By Stampeders.com staff
The 2008 West final at McMahon Stadium was a significant game in Stampeders history for so many reasons.
For starters, it was the first playoff contest of the new regime in Calgary as former Stamps player and offensive coordinator John Hufnagel had returned to town 11 months earlier to take over as head coach and general manager. Optimism was high as in his first regular season. Hufnagel led the Stamps to 13 victories — the best showing by a Calgary team since 1996.
Secondly, it was the first West final played at McMahon since the 2000 season.
Another intriguing subplot to the 2008 West final was the presence on the opposition sidelines of former Stampeder Wally Buono, now head coach of the Lions. Buono only happened to be Hufnagel’s former boss, not to mention the winningest coach in Stampeders history.
Buono had left Calgary following the 2002 season to join the Lions but this was his first playoff game against his former team. In between Buono and Hufnagel, three different men had coached the Stamps and the result was three losing seasons in five years, a cumulative 37-52-1 record and zero post-season victories.
All of those factors, not to mention a whale of a football game, combined to create an unforgettable day at McMahon.
The Stamps defence came up big at the right times — especially Mike Labinjo, who had three sacks, a forced fumble and two touchdown-saving stops as part of a goal-line stand — and quarterback Henry Burris threw a touchdown pass to Ken-Yon Rambo and scored the go-ahead major on a fourth-quarter quarterback sneak as Calgary earned a trip to the Grey Cup with a 22-18 win over the Leos.
But more than any play on the field that Nov. 15 day, what stands out to the participants was the electric atmosphere at McMahon and the role Stamps fans played in the outcome.
“I thought they were terrific,” said Hufnagel. “They showed up, they were excited, they made the stadium electric. Believe me, there were points in that game where the support from our fans helped our football team win that game.
“They really, in my belief, helped inspire our defence make that goal-line stand and force BC to kick a field goal.”
Driven by their boisterous and noisy fans, the Stamps won their first playoff game in seven years.
The celebration, however, didn’t come before one final anxious moment for the home side and the Red and White faithful.
With six seconds showing on the clock and Calgary in possession of the ball on a third-down play, Burris took the snap, dropped back, killed some time and then flung a pass with lots of air under it out of bounds.
The play took precisely six seconds off the clock. The only problem is that just before the play, the officials had adjusted the clock and added one second.
“I wish I had known,” quipped Burris afterwards, “I would have thrown a seven-second ball.”
The Stamps could afford to laugh about the incident because after the Lions took the ball over on downs, quarterback Buck Pierce’s last-gasp heave into the end-zone was knocked down. The Stamps were West Division champions and, eight days later at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, they were hoisting the Grey Cup.