in touchdown passes with 35, QB rating with 104.7 (a career-best) and is second in yardage with 4,348, a pace that would see him surpass the 5,000-yard mark for the second time in his career.

RB Avon Cobourne (#22) is his primary weapon in the backfield with 801 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns while RB Chevon Walker (#29) has seven majors to go along with his 531 rushing yards. WR Chris Williams (#80) and SB Andy Fantuz (#83) are the main targets for Burris with Williams also being a force on special teams. Williams leads the CFL in touchdowns with 13 and is sixth in the league with 68 receptions for 1,028 yards. He also has six return touchdowns on the season, tying a CFL record.

Fantuz leads all Canadian receivers with 56 catches for 796 yards and seven touchdowns.

Hamilton leads the CFL in scoring, averaging 29.2 points per game, and is third in touchdowns scored (40) and third in total offence (375.5 yards per game).

Hamilton’s defence has been a source of concern for the team all season and ranks eighth in 15 of 25 defensive categories including points allowed (32.1 per game), first downs allowed (370) and offence allowed (421.8 yards per game).

MLB Rey Williams (#9) leads the team in tackles with 86 (second in the CFL) while CB Dee Webb (#5) leads the team with two interceptions (of the league-low seven posted by Hamilton all season). Hamilton is seventh in sacks with 24, led by DT Jermaine McElveen (#94) who has six.

THE OTHER GAMES

Week 17 starts off with the Bombers (4-11, fourth place in the East) looking to stay alive in the hunt for a post-season berth with a win over the Argos (7-8, second place) in Toronto on Friday Night Football.

The game is followed on Friday by the Lions hosting the Eskimos with BC (11-4, first place in the West) looking to sew up first place with a win and the Eskimos hoping to keep pace with the Riders for third.

Saskatchewan (8-7) hosts Montreal (9-6) on Saturday. The Riders can clinch at least a crossover playoff spot with a win while Montreal will clinch first place in the East.

NEXT UP

The Stamps remain at McMahon for a date with the division-leading BC Lions on Friday, Oct. 26. The Lions have won both games against Calgary this season, a 27-22 win in Vancouver in Week 15 and a 34-8 win at McMahon back in Week 5.