By Max Campbell
Stampeders.com

Calgary improved their record to 6-1 with an entertaining 30-20 win against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Stamps remain undefeated on the road thanks to 371 yards through the air from Bo Levi Mitchell and 102 along the ground from newcomer Hugh Charles.

“It was a good win,” said head coach and general manager John Hufnagel. “We had difficulty with a scrappy football team, an aggressive football team. They hung in there and played quite well. Obviously the game shifted when they had to make a quarterback change.”

A Shawn Lemon sack on Hamilton’s opening possession of the game helped pave the way for Mitchell and the Stampeder offence to take the field for the first time at McMaster’s Ron Joyce Stadium. To conclude the 11-play, 92-yard drive, Mitchell elected to tuck the ball and scamper 14 yards into the heart of the Tiger-Cat defence for a major score. Calgary’s touchdown came with 7:25 remaining in the first quarter of play.

Mitchell’s counterpart, Dan LeFevour, responded immediately by putting seven points on the board as he connected with LB Erik Harris on a 55-yard strike. The rare appearance on the offensive side of the ball for the Pennsylvania native earned him his first career touchdown in the CFL.

The Stamps regained their lead with a Rene Paredes field goal from 19 yards out after Mitchell hooked up with a trio of receivers over three consecutive plays.

LeFevour committed the initial turnover of the contest by throwing an ill-advised pass into the secondary of the Red and White. DB Keon Raymond snagged the ball for his second interception of the season, but Rob Maver would eventually come on to punt before first down yardage was gained.

Hamilton began their next drive on their own 12 yard line yet managed to march across midfield and into Calgary territory. Justin Medlock then attempted a 48-yard field goal into the wind, but could not connect as the kick sailed wide right.

Mitchell took over and found WR Joe West for a massive gain of 74 yards along the sideline before eventually being brought down by LB Rico Murray, but not until the former Texas-El Paso standout was already deep in the red zone. On the very next play, WR Jeff Fuller caught a short pass in one-on-one coverage before breaking a tackle to put the Stamps ahead by 10 heading into halftime.

In the third frame, DB Joshua Bell forced a fumble by laying a big hit on Hamilton RB Mossis Madu. The rookie gained 13 yards off of a quarterback option play before the change of possession, which preceded a 27-yard burst from Hugh Charles who was making his Calgary debut after being signed on July 28. Paredes then knocked a second field goal through the uprights for a 20-7 advantage.

However, Medlock answered four plays later, this time from a distance of 52 yards. It was the longest successful field goal across the league thus far in 2014.

Harris then made his impact felt once again by picking off a pass intended for SB Marquay McDaniel. The turnover proved to be costly as WR Bakari Grant found the end zone after hauling in a well-executed screen pass for his first major since last October against the Argonauts.

Making his second appearance of 2014, kick returner Sederrik Cunningham took back the subsequent kickoff 48 yards to the 50-yard line of the Tiger-Cats, but the longest kickoff return for the Stampeders through seven games did not generate any points.

Paredes would improve to three-for-three on the afternoon before QB Jeremiah Masoli came on in relief of LeFevour who left the game with an apparent left knee injury. With less than six minutes remaining, Calgary was clinging to a narrow 23-20 lead.

The Stamps took the ball back once again with a leaping interception by DB Jamar Wall who was already in field goal range when he was wrestled to the turf. Drew Tate then came on in short yardage and sealed the win by punching it in from three yards out as his outstretched arm broke the plain of the goal line.

“I thought both of the new players, Sederrik (Cunningham) and Hugh (Charles) made plays to help us win the game,” said Hufnagel. “I was very pleased with their performance. Sederrik did a great job on our return game. We wanted to go north-south because of the type of coverage team they are and that’s exactly what he did.”

Calgary’s next game is a Sunday, August 24 matchup with the Ottawa RedBlacks in the Stampeders’ inaugural visit to TD Place. Watch the game live on TSN with kickoff set for 1pm MT.