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November 5, 2014

Regular season wraps up

By Mike Hardiman
Stampeders.com

The Pregame

The Calgary Stampeders close out the 2014 regular season on the West Coast with a game against the BC Lions.

The Stamps (14-3) have clinched first place in the West and on Nov. 23 will play in their fourth Western Final under head coach/general manager John Hufnagel. Calgary stumbled in the snow at McMahon last week as the Stamps were upended by Winnipeg 18-13, ending the team’s five-game winning streak at home.

The Lions (9-8, third place in the West) were pummeled 37-3 on the road by the Eskimos and need a win this week to ensure they stay in the West playoffs. The two teams have met twice already this season, both at McMahon, and have split the season series to date. The Lions won 25-24 back in Week 6 and Calgary evened the score with a 14-7 win in Week 14.

The Stamps have struggled of late in Vancouver, losing four straight regular-season games dating back to 2011, including 26-7 in the last game of the regular season in 2013. Calgary has the best road record in the CFL at 7-1 and is 7-2 against West teams while the Leos are 4-4 at home and have a losing record within the division at 4-5.

The Kickoff

When/Where: Friday, Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. MST at BC Place in Vancouver
Television: TSN, ESPN3
Radio: News Talk 770, SiriusXM 167
Internet: www.newstalk770.com

The Stampeders

The Stamps did not enjoy the snow at McMahon last week, slipping and sliding their way to six turnovers and scoring only 13 points, the third time this season they have been held to less than 14 points at home.

The six turnovers, including five fumbles, were a season high and the minus-4 turnover ratio was also the worst of 2014. Calgary has turned the ball over 12 times its three losses compared to only 16 times in their 14 wins.

RB Jon Cornish left the game early but did collect 105 rushing yards to surpass 1,000 yards for the season, the third straight season he has accomplished this feat. Nine games is a CFL record for fewest games played in a season for a player who reached the 1,000-yard milestone, breaking the old record of 11.

RB Matt Walter stepped in to relieve Cornish and also hit the century mark in rushing, ending the night with 105 yards. The 217 ground yards total for Calgary was a team high for 2014. The Stamps passed for only 134 yards, however — the second-lowest total of the year and fifth time they have passed for less than 200 yards in a game.

Against the Lions in 2014, Calgary rushed for 321 yards in the two games played and passed for 489 yards.

The turnovers made it tough on the Stamps defence, which allowed only 18 points, 204 total yards and a season-low 98 passing yards. Calgary has allowed less than 300 yards of offence eight times now but only twice in the past eight games compared to six times in the first nine.

DE Shawn Lemon had his team-leading 11th sack and tied a club record with his seventh forced fumble. Former Lion DT Brandon Jordan had five tackles and a fumble recovery.

Who to watch:

Matt Walter, RB, 14
2014 stats
– 77 carries, 453 yards rushing, 5.9-yard average, 2 rushing TDs – career highs in carries and rushing yards
Last game – 11 carries, 109 yards, 9.9-yard average –   Week 19 vs Wpg.
2014 vs BC – no stats                                             

Juwan Simpson, MLB, #12
2014 stats
– 68 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, 4 pass knockdowns – second on team in tackles
Last game – 4 tackles – Week 19 vs Wpg.
2014 vs BC – 13 tackles – two games

Deron Mayo, LB, #42
2014 stats
– 66 tackles, 1 special teams tackle, 2 tackles for losses, 2 sacks, 4 pass knockdowns, 2 fumble return – third on team in tackles
Last game – 6 tackles – Week 19 vs Wpg – led team in tackles
2014 vs BC – 15 tackles, 1 special teams tackle,  2 pass knockdowns – two games

The Lions                           

The Lions have been fairly inconsistent in the five weeks since Calgary last played them.

BC is 2-2 during that stretch, winning 28-23 against Winnipeg and 41-3 against Ottawa while losing 19-17 to Hamilton and 37-3 to Edmonton.

The Leos totaled 385 yards of offence, scored three touchdowns and were plus-2 in the turnover differential in the Week 6 win over the Stamps but in the Week 14 loss were held to 285 yards, scored only one major and were minus-1 in turnovers. 

The Lions offence has been hampered by injuries, most notably to QB Travis Lulay, WR Courtney Taylor and RB Andrew Harris, but BC has been successful at plugging the holes. Former Stamp Kevin Glenn (#5) has had a solid season at QB, passing for more than 3,660 yards, second best in the West. SB Manny Arceneaux (#84) leads the team in receiving while RB Stefan Logan (#10) has been effective when healthy.

On defence, the Lions are led by their twin terrors at linebacker, Solomon Elimimian (#56) and Adam Bighill, though Bighill will miss this week’s game due to injury. DE Alex Bazzie (#53) and DT Khreem Smith (#94) each have double-digit sack totals while veteran DB Ryan Phillips leads the team in interceptions with three. 

Who to watch:

Keola Antolin, RB, #1
2014 stats
– 54 carries, 298 yards rushing, 5.5 yard average, 1 rushing TD
Last game – 10 carries, 34 yards, 3.4 yard average –   Week 19 vs Edm.
2014 vs Cgy. – did not play

Ernest Jackson, SB, #9
2014 stats
–  44 receptions, 736 receiving yards, 16.7-yard average, 3 receiving TDs –  second on team in receiving, CFL player of the Month for October
Last game – 0 receptions, 1 carry, 10 rushing yards – Week 19 vs Edm.
2014 vs Cgy. – 3 receptions, 82 yards, 27.3-yard average, 1 TD – Week 6 in Calgary

Solomon Elimimian, LB, #56
2014 stats
– 137 tackles, 8 special teams tackles, 7 tackles for losses, 5 sacks, 1 INT, 3 fumble returns, 2 forced fumbles – set CFL record for tackles in a season
Last game – 12 tackles, 1 INT – Week 19 vs Edm.; led team in tackles
2014 vs Cgy. – 20 tackles, 1 special teams tackle, 1 fumble return – two games

Stats

OFFENCE

Cgy

Rnk

BC

Rnk

Points per game

28.1

1st

21.4

7th

TDs

49

1st

32

4th

First downs

363

1st

313

6th

Total yards per game

357.0

2nd

325.8

5th

Pass yards per game

223.4

7th

241.4

5th

Rush yards per game

149.1

1st

106.9

5th

Sacks allowed

26

1st

48

6th

Giveaways

28

2nd

27

1st

 

 

 

 

 

DEFENCE

Cgy

Rnk

BC

Rnk

Points allowed per game

19.5

2nd

19.5

2nd

TDs allowed

29

3rd

21

1st

Total yards per game

320.8

4th

306.9

2nd

Pass yards per game

249.6

6th

214.9

2nd

Rush yards per game

97.2

3rd

116.9

6th

Sacks

45

6th

46

5th

Takeaways

40

3rd

34

7th

The CFL this Week

Friday, Nov. 7, 5 p.m. – Ottawa (2-15) at Toronto (7-10)
Saturday, Nov. 8, 2 p.m. – Montreal (9-8) at BC (8-9)
Saturday, Nov. 8, 5 p.m. – Edmonton (12-5) at Saskatchewan (9-8)
Bye: Winnipeg