By Stampeders.com Staff

For the fourth year in a row, the Calgary Stampeders are in the Western Final.

The Stamps advanced to the division final on Sunday at McMahon Stadium with a 35-9 victory over the BC Lions and will now face the Edmonton Eskimos next Sunday at Commonwealth Stadium for the right to represented the West in the 103rd Grey Cup.

Defence dominated the first quarter and, 13 minutes into the contest, the score was 3-1 in favour of the Lions as a result of a Richie Leone field goal for BC and a Rob Maver punt single for the Stamps.

Keon Raymond gave Calgary the lead when he picked off a Jonathan Jennings pass and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown.

“It was a big emotional lift,” said Stampeders head coach and general manager John Hufnagel, who coached his final game at McMahon Stadium. “Anytime your defence can score for you, it can create a spark and that’s exactly what it did. I thought our defence played a strong football game all four quarters.”

The Stamps offence found its footing in the second quarter as the home side outscored the Lions 17-3 to take a 24-6 lead into halftime.

First, Bo Levi Mitchell connected with Eric Rogers for a 13-yard touchdown pass. Mitchell hit Anthony Parker for the two-point convert.

Trapped deep in their own end, the Lions conceded a safety to make the score 17-3.

Calgary’s third major of the afternoon came on the ground as Jerome Messam carried the ball in from 15 yards out.

Leone’s 33-yard field goal in the final minute closed out the first-half scoring.

The Calgary defence pitched a shutout in the third quarter as the Stamps extended their advantage to 28-6 thanks to a 30-yard Rene Paredes field goal and 47-yard Maver punt single.

Leone’s third field goal of the day made it 28-9 but the Stamps salted the game when Rogers made his second touchdown catch of the game with a little more than five minutes left to play.

The score was set up by a spectacular 61-yard catch-and-run by Messam who showed both toughness in breaking a tackle and elusiveness and speed to zip down the sideline for extra yardage.

The two touchdowns give Rogers four majors in just two career playoff games and he’s already tied for fifth in franchise history when it comes to TD catches.

Calgary prevailed despite losing two of their starting offensive lineman — guard Shane Bergman and centre Pierre Lavertu — to injuries during the first half. Quinn Smith and Junior Turner, who started the season as defensive lineman, had to step in and play the rest of the way.

Another key to the Stamps’ win was the play of the coverage teams. The last time the Lions were at McMahon, Chris Rainey burned Calgary for a pair of return touchdowns. In the Western Semi-Final, Rainey was held to 47 yards on seven punt returns and 42 yards on four kickoff returns.

The Western Final between Calgary and Edmonton is a matchup of teams that were both 14-4 during the regular season.

“It’s going to be a whale of a ballgame,” said Hufnagel. “We’re two very good football teams.”

The Stamps and Eskimos have met 11 previous times in the division final with Calgary holding a 6-5 lead all-time including a 43-18 victory in last year’s Western Final.