Stampeders.com staff

The littlest guy on the field made a big difference on Saturday night at McMahon Stadium as Tyler Crapigna kicked the Calgary Stampeders to a 23-20 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Canadian Football League pre-season action.

The rookie out of McMaster, who stands just five-foot-seven, kicked a 41-yard tying field goal with 1:34 remaining and a 42-yard game-winner as time expired as the Stamps won their pre-season opener.

“I was very pleased for him,” said Stampeders head coach and general manager John Hufnagel. “He’s kicked very well throughout training camp. The play was to let Rene (Paredes) kick the first one and then he would have the other kicks and he was two out of three. He made two clutch kicks.”

Calgary took an early 14-0 lead with touchdowns on the opening drive of the game and in the final seconds of the first quarter. A 49-yard return by Jock Sanders on the opening kickoff jumpstarted the Stamps. A 15-yard Drew Tate completion to Jeff Fuller and a 32-yard run by Jon Cornish set the stage for a one-yard touchdown plunge by Tate.

Late in the opening quarter, Bo Levi Mitchell engineered a drive that included four complete passes including a pair to Nik Lewis, the second of which came on a deflection that the veteran slotback snagged just before it touched the turf. Sanders capped the drive with a nimble 18-yard touchdown run.

Brett Maher and Lirim Hajrullahu each kicked a field goal and Mike Renaud had a punt single to give the visitors seven points in the second quarter. The Stamps’ scoring in the period consisted of 41-yard Paredes field goal.

With many of Calgary’s starters on the bench in the second half, the Blue Bombers scored 10 unanswered points in the third quarter to tie the contest. First, Hajrullahu kicked a 14-yard field goal and then Brian Brohm connected with Aaron Kelly on a 29-yard touchdown pass.

Maher’s second field goal of the night midway through the final quarter gave the Blue Bombers their first lead of the night — 20-17 — and set the stage for Crapigna’s heroics. The game-winning kick was set up by a 27-yard pass from Rusty Smith to Damon McDaniel.

Although the Stamps were troubled by penalties — nine flags for 103 yards — it was a good first test for the Red and White.

“We got the opportunity to see a lot of players play,” said Hufnagel. “There were some plays made out there. It was a little sloppy, especially on the penalty side of it. I thought that we started off strong on both sides of the football. I thought Winnipeg played hard the whole game and hey, it was crazy at the end and we made some plays to win the game.”

Calgary had a good game on the ground with 193 rushing yards including 52 for Cornish, 51 for Sanders and 49 for Matt Walter.

The Stamps conclude their pre-season schedule on Friday when they make the trip to Vancouver to take on the BC Lions on TSN. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. MDT