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By Stampeders.com Staff
Here’s a closer look at Friday’s 25-23 victory in Winnipeg:
A week after ensuring they would finish ahead of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the Stamps clinched a top-three finish in the West Division.
By completing the three-game season sweep against the Blue Bombers, the Red and White are also assured of a superior record than Winnipeg. Calgary now needs to make sure it finishes ahead of one more club — either another team in the West or any squad in the East to eliminate the possibility of the Stamps being victimized by a crossover scenario — to clinch an 11th straight playoff spot.
At 10-3, the Stamps will finish above .500 for an eighth straight season. With Saskatchewan’s run of winning seasons already sure to end at two, Edmonton (8-4 heading into Saturday’s contest against BC) is the only other team with a chance at extending a run of above-.500 campaigns. The Eskimos need two more victories to clinch a second consecutive season.
Years ago, the Calgary combination of Allen Pitts and Dave Sapunjis was known as “The Slot Machines.”
“Slot” because both receivers lined up at the slotback position and “Machines” because the duo methodically racked up catches and yardage.
A couple of decades later, it was Nik Lewis and Jeremaine Copeland who inherited that moniker at McMahon.
Well, say hello to the next generation of the Slot Machines in Calgary.
Eric Rogers and Marquay McDaniel head into Saturday’s action ranking 1-2 in the CFL with 67 and 63 catches and 1,124 and 815 yards, respectively.
In eight of the Stamps’ 13 games to date in 2015, either Rogers or McDaniel has recorded a 100-yard receiving game and the two have combined for 17 contests with at least five receptions.
Throw in Jeff Fuller (45 catches and 601 yards) and you have a potent threesome for the Red and White.
Here are the leading CFL pass-catching combinations this season heading into Saturday’s play:
Two receivers
Three receivers
By recording his fourth career victory in Winnipeg, Bo Levi Mitchell matched the best quarterback record in CFL history after the first 30 starts of a career. At 25-5, Mitchell ties Tracy Ham of the Edmonton Eskimos.
The Bombers’ new stadium has been a favourite destination for Mitchell, who won his CFL starting debut in Winnipeg in 2013. He has three 300-yard games in four visits and has completed 93 of 122 passes (76.2 per cent) for 1,281 yards and eight touchdowns.
Mitchell actually has just one fewer win at Investors Group Field (four) than Drew Willy, who has been the Blue Bombers’ most successful quarterback at the stadium since it opened in 2013.
Twenty-one is a great number when you’re at the blackjack table and it’s also pretty good when you’re talking about consecutive successful field goals.
By going three-for-three on three-pointers on Friday, Calgary’s Rene Paredes ran his streak of made field goals to 21. Paredes, who holds the CFL record with 39 consecutive successful field goals, owns two of the 12 streaks of 21 or more in CFL history.
Paul McCallum (three) and Sean Whyte (two) are the only two other players with multiple streaks of 21 or more while Dave Ridgway, Luca Congi, Dean Dorsey, Sean Fleming and Grant Shaw have one apiece.
John Hufnagel’s career coaching record now stands at 98-40-1 and with Friday’s win he is another step closer to the CFL’s all-time top 10 in coaching victories.
Huff is just one win back of Cal Murphy, his former coach in Winnipeg, for 10th spot and he needs two victories to reach 100.
With a .709 career winning percentage, Hufnagel ranks first among all coaches with at least 100 games on the sidelines.
Here is more coverage from Friday’s game:
>> Game story
>> Stamps TV: Recap
>> Stamps TV: Durant’s first CFL TD
>> Rookie has Lemar-velous night
>> Stats
>> Photo gallery