By Max Campbell
Stampeders.com Staff

The Calgary Stampeders managed to hang on for a wild 31-24 win in Regina over the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium. Improving to 12-2, the Stamps now sit three games ahead of the Riders and Edmonton Eskimos who are currently tied for second place in the West Division.

“We did some good things to start the second half building up a nice lead,” says head coach and general manager John Hufnagel, “but they got it back. It was some bad (Stampeder) football and some good plays from them, but fortunately we had the opportunity to win the game in the last three minutes and the offence had a nice drive and put the ball in the end zone.”

Saskatchewan RB Anthony Allen gained the initial first down of the contest two minutes into the opening quarter with a seven-yard scamper up the middle. The Roughriders would soon be forced to punt though, and the subsequent return from WR Sederrik Cunningham taken back for a touchdown was ultimately negated due to a holding call on fellow wideout Brad Sinopoli.

After QB Drew Tate was dropped for an eight-yard loss and the offence was flagged for a pair of penalties on the next series, K Rene Paredes came on for a deep field goal attempt of 51 yards. The kick fell just short of the crossbar, enabling a return up the sideline from seven-year veteran DB Tristan Jackson.

Newly-named starting quarterback Seth Doege, making his first start under centre as a CFL signal caller, was stripped of the ball by DL Shawn Lemon behind the line of scrimmage. OL Ben Heenan managed to recover the second down fumble and K Chris Milo elected to take a knee in the end zone on the following play, therefore surrendering two points to the Stampeders.

Calgary then made the first impact play of the night by forcing a turnover with Saskatchewan threatening to score. DB Keon Raymond dropped back in coverage and tipped a pass intended for SB Weston Dressler before securing his second pick in as many games. Although the Middle Tennessee St. alum provided the Stamps with excellent field position after a 39-yard return, the Red and White failed to take advantage of the prime opportunity.

They were soon afforded another chance however, with DB Fred Bennett leaping up to snag another ill-advised throw by Doege to the far side of the field. Yet once again, the offence continued to sputter and Paredes missed for the second time from 50 yards out.

The visitors would finally make the most of a Roughrider turnover when Doege threw his third interception before the seven minute mark of quarter number two. This time it was Jamar Wall’s turn, who promptly scampered 49 yards down to the home team’s 33-yard line. Not only did Tate then connect with WR Maurice Price on a 10-yard slant route to take a 9-0 lead, but the former Texas-Tech Red Raider was benched in favour of Tino Sunseri immediately following the error.

Paredes’ tough first half continued with a third unsuccessful field goal. With under a minute left until the break, his kick was blocked at the line of scrimmage by all-star safety Tyron Brackenridge.

A punt single courtesy of Maver opened the third quarter scoring after Sinopoli nearly managed to come up with an impressive reception in double coverage on the previous play.

Calgary forced a fourth change of possession midway through the frame with special teamer and former Saskatchewan Huskie Keenan MacDougall bringing down Milo before as he was simply unable to get the punt off in time. Setting up inside the Roughriders’ 30-yard line, Tate finished off a brief three-play drive with a quick toss to SB Anthony Parker. The Okotoks native, whose father dawned the Red and White in 1990, scored his fourth major of 2014 from seven yards out.

The mighty Stamps, who officially claimed a playoff spot earlier on Friday with Ottawa’s win over Winnipeg, were not done there. Tate took a quarterback draw up the middle and squeezed through two Saskatchewan defenders before falling across the goal line to take a commanding 24-0 advantage.

A quick response by the home team was soon in store thanks to rookie WR Dan DePalma. The 66-yard touchdown snapped a streak of six scoreless quarters for the Riders, who had not experienced a drought of that magnitude in 35 years. A two-point conversion by Dressler cut the lead to 16.

The Roughriders built on their momentum with a 57-yard heave to SB Chris Getzlaf just moments later. A pass interference call on the secondary set up a first-and-goal from the one, and the combination of a Sunseri plunge and another Dressler conversion gave the Riders a total of 16 points in a mere 2:13 heading into the fourth quarter.

A colossal collision between DB Marshay Green and WR Simon Charbonneau-Campeau then further depleted Calgary’s receiving corps after Fuller had already been carted off in the opening 15 minutes of action with a lower body injury.

Saskatchewan continued to pour it on as RB Jerome Messam caught a swing pass out the backfield and rumbled 36 yards, marking his longest reception of the season to date. Executing a touchdown drive after beginning inside their own 20-yard line for the first time this year, Messam leaped over the pile and barely broke the plain from a yard out. Sunseri then scrambled and found RB Anthony Allen as the Riders improved to three-for-three on two-point conversions and thus completed the dramatic comeback. All of a sudden the showdown was knotted up at 24 apiece with just over eight minutes to play.

Tate threw an interception into the hands of Jackson shortly thereafter, but the Stamps’ defence stood tall and managed to get off the field before further damage was done. That crucial sequence enabled Tate and company to orchestrate a game-winning touchdown drive that featured three different receivers as well as three different rushers. Tate was the one who snuck over the goal line with 34 seconds remaining to go ahead 31-24, and Lemon eventually sacked Sunseri with only a three-man rush as the clock hit zeroes to seal the victory.

“It was a huge drive for us,” says Hufnagel of the game-winning drive. “It showed the grit that this team has shown — all three phases have shown it throughout the season — and in this game the offence had a chance to win the game at the end and that’s what they did.” 

Although RB Jon Cornish didn’t play the second half of the game, his 74 yards along the ground were enough to become 25^th on the league’s all-time rushing list.

The Stampeders will enjoy a bye in Week 16 before travelling to Winnipeg to take on the 6-8 Blue Bombers at 5:00 p.m. MT Saturday, October 18^th on TSN.