Lions edged by Stamps
Messam and Parades carry Calgary to come-from-behind win
VANCOUVER (CP) — Jerome Messam rushed for Calgary’s only touchdown and Rene Parades was perfect on five field goals as the Stampeders defeated the B.C. Lions 21-17 on Friday night.
Bo Levi Mitchell was 15-of-31 passing for 237 yards and one interception, marking the first time in 18 games the Calgary quarterback failed to throw for a TD.
Jonathon Jennings threw a TD to Chris Rainey and ran in another for the Lions, going 25-for-37 for 236 yards to go along with two interceptions.
Ty Long kicked a field goal for B.C., but also missed a crucial convert.
With the win, Calgary (6-1-1) regained second place in the CFL’s ultra-competitive West Division — a point back of the Edmonton Eskimos and a point up on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
B.C. (5-4) remains fourth, four points ahead of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who have two games in hand.
Calgary is now a perfect 15-0 in the game following a regular-season bye, a streak that began in 2004.
After the Stampeders grabbed an 18-14 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter, the Lions got to within one with under nine minutes to go when Long connected on a 28-yard field goal.
Calgary got the ball back and rode Messam for two carries, but the hulking running back had to be helped off the field after the second touch and didn’t return with what appeared to be an injury to his left leg. The Stamps were eventually forced to punt.
The Lions were also forced to punt on their next possession to set the Stampeders up at their own 48 for Parades’ fifth field goal of the night from 27 yards to make it 21-17 with 2:37 left.
Rainey returned the ensuing kickoff to the B.C. 43, and the Lions got a reprieve after a Maurice Morgan fumble was overturned after video review.
The Lions elected to punt with two minutes left and got the ball back at the Calgary 46 with 1:12 remaining.
After a nice return by Rainey, B.C. got down to Calgary’s 30 before the drive stalled on third and five when Jennings’ completion wound up an inch short.
Leading 9-8 after a sloppy first half, Parades hit his fourth field goal of the night from 46 yards out five minutes into the third quarter to stretch the Stampeders’ lead to four.
The Lions came right back on their next possession, with Jennings finding Rainey in space and letting the speedster do the rest as he snaked his way to the end zone. Long missed the extra point to keep the score at 14-12.
Mitchell orchestrated a six-play, 95-yard drive that ended in Messam’s one-yard plunge on the first play of the fourth quarter, but the Stampeders’ two-point conversion attempt fell incomplete to make it 18-14.
The Lions were looking to make amends on a short week following Sunday’s ugly 41-8 loss in Regina to the Riders where head coach and general manager Wally Buono questioned their readiness in his pre-game team talk — candid comments that were caught by a television camera in the locker-room.
The well-rested Stampeders hadn’t played in 15 days, but entered B.C. Place having outscored opponents 128-35 in their three previous outings.
Calgary led 9-0 after the first quarter on three Parades field goals, but the damage could have been a lot more after Marken Michel dropped what looked like a sure touchdown on the game’s first play from scrimmage.
B.C., meanwhile, struggled mightily on offence through most of the first half minus injured leading receivers Bryan Burnham and Nick Moore.
The Lions’ offence had almost nothing going on — four punts, one blocked punt and an interception on their first six drives — until they got the ball with less than five minutes to go in the second quarter. That’s when Jennings led a methodical 11-play, 69-yard drive that culminated in his own one-yard plunge.
Just 14-of-30 for 195 yards while also throwing four interceptions against the Riders last week, Jennings then found Chris Williams on the two-point conversion attempt to make it 9-8 with 1:11 left on the clock.
Loucheiz Purifoy, who dropped what could have been a pick-six in the first quarter for the Lions, intercepted Mitchell when Calgary got the ball back.
But Jennings returned the favour with his second pick of the night two plays later, and the teams headed to their locker-rooms with the Stampeders up by one at halftime.
NOTES: B.C. inducted former players Carl Kidd and Brent Johnson into the club’s Wall of Fame at halftime . . . . The Lions visit the Ottawa Redblacks next Saturday, while the Stampeders host the Toronto Argonauts . . . . Calgary and B.C. play again on Sept. 16 in Calgary.