Calgary faced Hamilton for the second time in three weeks, this time meeting in Guelph, Ont. The Stampeders defence picked off five Hamilton passes en route to a convincing 35-11 victory at Alumni Stadium on Saturday evening. 

“Any time you get a turnover you’d like to get points off of them, and in the first half our touchdowns came off of big plays,” says Stamps general manager and head coach John Hufnagel. “We haven’t been a big play type of offence; we’re a grinder, but to get some big plays helped us.”

Hamilton started a promising opening drive with back-to-back first downs before rookie K Brett Lauther failed to split the uprights from 48 yards out. 

After the Stampeders offence took the field, the Tiger-Cats stalled once again with a second missed field goal. The ball went through the end zone for a single, the first points on the scoreboard for either team. 

DT Micah Johnson then intercepted a deflected pass from QB Henry Burris which gave Calgary solid field possession on their own 43-yard line to conclude the opening frame. The Stamps would eventually make the most of the turnover as QB Kevin Glenn took a hit in the pocket while locating SB Jabari Arthur in stride for a 52-yard major. 

DB Eric Fraser then jumped in front of an errant Burris throw, and Calgary was quick to capitalize once again. WR Maurice Price hauled in a perfectly thrown pass over his shoulder as he got in behind the Hamilton secondary. 

The Stampeders picked off a third pass with just over two minutes remaining as DB Jamar Wall wrestled the ball away from the intended SB Andy Fantuz. K Rene Paredes added three more points from 41 yards out. 

Hamilton didn’t close out the half without a fight, as Burris located Fantuz along the sideline for a 33-yard gain. With less than a minute remaining, Lauther increased the Ticats’ point total to 4. 

At the end of the second quarter, RB Jon Cornish had 52 yards along the ground, while his counterpart C.J. Gable rushed for 35. 

After both teams started the third with a two-and-out, Calgary advanced the ball into field goal range before Paredes nailed a 44-yard field goal. 

On a quarterback sneak on third-and-short, QB Drew Tate entered the game and snuck around the left side of his offensive line as he crossed the goal line untouched. The 16-yard scamper extended the Stamps’ lead to 23. 

Backup QB and Central Michigan alum Dan LeFevour was under centre for Hamilton’s next possession and ignited the offence with an 11-play, 66-yard drive capped off by a one-yard plunge of his own . It was the second-year pro’s fourth rushing touchdown of his young CFL career.

Cornish immediately responded with a 34-yard run, breaking tackles and making the most of his explosive speed. On the very next play, Arthur extended for the ball and bounced off a defender as he broke away for a 35-yard touchdown, his second of the night, giving the Red and White a 34-11 advantage with just under 14 minutes remaining. 

DB Derrius Brooks intercepted LeFevour on the following series, the fourth turnover of the game committed by the Tiger-Cats. 

Maver extended the Stamps’ lead to 35-11 with a punt single.

Hamilton would later create a turnover of their own as DL Brandon Boudreaux came up with a tipped Glenn pass, but soon after Wall came up with interception number two, this time in the back corner of the end zone.

P Rob Maver played in Guelph for the first time since his university days with the Guelph Gryphons. Burris is now 0-4 against his former team while the Stampeders now have 10+ wins in six straight seasons.

“I enjoyed it,” says Hufnagel. “I like how they rebounded to the loss last week. We had a good week of practice and they wanted to come out here and play a football game and not be disappointed on the airplane tomorrow.”

The Stampeders host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday, Oct. 5 at McMahon Stadium. Kickoff is at 4:30 p.m. MDT.