Lions ready for Western finals
Kevin Glenn helped get the Calgary Stampeders into the playoffs, now he’s being called upon to lead them into the Grey Cup.
The veteran quarterback will start for Calgary in its West Division final showdown at B.C. Place against the defending Grey Cup-champion Lions on Sunday.
Glenn got the nod after starter Drew Tate sustained a fractured forearm in the Stampeders’ semifinal victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Glenn’s promotion highlighted an eventful week for Calgary. It began with questions of whether Tate suffered a concussion against Saskatchewan, then switched gears when receiver Nik Lewis was fined for a disparaging tweet about murder victim Nicole Brown Simpson.
Fortunately for Calgary, there’s no dropoff with Glenn under centre. He guided the Stampeders to a 9-5 record after Tate suffered a shoulder injury in July against the Toronto Argonauts.
Calgary obtained Glenn from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats after last season in the deal that sent veteran quarterback Henry Burris to Steeltown. The move certainly looked prophetic when Tate went down in Toronto, and does so again with Calgary heading into its biggest game of the season.
The 33-year-old Detroit native established a career-high 66.7 per cent completion average while passing for 4,220 yards. He also had 25 touchdowns, but Glenn’s 16 interceptions were second only to Burris’s among CFL starters.
B.C. led in 18 of the league’s 25 defensive categories, including fewest points allowed (19.7 per game) and most sacks (47). Defensive lineman Keron Williams had a league-leading 12 sacks, one more than Calgary standout Charleston Hughes.
Lions’ linebacker Adam Bighill recorded nine sacks and finished second overall in tackles with 104.
What makes attacking B.C.’s defence difficult is trying to find a weak spot. The Lions gave up the fewest passing and rushing yards this season and were second only to Toronto in lowest percentage of passes completed against.
They also surrendered the fewest TDs, either rushing or passing, and boast a secondary with more than 40 years of CFL experience.
And then there’s trying to win at B.C. Place, where the Lions were 8-1, although Calgary finished tied with B.C. and Toronto for the CFL’s top road record at 5-4.
Calgary had the CFL’s secondranked ground game, averaging 116 yards. Running back Jon Cornish ran for a league-best 1,757 yards and averaged a solid 5.6 yards per carry while scoring 11 TDs.
Cornish, a native of New Westminster, B.C., is a finalist for the CFL’s outstanding player and top Canadian awards.
But the Lions held Cornish to minus-1 yards rushing on six carries in a 34-8 win over Calgary in July. Cornish has run for 147 yards on 25 carries combined over the final two regular-season meetings with B.C.
Cornish amassed 1,258 yards over Calgary’s final 13 regularseason games (averaging 6.1 yards per carry) en route to breaking Norm Kwong’s record for most rushing yards in a season by a Canadian (1,437 yards). B.C. won the season series 2-1. Calgary’s lone win was a 4121 decision on Oct. 26 after both teams had clinched their respective playoff berths.
Lions quarterback Travis Lulay was solid in the first two regularseason meetings, finishing a combined 53-of-70 passing for 583 yards and five TDs. But he missed the finale due to a shoulder injury.