By Mike Hardiman
Special to Stampeders.com

The Pregame

The Stampeders are back at McMahon this week, hosting the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to open Week 12 in the CFL.

The Stamps are home for back-to-back contests with Eastern foes as Toronto will visit McMahon in Week 13. This is the first of four straight games against East teams, three of them at home.

The Stamps (8-2) earned a share of first place with a 22-12 win over Edmonton last week. Calgary remains the hottest team in the CFL, winning a league-high three straight games and seven of the last eight.

Hamilton (5-5) stayed in second spot in the East with an impressive win over the visiting Lions, beating BC by a score of 37-29. The Ticats have won four of their last five games.

Leaving McMahon with a victory won’t be an easy task for the Tabbies as Calgary has owned this series at home, winning eight straight games dating back to 2005. Calgary won a snowy affair last year in Week 17, edging the Ticats 34-32.

Calgary is one of three unbeaten teams in the CFL at home at 4-0 and is also unbeaten against the East at 4-0 while Hamilton is 2-3 on the road and 2-4 against Western opposition. 

The Kickoff

When/Where: Friday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. at McMahon Stadium in Calgary
Television: TSN Friday Night Football, ESPN3
Radio: News Talk 770, Sirius Satellite Channel 157, XM Satellite Channel 160
Internet: www.newstalk770.com

The Stampeders 

Calgary’s ball control offence was on display in Edmonton last week as the Stampeders ground out another win over the Eskimos.

Calgary had 172 yards rushing on 23 carries compared to 26 pass attempts. QB Bo Levi Mitchell won his second start of the season but passed for only 175 yards and averaged just 6.7 yards per attempt. The result of this style of offence was another win in the time of possession battle as the Stamps had the ball for 33:55.

A look at the stats table reveals a few key matchups in this week’s game. Calgary is second in rushing at 137.3 yards per game while Hamilton, despite an improvement in recent weeks, sits sixth in rushing yards allowed at 107.3 yards per game.

Calgary has seven games of more than 100 yards rushing in its first 10 games and is 7-0 in those games while Hamilton has given up over 100 yards five times and is 1-4.

Calgary leads the CFL in fewest sacks allowed at 22 while Hamilton’s defence is last in the CFL with only 19 sacks to its credit.

On defence, Calgary is second in the league with 36 sacks after exploding for 14 in its last two games and faces a Ticats offensive line that is last in sacks allowed at 41.  

Who to watch:          

Jon Cornish, RB, #9
2013 stats – 139 carries, 940 yards rushing, 6.8 yard average, 8 TDs – leads CFL in total touchdowns with 10; needs just 60 yards rushing for second straight 1,000 yard season 
Last Week – 14 carries, 131 yards rushing, 9.4 yard average, 0 TDs vs Edm. –  fourth game of more than 100 yards rushing this season
2012 vs Ham. – 33 carries, 197 yards rushing, 5.9 yard average, 2 TDs in two games played – 170 yards rushing in first game, 27 in second                       

Rene Paredes, K, #30
2013 stats – 122 points scored, 28/29 converts made (96.5%), 31/32 field goals made (96.9%) – leads CFL in scoring
Last Week –  16 points scored, 1/1 converts made, 5/5 field goals made vs Edm. – extended current streak to 10 consecutive field goals made (since Week 9)
2012 vs Ham. – 11 points scored (eight converts, 1 FG), 1/1 in field goal attempts in two games played

Charleston Hughes, DE, #39
2013 stats – 24 tackles, 2 tackles for losses, 10 sacks, 1 INT, 2 pass knockdowns, 2 forced fumbles, – leads team in sacks, second in CFL
Last Week – 2 tackles, 2 sacks vs Edm.
2012 vs Ham. – 8 tackles, 2 special teams tackles, 2 sacks in two games played

Cordarro Law, DE, #49
2013 stats – 25 tackles, 4 special teams tackles, 2 tackles for losses, 8 sacks, 1 forced fumble – second on team in sacks, third in CFL
Last Week  – 6 tackles, 2 sacks vs Edm. – tied for team lead team in tackles
2012 vs Ham. –  did not play

Deron Mayo, LB, #42
2013 stats – 26 tackles, 7 special teams tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 3 sacks, 1 pass knockdowns, 2 fumble returns
Last Week – 6 tackles, 1 sack vs Edm. – tied for team lead in tackles
2012 vs Ham. – 2 special teams tackles in two games played

The Tiger-Cats                                                                         

Hamilton should pose an interesting challenge to Calgary’s No. 1-ranked defence against the pass as the Cats are the top-ranked passing team in the CFL.

Former Stampeder Henry Burris has flourished under new head coach Kent Austin and is once again on pace for over 5,000 yards passing. He has a deep set of receivers to work with including veteran WR Bakari Grant (#84), rookie of the year candidate SB Greg Ellingson (#82) and former all-star SB Andy Fantuz (#83). Ellingson leads the team with 48 receptions for 743 yards and six touchdowns.

Fellow rookie C.J. Gable (#32) has found a starting spot at running back and is ninth in the league yards from scrimmage in only eight games played.

Hamilton’s troubles are on defence, where only four players remain from the 12 who started the season. Former Stampeder DT Brian Bulcke (#95) is one of them and has done a solid job in the middle while another former Stamp Torrey Davis (#99) lines up beside Bulcke as Hamilton looks for stability and production out of their D-line.

Hamilton has cut its rushing yards allowed in half over the past five games — from 148.0 yards per game in the first five games to 73.0 per game in the past five. 

Who to watch:

Henry Burris, QB, #1
2013 stats – 341 attempts, 230 completions, 67.4% completion rate, 3,181 passing yards, 18 TDs, 9 INTs, 103.8 QB rating – leads CFL in passing yards
Last Game – 35 attempts, 25 completions, 71.4% completion rate, 375 passing yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs, 120.5 QB rating vs BC 
2012 vs Cgy. – 73 attempts, 55 completions, 61.6 % completion rate, 621 passing yards, 3 TDs, 3 INTs, in two games played

C.J. Gable, RB, #32
2013 stats – 63 carries, 355 yards rushing, 5.6 yard average, 4 Tds in eight games played – leads team in total TDs with 8 
Last Game – 15 touches, 157  total yards,  1 TD vs BC – led team in receiving with over 100 yards
2012 vs Cgy. – did not play as he is a rookie in 2013

Jamal Johnson, LB, #28
2013 stats – 36 tackles, 4 tackles for losses, 6 special teams tackles, 2 sacks, 1 INT, 1  pass knockdown, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble return
Last Game – 5 tackles, 1 sack vs BC – tied for team lead in tackles
2012 vs Cgy. – 6  tackles, 3 special teams tackles in one game, Week 7                      

Stats

Here are the two teams’ offensive and defensive totals and league rankings after last week’s games

The CFL this Week

Saturday, Sept. 14 – 4:30 p.m. – Winnipeg (2-8) at Edmonton (1-9)
Saturday, Sept. 14 – 7:30 p.m. – Toronto (6-4) at Saskatchewan (8-2)
Sunday, Sept. 15  – 2:30 p.m. – Montreal (4-6) at BC (6-4)